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Release Notes v2.106 September 2024

Hannah
Updated

The new release update is scheduled for 6th September 2024 2-3 pm CET and contains the following:

New releases

  • New chat flow and AI Chat Assistant

  • Customizable grade adjustments rules in Group Contribution Grading

  • Conditional grade posting to the LMS based on activity engagement

Improvements for all users

  • Removal of ‘Mark as Done’ Feature in Interactive Study Material

  • Improvements to copying FeedbackFruits activities in the LMS

    • Canvas Setup Instructions for Option to Copy a Specific Original Item

Improvements for teachers and LMS admins

  • Improved auto-grouping in Group Formation

  • Improved user experience in Group Contribution Grading

  • Improved Shared Library roles

New releases

New Chat Flow & AI Chat Assistant

We are happy to introduce our AI Chat Assistant - this is an automated service that answers user questions, while still creating a clear pathway to speak to one of our human agents where desired.

We have additionally added a triaging flow in our chat service - this will help you to get the right kind of support quickly and efficiently. You can click on any of the three buttons from the landing page to begin.

New chat landing page showing our 3 triage options - I have a question, I found a bug, or I want to request a new feature.

(Fig 1.: new chat landing page)

The AI Chat Assistant will always offer the option to talk to a person after it answers

(Fig 2.: The AI Chat Assistant will always offer the option to talk to a person after it answers)

An example question and answer within the Chat Assistant interface

Fig 3.: An example question and answer within the Chat Assistant interface)

What are the key benefits?

By adding a triaging flow, we aim to:

  • Increase user satisfaction by providing the right resources for their needs

  • Generate more efficient data on user support needs

The enhancements we see the Chat Assistant providing are:

  • Lowered user wait times

  • Efficient support handling of less complex issues

  • Effective utilisation of our help centre resources

    • Easy identification of resource improvement areas

  • Human support agents having more time to spend on complex issues

We should also highlight that the AI Chat Assistant will learn using our public resources and prior conversation solutions - this would take the form of problems addressed by our support team in the past and solutions given that were met with a positive response from users and does not include any kind of personal data like names or email addresses.

Read more about our Chat Assistant in our transparency note here: Transparency Note: FeedbackFruits AI Chat Assistant

How to use it?

Our triaging flow will be immediately applicable to all users in all regions - use “I have a question” to ask a general question, “I found a bug” to report a bug or an error, and “I want to ask for a new feature” to make a feature request.

Out of these three flows, the chat assistant is available in “I have a question” only for now. Every branch of the flow has a button to “talk to a person” so you will never get stuck in a robot loop of incorrect or irrelevant information.

Why did we create this?

By introducing this AI agent, we're aiming to provide efficient support with a smooth user experience while still allowing any users who want to be routed to our human support team to do so.

What’s the availability?

Both the Chat Assistant and the triage flow will be available by default to all users as of the 6th September 2024.

Customizable grade adjustments rules in Group Contribution Grading

We are excited to announce a significant update to the Group Contribution Grading feature in Group Member Evaluation.

In addition to setting thresholds for performance categories, instructors now have the ability to customize grade adjustment rules based on students’ Group Contribution Factor or Group Skill Factor. This replaces the previous system where grade adjustments were fixed for each performance category, such as automatically assigning a zero to students with a low Group Contribution Factor or Group Skill Factor.

Customizable grade adjustment rules in Group Skill Factor

(Fig. 1: Customizable grade adjustment rules in Group Skill Factor)

Customizable grade adjustment rules in Group Contribution Factor with all possible adjustment options shown

(Fig. 2: Customizable grade adjustment rules in Group Contribution Factor with all possible adjustment options shown)

What are the key benefits?

  • More Control and Flexibility: Whether instructors want to multiply grades by the factor, add or subtract points, or even choose not to adjust grades at all, they now have full control for every performance category. This flexibility allows instructors to apply grading rules that are fairer and more appropriate for their needs.

  • Save Time: Previously, instructors who wished to use their own grade adjustment rules needed to do so manually through the analytics export. With the new in-tool customization, instructors can make these adjustments directly and easily, saving time and reducing administrative workload.

How to use it?

Configure the grade adjustment rules directly in the Group Member Evaluation tool.

The suggested grade adjustments in existing assignments where Group Contribution Grading is enabled are not impacted by this release: they will remain the same values.

📚 Read more about how to use Group Contribution Factor with a practical example here

📚 Read more about how to use Group Skill Factor with a practical example here

Why did we create this?

We made this update based on feedback from educators who found the old system too rigid. Instructors from various universities reported that the inability to customize grade adjustments led to unfair grading outcomes and a cumbersome grading process. By replacing the fixed rules with customizable ones, we aim to provide a more flexible and efficient tool that better meets more instructors’ grading needs.

What’s the availability?

This new feature will be automatically available to all partners with access to Group Member Evaluation upon release, without the need for additional requests.

This includes: Get Started, Feedback & Assessment, Custom Pedagogies (if applicable), Competency-Based Assessment, and Teaching & Learning System.

Conditional grade posting to the LMS based on activity engagement

We have introduced a new feature that allows only students who have opened the activity to receive a grade in the LMS. When this feature is enabled, students who have not opened an activity will not receiving a grade of 0 in the LMS. Instead, they will not receive a grade at all. This can be particularly useful in scenarios where the presence of any grade is intended to indicate attendance or participation in the learning activity.

How to use it:

Currently, this feature is feature-flagged and can be enabled for an institution upon request. Institutions interested in enabling this feature should contact their FeedbackFruits account manager to have it activated.

These updates are aimed at enhancing the usability and accuracy of FeedbackFruits within your LMS, providing more precise control and better alignment with your institutional needs.

Improvements for all users

Removal of ‘Mark as Done’ Feature in Interactive Study Material

We are updating how progress is tracked in Interactive Study Material by removing the ‘Mark as Done’ feature.

Previously, students could manually mark their work as done, which was reflected in the analytics table visible to teachers. When grading was configured in the Interactive Study Material, progress was already tracked automatically based on required questions, discussion threads, and other activities, without the need for the ‘Mark as Done’ feature.

This current behavior remains unchanged when grading is configured, which is often the case. However, for Interactive Study Materials without grading configured, progress will now be tracked based on whether or not a student has viewed the material, instead of relying on the manual ‘Mark as Done’ action.

This change aims to simplify the user experience and ensure consistent progress measurement across all Interactive Study Materials.

Improvements to copying FeedbackFruits activities in the LMS

We are introducing important improvements to the process of copying FeedbackFruits activities within your Learning Management System (LMS).

Previously, when making a copy of a course, the system would mistakenly copy the oldest version of an activity instead of the most recent one. With the upcoming release, two key changes will be effective:

  1. Default Copying of the Most Recent Activity: FeedbackFruits will now default to copying the most recent version of an activity in the copy chain, rather than the oldest. This change will be effective with the next release and applies to all institutions using FeedbackFruits.

  2. Option to Copy a Specific Original Item: We are also introducing the option to copy the exact original activity that was copied from, providing greater control when intentionally duplicating an older version.

Canvas Setup Instructions for Option to Copy a Specific Original Item

For the new option to copy a specific original item to be effective in Canvas, institutions need to modify the configuration of the LTI tool. Specifically, institutions using a Manual Developer Key should follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Developer Keys section in your LMS.

  2. Locate the LTI key for FeedbackFruits and select Edit.

  3. Expand the Additional Settings section.

  4. In the Custom Fields field, add the following value on a new line: context_id_history= $Context.id.history.

  5. Save the key.

No further action is required from our side; once the change is made, the new behavior will be effective immediately.

Institutions using an Inherited Key in Canvas do not need to make any changes, as this new behavior will be automatically rolled out to Inherited Keys by FeedbackFruits.

These improvements are designed to enhance the copying process, making it more intuitive and aligned with your specific needs when managing course content.

Improvements for teachers and LMS admins

Improved auto-grouping in Group Formation

We’ve enhanced the auto-grouping process in the Group Formation tool to make it more reliable and user-friendly. Auto-grouping now works more smoothly, ensuring groups are successfully formed every time. Additionally, instructors can start the process, close the window, and return later to see and publish the completed groups, making it especially convenient for larger courses.

New system message related to the group formation process

(Fig. 1: New system message related to the group formation process)

Improved user experience in Group Contribution Grading

We have improved the in-product guidance for Group Contribution Grading. The explanations for key terms like "Group Skill Factor" and "Group Contribution Factor" have been simplified, so instructors can easily understand how the factors are calculated in the tool. We have also updated all text for this feature to make everything clearer and more user-friendly. These changes help ensure that Group Contribution Grading is straightforward and easy to follow even for new users.

Example of updated dialog for Group Contribution Grading. This shows the dialog when Group Skill Factor is chosen in the configuration

(Fig. 1: Example of updated dialog for Group Contribution Grading. This shows the dialog when Group Skill Factor is chosen in the configuration)

Improved Shared Library roles

With the success of Shared Libraries providing a space for disciplines, departments and programs within an institution to collaborate on templates we are expanding the editor and viewer functionality. Previously users were automatically given the editor role if they had been granted specific admin rights. Now when adding users you can now select whether that person is an editor or viewer of that library.

Editors can contribute with templates of activities, rubrics and learning journeys. Viewers can only see this content in their LMS environment.

We are excited to see this functionality enable institutions to better collaborate and share resources between teachers.

New library settings screen showing the editor/viewer role options

(fig. 1: New library settings screen showing the editor/viewer role options)

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