The Campus Assessments section has been completely revamped. It now adds new ways to assess, gives teachers more room to decide on each student’s path and makes every assessment simpler to build.
The goal is for the tool to adapt to each institution’s teaching approach, not the other way around: assessments with open-ended answers, grading in the teacher’s hands, printable versions and less risk of losing what the student has already answered.
- Campus assessments now support open-ended questions, with free-text answers graded by the teacher.
- With the “Requires teacher approval” option, no attempt is closed until the teacher grades it.
- Manual validation unblocks a student’s path, with a mandatory reason recorded in the audit log.
- The paper version generates a PDF ready to print, and automatic saving helps avoid losing answers.
New ways to assess
Open-ended questions
Assessments are no longer limited to closed answers. The new open-ended question type lets students answer in free text in the Campus editor, where they can also add formulas, images, audio, links and emoticons.
- A single assessment can combine several open-ended questions with questions of other types.
- These answers are not graded automatically: the attempt stays pending until the teacher reviews it.
- If the student leaves the answer empty, it is recorded as “no answer” and neither adds nor deducts points.
Assessments that require teacher approval
Every assessment now includes a new option: “Requires teacher approval”. It is off by default and, once enabled, no attempt is considered closed until the teacher grades it.
- The grading can end up as approved, not approved or released.
- A history of status changes is kept, along with the teacher’s comments.
- Optionally, the student can receive an email each time the status of their assessment changes.
- The option is set before there are any attempts; after that it can no longer be changed.
This feature is especially useful in supervised assessments, where the teacher needs to validate each result before it counts.
Manual validation
Teachers can mark any content as approved so the student can keep moving through the course. It solves common situations, such as a SCORM package that was left unfinished and blocks the path.
- It is done from the assessment’s tracking view, for one student or for everyone on the page at once.
- Validating, or removing a validation, requires a mandatory reason that is recorded in the audit log.
- The teacher sees the reason, the date, the time and who made the change; the student only sees that the item is validated.
- If the validation is removed, the content returns to its previous status.
Clearer assessment building
Creating an assessment now takes a single step instead of two. The form is organized into four collapsible blocks: details, grading, structure and advanced options.
- Question types as cards. Each type comes with a short explanation, so it is easy to choose the right one for each case.
- A warning before changing type, so you don’t lose what has already been entered in the question.
- A more readable structure. The assessment view shows the type of each question.
- Better presentation of “fill in the blanks” and “match concepts” questions.
- Consistency with the rest of the classroom. Assessment attempts now look the same as activity attempts, and all forms feature new icons.
Preview and paper version
Before publishing, teachers can see the assessment exactly as the student will see it, with the correct answers marked.
And for those who also work in print, the new paper version generates a PDF ready to print:
- It includes the student’s name, the date, the logo, the institution, the activity and the unit.
- It shows or hides the score, depending on how the assessment is configured.
- If the questions are random, each PDF comes out with a different selection.
- “Fill in the blanks” and “order options” questions adapt well to paper.
Automatic saving
While students answer, their responses are saved automatically in the browser every few seconds. If they try to leave without finishing, the Campus warns them that they may lose changes; and if they come back, they recover the last thing they wrote.
This improvement also reaches activities, both when completing them and when grading each submission.
More options for every program
With these changes, Assessments stops being just an automatic grading tool and becomes a flexible space: open-ended answers, decisions in the teacher’s hands, a record of every change and options for working online or on paper. All designed so that each institution can build the assessment its program needs.
These updates add to the weekly Campus improvements, such as bulk release of attempts and partial scores.
Frequently asked questions
Can you give exams with open-ended questions in the Campus?
Yes. educativa’s Campus Virtual lets you give exams with open-ended questions: students answer in free text in the editor, and these questions can be combined with other types in the same assessment. These answers are graded by the teacher, not by the system.
How does teacher approval work?
The “Requires teacher approval” option is set on each assessment, before there are any attempts. With the option enabled, no attempt is considered closed until the teacher grades it, and it can end up as approved, not approved or released.
What can be done if an unfinished SCORM package blocks a student?
The teacher can validate that content manually from the tracking view, so the student can keep moving through the course. A mandatory reason is required and is recorded in the audit log.
Can an assessment be printed?
Yes. The paper version generates a PDF ready to print, with the student’s name, the date, the logo, the institution, the activity and the unit. If the questions are random, each PDF comes out with a different selection.
Do students lose their answers if they leave before finishing?
Answers are saved automatically in the browser every few seconds. If a student tries to leave without finishing, the Campus warns them, and when they come back they recover the last thing they wrote.
Discover the new Assessments in Campus Virtual
If you are evaluating a platform, a guided demo will show you how Campus Virtual works and how it would fit your project. If you already use the Campus, write to us at soporte@educativa.com and we will help you make the most of these updates.