Minerva Monthly Updates

Staff can now lock specific answer options in a fixed position so they remain in place when other options are randomised. This is useful for answer choices such as 'None of the above' or 'All of the above' that should always appear at the end of the list regardless of randomisation settings.

When creating or editing a multiple choice or multiple answer question, you can designate specific answer options as locked. First select 'Randomise answers' in the Test Settings, then select the lock icon next to the answer option. Locked options remain in their set position during randomisation while all other options shuffle as expected.

Instructors can remove a lock any time while editing the question before students have submitted attempts. Once students have submitted attempts, locking and randomisation settings are fixed and cannot be changed to ensure fairness.

Staff can now add feedback for each answer option in multiple choice and multiple answer questions. This helps students understand why each choice is correct or incorrect after an attempt is submitted.

When creating or editing a multiple choice or multiple answer question, staff can turn on 'Option Feedback', which prompts Feedback textboxes to appear beneath each answer option. Instructors can enter the answer options and feedback for any of the options.

At this time, option-level feedback is displayed to students for all answer options. We have been advised that in a future release, students will only see option level feedback for the answers they select.

Discussions that are hidden within a learning module or folder are no longer accessible from the Discussions tab. Discussions now follow the release conditions applied at the learning module/folder level.

There are new options when setting up a Blackboard Assignment. These allow you to specify whether the student uploads a file for the submission or uses the editor (or you can allow both options). In the settings, you will see these new options in the Submission Details section.

Select File Upload if you just want students to upload files, and select 'Editor (text, video)' if you want students to use the editor (note, to submit video, students must use Panopto - our new platform for Media Enhanced Learning and lecture capture which will replace Mediasite in 2026-27). Read our blog for more information about Panopto, this includes information on how to become an early adopter.

Read our guide on Blackboard Assignment for more information on this tool.

A recent update meant that you could specify how many answers a student could select, with the default being 4. Following feedback, this update changes the default to 1. If there is more than one correct answer, this is flagged in the interface, prompting you to change the number of answers a student can select.

Name display

The name display format is now linked to the selected sort order. By default, student names are now shown as 'Surname, First Name' to help instructors quickly locate students. When sorting by 'First Name (ascending or descending)', names display as  'First Name, Surname.'

Group Assessment

It is easier to adjust grades for an individual student within a group submission, which can now be done in the Flexible Grading interface. In the Group Members section, individual grades can be entered. The student sees this grade only, instead of the grade for the overall group.

When grading Discussions, staff now see 'substantive content' and 'non-substantive content' labels as an aid to the marking process.

When creating an AI Conversation, it is now possible to specify how many messages a student can post. This can help students understand how many interactions are expected for the activity.

As part of the student instructions, there is an option to enter the maximum number of messages possible under Conversation Constraints:

As a student undertakes the activity, they will see a countdown of the messages they have remaining.

Read our AI Conversations guide for more information.

Announcement emails now display previews of images included in an Announcement. These image previews replace the previous image links that appeared as filenames in the email. When users select an image, it opens on a separate page for a larger, more detailed view. This update makes announcement content clearer and easier to understand directly from the email.

To navigate to the announcement within Minerva itself, users can select View Announcement in the email message.

Instructors can now stack blocks in a single column in Documents to create cleaner layouts and reduce whitespace. A new toggle in the block toolbar allows switching between column-level and block-level editing. In column mode, actions apply to the entire column. In block mode, instructors can resize, move, or delete individual blocks.

Columns can also be dropped into another block’s area for more flexible layouts. These changes work with existing features such as undo/redo, printing, and AI layout generation. This enhancement also includes accessibility improvements for screen readers.

The changes are part of a series of enhancements planned throughout 2026 to improve the user experience for both staff and students.  They include:

• full-screen pages reducing visual clutter for items in the navigation bar such as Content, Calendar, Announcements, Discussions, Gradebook and Groups
• a module switcher function, allowing you to quickly move between your four most recent modules and giving you access to your full module list
• where there is a module banner this is now full-width displaying the module name and ID freeing up vertical space and improving contextual clarity

The module navigation bar will also now display above the banner (above the module name and ID where there is no banner) and a new Home button will take you to the My Leeds page in Minerva.

All changes will also apply to your Minerva organisations.

You can access a short video or read detailed guidance for more information.

The options for responses to his question type have been expanded. Previously, you could only give students the option to select True or False. Now, you can select from the additional responses:

• Yes/No
• Right/Wrong
• Agree/Disagree

Following feedback, the default responses for these questions will now be 4 rather than 3.

Staff can now also define the number of answers a student can select. Previously, if there was only one answer, students could only select one. If there was more than one answer, student could select all answers.

When you create a new question, the default configuration will be:

• 4 answer options
• students can select up to 4 answers

However, you can define the number of answers required and adjust how many options a student can select.

The student view of these question types has also been updated. Previously, it was not visually clear to students if they could only select one answer. Now, for questions where students can select only one answer, the selection mechanism is radio buttons. For questions where students can select more than one answer, the selection mechanism is checkboxes.

The rendering of MCQ and True/False questions has been optimised, significantly improving load times for large tests. For example, a 200-question test now loads in ~5 seconds, down from ~25 seconds, which equates to an 80% improvement.

The technology used to create audio/video in feedback for Blackboard Assessments has been updated. Improvements include a transcript and an option to record from screen. It is also now possible to record your screen and camera at the same time.

When you select the record option, you will see these options available:

For further help, see our Using the Recording Tool in Minerva guide.

Instructors can now make clear participation requirements to students for graded Discussions. Instructors can set the number of posts and/or replies each student is required to create.

The status of participation requirements is updated through to completion, giving students a clear understanding of progress made. Participation requirements are linked to Progress Tracking, so that will be accurately displayed for students to monitor.

This update does not affect the grading interface or workflows.

Read our guide on Discussions for more information about this tool.

Previously, where there were Group submissions for a Blackboard Assignment, it was not obvious if the Group had no members.  Now, however, Groups are flagged as having no members on the submissions page.

Learning Modules can be used to structure content in Minerva (like a folder). Staff will now see a table of contents to help them move between items more easily in Learning Modules (this update came to the student experience in August).

MathJax support in the Content Editor now includes additional LaTeX delimiters for rendering mathematical formulas. This update improves compatibility with standard STEM workflows and simplifies uploading exam content without changing source files.

Instructors and students can now use:

• \(...\) for inline equations
• \[...\] for display equations

These options are in addition to the existing $ delimiters.

Before this update, you could only update point values one at a time. Now you can update point values for multiple questions in tests using new bulk editing options. This enhancement supports:

• Selecting all questions at once, with the option to deselect specific questions if desired.
• Selecting specific questions (e.g., question 1, 4, 9, 15, 16, 27, and 32) for targeted point value adjustments.
• Selecting questions by type (e.g., all True/False questions) to apply consistent point value changes across that question type.
• Selecting questions by type AND specific questions.

To access the bulk edit points option, open the Test and select the three dot menu next to the heading 'Test Content':

Then select bulk edit points from the menu:

Use the filters to refine questions to specific question types as relevant and select the questions you wish to change (individually or use select all). Use the Points field to enter the new points required. Remember to select Update to make the change.

Once you have made changes, the bulk edit points interface will close.

Read our guides on Blackboard Tests if you would like to find out more about this tool.

In a recent update, an option to hide Gradebook items from the staff view was introduced. In the Download Options, under 'Full Gradebook', you can now select whether to 'Include Hidden Items':

You can now add tags to questions, which can be useful if you plan to use Blackboard Tests extensively and wish to search your existing questions.

To use tags, switch on the Question Metadata option when you create a question:

You can add new tags (enter a tag and select Create "tag name") or select from a list of existing tags.

Fill in the blank questions now display the blanks inline with the surrounding text, whether the question is presented as a sentence, paragraph, or table. Previously, the blanks displayed underneath the question.

To improve consistency, Test settings now utilise Save and Cancel actions. Previously, some had an X icon or an option to Close/Continue.

Documents now have an option to add styling to specific content blocks. The options are:

1. Question: Use for prompts or reflective questions.
2. Tip: Use for tips, insights, or helpful suggestions.
3. Key points: Use to highlight key points or essential facts.
4. Next steps: Use for next steps or instructions.

The styling option adds colour to the border of a content block and an icon to highlight it. For example, in this image the Key points option has been used:

To add styling, go to the Document and click the Edit content option. Hover the mouse over the relevant content block. Select the styling (palette) icon and you will see the styling options plus a reset option which is for removing applied styling.

See our guide on Minerva Documents for an overview of this tool and links to further information.

When adding questions to Minerva Tests, Forms, or Question Banks, there is now an option to add a title. These are not seen by students and are only seen by staff during the creation process; i.e. they are not seen when grading. The advantage of inputting titles is that they are searchable when selecting options to reuse questions. Therefore, if you intend to reuse questions/utilise Question Banks, this may speed up processes, especially if you have a large set of questions.

The unnecessary recipients dropdown has been removed from the 'New Announcement' page. Previously, this dropdown only offered one option—sending to all module members—making it redundant.

Assignment

Staff can now use the pop-out rubric when grading group submissions. This update brings the same grading experience already available for individual submissions to group work.

The pop-out rubric is a separate, moveable window and formatted in a grid view. Previously, the rubric was only available in a side panel and formatted in a stack.

The option to pop out the rubric is available above the rubric in the marking interface.

Test

If using Group submissions for Tests, it is now possible to give bespoke feedback on each group's answer when grading. To do this, select the add feedback icon which appears above their answer, next to the question score:

MathJax now renders LaTeX when entered into the Minerva content editor. For more information, see our post on MathJax.