Minerva Monthly Update Highlights - July 2022

The July update to Minerva introduces new features and improvements to existing functionality with a focus on assessment, grading, module content and accessibility. Some issues with copying content have also been resolved. 

New features

Module Content

• View files inline - PDF, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Open Office, Text, audio and image files will now display directly in Minerva Ultra Course View modules rather than download by default (N.B. .xlsx, .xls, .xlst, .csv, and .tsv files over 10MB can only be downloaded.) Students will also automatically have the option to download the file.  Staff have the option to review the file settings. Staff can select that the file can be: viewed inline/with download option (the default and recommended option); view inline only; or download only. For important/complex documentation, it is advisable to review the inline version to ensure formatting is maintained.  

• Support for Blank Page copying - Blank Page can be copied from Original (21/22) modules to Ultra Course View modules. It will be recreated as a Document.

Gradebook 

• You can now set up the overall grade to be calculated as a point value, it was previously only possible to set the format as weighted. It is also possible to display the overall grade in points, in the past this could only be set as a grade letter or percentage. 
• You can also choose to display the overall grade as a running total. When you set up the overall grade, select ‘Base calculation on points earned out of total marked points’ if you wish to have a running total. 
• A download of the Gradebook history is now available. Please note that only grades posted (returned) to students are listed in the Gradebook history. 

Tests 

• Display one question at a time – new prohibit backtracking option. This allows instructors to force a sequence through questions in an assessment. Once a student answers a question and continues to the next, they cannot then go back to review previous questions. 

• Edit points a student earns on a test question - Instructors can now change the points an individual student earns on an assessment question. The points field supports negative and positive values with up to two decimal points. 
• Question Pools – these can now be copied to Ultra Course View as a Question Bank (previously known as Question Pools in Original view). If you have a Test with questions linked to a Pool, you will need to copy the Test (from where it is deployed in the module) AND the Question Pool (you will see a folder called Question Banks when you go to copy – this contains the Pools from the module.) Make sure you copy both at the same time. This should result in both the Test and Pool being copied with supported question types linked as before

Accessibility 

• Math formulas added via the Ultra Course View content editor are now rendered in Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) format. This means that users can zoom without quality being affected, making for a more accessible experience.  

 

Resolved issues

Copying content 

• Content copied into Learning Modules was incorrectly placed at the top level of Module Content. This issue has been resolved. You will still see an error message stating the structure will be changed, however, this is incorrect – your content will be copied into the correct location. 
• When copying a Document containing HTML, the HTML could not be edited in the copy. This issue is now resolved.