Minerva Monthly Update - December

In the December update, there are improved audio/video options for feedback in Blackboard Assessment tools (e.g. Assignment, Test), as well as improvements to Discussions, the MathJax integration and a new option for conditional availability. There are also some improvements to how Groups display when there are no members, and staff now see the Learning Modules table of contents (available to students since August).

Audio/Video Feedback for Blackboard Assessments

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.

Discussions

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.

Conditional Availability improvements

In Minerva, you can restrict access to content via Conditional Availability (using criteria such as user, date or interaction with assessments). With this update, you can also specify access by interaction with content.  For example, you can release content based on whether someone has accessed another item - eg, Document or link.

Read our guide on Conditional Availability to find out more.

Groups

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 - Table of contents

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

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.