What happens when we stop grading just for accuracy and start grading for learning? In this thoughtful Coffee with Colleagues conversation, instructors shared practical strategies for shifting from traditional grading to a feedback-rich, growth-minded approach. Learn how to encourage risk-taking, support neurodiverse learners, and implement ungrading techniques that prioritize student progress over perfection. Explore the full summary here! ... View more

Cultivating Belonging Through Assessments: Ensuring Every Student Feels Valued Presented by Dr. Jill Dahlman and Dr. Scott Cohn Assessments are a powerful tool not only for measuring student progress but also for fostering a sense of belonging. This session explores how assessment strategies can be designed to ensure every student feels included, valued, and supported in their learning journey. You’ll discover how to use AI to create personalized, accessible assessments and provide feedback that encourages growth and connection. Leave with practical, actionable strategies to build an inclusive environment where assessments reflect the diversity of your students and help them thrive.   Watch the recording ... View more

Authentic Assessments for Every Discipline: Engaging Techniques That Reflect Real-World Learning Presented by Dr. Charlotte de Araujo, Dr. Jill Dahlman, and Troy Joseph Authentic assessments are key to preparing students for real-world challenges by evaluating their ability to apply knowledge in practical, professional contexts. This session will show how AI can streamline the creation of authentic tasks, analyze student responses, and provide personalized feedback. Leave with actionable strategies and AI tips to design assessments that not only measure learning but also mirror the demands students will face after graduation.   Watch the recording ... View more

Taking AI Integration to the Next Level Presented by Ellen Moore and Jill Bonds Ready to go beyond the basics of AI in the classroom? This advanced session will explore practical strategies for gaining buy-in from reluctant colleagues, integrating AI tools into your syllabus, and managing classroom dynamics with ethical, accessible AI practices. Learn how to support students, streamline tasks, and foster inclusivity while preparing for the future of AI in education.   Watch the recording ... View more

Discover the transformative power of authentic assessment with the enlightening video, "Unlocking Potential: Achieve and Authentic Assessment." Join educational experts as they delve into dynamic strategies that revolutionize student learning. Erika Martinez from the University of South Florida reveals the innovative use of in-class response systems like iClicker, which not only capture real-time insights but fundamentally elevate students' learning experiences. Christin Monroe of Landmark College presents an intriguing argument for unlimited assessment attempts, inviting students to dive deeply into the material and refine their understanding in a supportive environment. Additionally, Matthew Ingram of Dakota State University discusses the flexible nature of learning curve quizzes that tailor progress tracking and inspire tailored instructional changes. Tune in to witness how Macmillan Learning tools champion engaging and effective assessments, empowering educators to unlock every student's potential. Click below to watch! ... View more

Midterms are a critical point in the academic calendar, and helping students prepare effectively can make a significant difference in their performance. It can be challenging to ensure that your students are not only ready but confident when exam day arrives. Achieve's resources—including Adaptive Quizzing, iClicker Study Tools, Multi-Take and Unpenalized Assessments, and Diagnostics—were created with your students in mind, offering personalized, interactive tools that meet their unique needs and study habits. We encourage you to explore and assign these resources in Achieve, so your students can truly reap their benefits. By doing so, you will provide your students with the best possible opportunities for self-study and success.     Adaptive Quizzing   Learning Curve Adaptive Quizzing in Achieve tailors the difficulty of questions based on what students know and helps them practice what they don’t yet understand. This feature ensures that students are constantly challenged at an appropriate level, making their study sessions more effective. How It Benefits Students Adaptive Quizzing helps students focus on areas where they need the most improvement. By adjusting the difficulty of questions, it keeps students engaged and motivated to learn. How Students Use It Students complete the adaptive quizzes by answering questions until they reach the target score. Along the way, they receive clear feedback based on their correct and incorrect answers—offering an easy way for students to review and assess their understanding of key concepts. The e-book is integrated into every question and there is no penalty for accessing it, encouraging students to read and boosting their preparedness. As students answer questions correctly, the questions get harder. Students receive more questions on the topics they struggle with. If they get stuck, they can see a hint (which reduces the point value of the question), or they can give up and move to the next question (resulting in zero points). During or after each LearningCurve activity, students can access a Personalized Study Plan, which breaks down their performance on each topic and presents them with suggestions for further practice.   How Instructors Assign It You can assign adaptive quizzes in the same way you assign other activities in Achieve. Learning Curve allows you to hide topics that aren't needed and adjust the target scores students need to complete each quiz. You can view LearningCurve results by class, topic, or by individual student. Learn more.   iClicker Study Tools   Included at no extra cost in most Achieve courses, iClicker includes a Study Tools feature that creates interactive and engaging study aids via the iClicker student mobile and web apps.  How It Benefits Students iClicker Study Tools transform classroom interactions into valuable at-home study resources, enhancing student retention and understanding. By creating flashcards and practice tests from in-class questions, students can review and reinforce their learning outside of class. How Students Use It Students can bookmark questions you've already asked in class and convert them into study tools within the iClicker app. They can create flashcards, take practice tests, and review material at their convenience. Learn more. How Instructors Enable It You can enable iClicker Study Tools by integrating iClicker activities into your course. Students will automatically have access to Study Tools, making study sessions more interactive and productive.    Multi-Take and Unpenalized Assessments   Multi-Take Quizzes provide students with multiple attempts to complete an exam or quiz. Unpenalized assessments offer students unlimited attempts at each question without penalties for incorrect answers, allowing them to use supplemental resources and view solutions afterward.  How It Benefits Students By offering multiple attempts, students can review their errors, understand where they went wrong, and try again. This iterative process boosts confidence and encourages mastery of the material by allowing students to learn from their mistakes and improve their scores. How Students Use It Students can complete the same Multi-Take Quiz up to five times, with each attempt providing insights into their performance. After each attempt, they can review the correct answers and explanations to better understand the material. The Unpenalized setting allows students unlimited attempts to complete each question with no penalty for wrong answers. They can use resources like the e-book (if available) to help them answer questions, and they can see the solution for each question after they complete it or give up. Regardless of which grading policy you select, students will see clear guidelines upon opening each assessment in Achieve. How Instructors Assign It Open up an assessment in your Achieve course, and select the Grading Settings tab. Select your preferred pre-built grading policy or create a new custom policy to fit the needs of your course.   Diagnostics   Diagnostics in Achieve courses for English and General Chemistry help identify students' strengths and weaknesses through initial assessments. These diagnostics create personalized study plans, ensuring that each student focuses on areas that need the most attention. How It Benefits Students Diagnostic assessments provide a clear picture of where students stand academically. The personalized study plans that follow help them concentrate on improving their weak spots, making their study time more efficient. How Students Use It Students begin with a diagnostic test that evaluates their understanding of key concepts. Based on their performance, Achieve generates a customized study plan with targeted resources and practice exercises. How Instructors Assign It Instructors can assign diagnostic tests at the beginning of the term or before midterms to gauge student readiness. The results help tailor instruction and support to meet the needs of each student. Grades for study plan assignments are based on how much of the study plan a student completes by the assigned due date or the end of the term. You can view Diagnostics results by class, topic, or by individual student.  ... View more

How do you keep students from cheating on homework? This is an age old question that isn’t tied to using online homework. Back in the day, students would pay other people to do their pencil and paper homework. Now, they can do the same thing online--but with a wider pool of people willing to "help". So how can you as an instructor combat cheating, so that your homework scores follow the same general patterns as your test scores?  Here are a few ideas from users: A Weekly Homework Assignment Worth 0 Points Erika Martinez, an economics professor at University of South Florida, has a variety of assignments for students, including watching videos, completing the LearningCurve adaptive quizzes, and having the students complete worksheets (or do in-class activities). All of this work is for points, but very few points. Then she has a weekly homework assignment (which is essentially considered the summation of everything learned that week) that is worth 0 points. She tracks the students who complete the assignments, but they don’t get credit for the completion as part of their overall grade. (They do get flagged by Prof. Martinez if they are not doing the work as no points doesn’t mean optional!) Then she has the students complete weekly quizzes (for points) as well as 2 bigger tests and a final. In this way, students come to see the homework as practice and self-assessment, not as a reason to cheat.  Deduct Small Points Each Attempt Amanda Norbutus, a chemistry professor at Valencia College explains that while she is willing for students to have multiple attempts at a problem, she has Achieve deduct small points each attempt (5%), so a student has to actively work to solve the problem effectively.  With this method, students are more actively mentally engaged with doing the work, and develop better problem-solving skills that serve them well in high-stress situations like a quiz or exam.  She theorizes that the lack of any penalty makes it too easy for students to “throw a handful of pasta at the ceiling to see what sticks,” without needing the student to critically think of how to approach a problem and culling through their knowledge to find a working solution/approach. Get Creative with the Assignment Dr. Norbutus also suggests making sure the homework assigned has a range of easy, medium, and hard skill level questions, as exposing students only to easy and medium-level questions is a disservice to them in building their skill set for solving problems quickly and efficiently. Professors could also use more problem-solving worksheets or practice assignments either in class or as part of bonus work.  If for bonus, make sure they are tiered problems, where the problem requires the use of more than one skill or concept. Finally, have the teacher select one handwritten problem for students to solve and submit with work shown per HW assignment. This can quickly identify where students may have a disconnect between high scoring Achieve assignments and low scoring quizzes and exams. Use Homework Questions During the Lecture Kiandra Johnson, a mathematics professor at Spelman College, suggested two simple, easy, and effective ideas. Use clicker questions during the lecture as many of the clicker questions are concept-based and cannot be entered into a mathematical database. This is a way to check individual student understanding outside of the homework. Additionally, use  a few problems directly from the homework on the test, and analyze the difference between how students performed on those same problems in homework form vs. on the test.  Other Advice to Prevent Cheating A few instructors mentioned versions of this as well, “We’ve tried to emphasize the importance of the assignments with lots of explanations about why we create these assignments and how they can improve understanding (and grades!) but also try to weight those assignments low enough in the grade to de-incentivize cheating."  We hope this tips help you as you work to navigate an increasingly digital world with your students.  (A note from Macmillan here:  If you do think that you are seeing some of our problems appearing on other sites, with answers, please report these to our piracy team so we can continue to work to maintain the integrity of our content.  Thank you! ) ... View more