The Latest Enhancements in Achieve

Blackboard Content Deployment: With improved Achieve-Blackboard integration, content deployment and folder selection can now be managed directly within Achieve, ensuring a more seamless course setup.

Completion Timestamps in Gradebooks: Gradebooks now include enhanced "Date Completed" timestamps for students and instructors, clarifying when a student finishes an activity, and improving understanding of progress and accountability.

In LearningCurve: You'll see a "Target Score Reached" timestamp, even if the goal is met after the due date.

Assessment Clarity: The "Date Completed" will not change after the due date, regardless of any actions taken (like reviewing problems).

Create a Course in the Correct Template: By displaying the template name in the "My Courses" list and throughout course creation workflows, instructors can avoid errors during course setup. This update ensures that courses are created or copied with accuracy and efficiency.

LMS Grade Sync for Post-Due Date Reporting: This updated grade sync process from Achieve to the LMS allows grades to be reported only after the assignment's due date (instructors must select this option). This improvement aligns with user expectations and resolves the current issue of syncing grades based on individual student completion instead of the main assignment due date.

Maintain Assignment Order in LMS Sync: With this update, Achieve will ensure the assignment order matches the order of content when synced to the LMS, making course setup simpler and faster. This update eliminates the need to reorder content after syncing, reducing the time spent on administrative tasks.

Reset and Reopen Assessments When Granting Extensions: Instructors can now directly reopen or reset assignments when granting due date extensions, eliminating manual resets later. This update simplifies assessment management, reduces confusion, and streamlines the extension process.

Weekly Course Home View: A new weekly assignment view makes it easier for instructors and students to navigate their course home. This update streamlines progress tracking and introduces a more intuitive design for easier organization.

GRS: Insight Card Improvements: The enhanced GRS Insight cards streamline access to aggregated student feedback, helping instructors quickly identify student challenges and gain actionable insights. Key enhancements include:

• Keyword search function for student responses
• The option to expand or collapse views
• Updated "Challenges" card featuring student comments and email addresses
• Faster loading times for larger courses

Insight Cards Redesign: The updated Insights tab now pre-loads all Insight cards and organizes them into three key areas: Assignment Performance, Course Performance, and Goal-Setting/Reflection Surveys (with GRS already included). This streamlined layout enables instructors to quickly access important data, saving time and effort in managing insights.

iClicker: RGS Participation/Performance Syncing: Enhanced options for iClicker’s Roster & Grade Sync (RGS) allow separate syncing for participation and performance points. This update, previously in Classic integrations, improves grade management in the Cloud, giving instructors better control and transparency over grades.

AI Tutor Enhancement: Enhancements have been made to the user interface of the Student Homework experience for the AI Tutor. These user-informed improvements are designed to optimize both the user experience and the tutor's pedagogical approach, ensuring students receive the right support at the right time—without creating overreliance on the AI.

See if it’s available for your discipline, and try it yourself!

AI Tutor: Expanded Availability: By popular demand, the AI Tutor will be available in open beta in Spring 2025 for additional disciplines. Instructors will be able to opt-in for all current versions of templates in these disciplines: Analytical Chemistry, Astronomy, Biochemistry, Environmental Science, Evolution, Genetics, Geography, Non-Majors Biology, Nutrition, IGOB Pilots

iClicker: AI Question Creator Updates: Instructors can now upload files as context for question creation, streamlining the development of customized course content. New question management tools include: copying question sets, adding descriptions, multi-delete, and adding more questions to individual sets.

Create a free instructor account today to try it out!

iClicker: Instructor Desktop Timer: A new timer tool is now available for any timed classroom activity, adding another layer of interactivity to the teaching and learning experience. Accessible via the app toolbar, the Desktop Timer can be used anytime, improving functionality and supporting effective classroom management.

iClicker: Student Access and Subscriptions: The latest improvements to iClicker Student Access and Subscriptions simplify navigation and understanding of subscription requirements for each course. Students can now easily differentiate between: attendance-only, Achieve-covered, and site-licensed subscriptions.

This update clarifies which subscription is required for each course and when it’s needed, helping students make informed purchasing decisions.

iClicker: Student Reactions: New emoji reactions let students share their thoughts in real-time during class, expressing feelings like confusion or excitement. Accessible via the floating toolbar, this feature enhances student engagement and helps instructors better understand students’ emotions and understanding.

Instructor Pages: Highlights and Annotations: Students can make private highlights and annotations on course materials, while instructors can easily share their notes. This private note-taking enhances effective studying, while instructor-shared notes boost engagement with the material.

Short-Form Writing Assignments: Short-form writing assignments empower students to reflect on prompts and content, enabling instructors to focus on the substance of their writing instead of the mechanics. These new low-stakes assignments help educators assess students' true understanding of the topic.

What are Course Content Updates? Course Content Updates keep your course current, relevant, and aligned with the latest developments in your field and learning science. Integrated seamlessly into Achieve, these updates are available throughout the year, giving you the flexibility to incorporate them into your course on your timeline.

Biology Updates: Real-World Simulations in What is Life?Interactive simulations bring biology concepts to life through real-world scenarios, with teaching tools like PowerPoints and worksheets included for Phelan, What is Life? 5th Edition.

Communications Updates: A.I. Tools for Speech Communication

Interactive activities and an instructor guide help students critically and responsibly incorporate A.I. into speech assignments while fostering ethical awareness.

Economics Updates:

NEW Interactive Graphing Questions: Achieve now features interactive graphing questions across 30+ key Principles topics, helping students visualize and apply economic concepts in real time. With 5-10 questions per topic, students manipulate economic models, interpret real-world data, and strengthen critical thinking skills.

Updated Math and Graphing Tutorials: Interactive tutorials covering 10 key math topics now include new videos, algorithmic questions, reflection prompts, and immediate feedback to help students master essential skills.

Decision Points for Every Chapter: Scenario-based activities in Stevenson/Wolfers texts are now available for every chapter to help you engage students in real-world decision-making and critical thinking.

Decision Points Fully Adapted for Canada: Scenario-based activities in Milligan/Oreopoulos/Stevenson/Wolfers texts created to help you engage students in real-world decision-making and critical thinking are now fully adapted for Canada.

Math & Statistics Updates

NEW Pre-Built Homework Assignments: Every section of Taalman’s Calculus with Integrated Precalculus in Achieve now includes pre-built homework assignments, adapted from end-of-chapter questions and Achieve’s extensive calculus library, saving you time and simplifying course setup.

Interactive Video Activities for Algebra Review: Help students review topics like rounding, proportions, and functions through engaging video content.

Calculus Placement Test: Assess prerequisite knowledge with a 25-question placement test to identify review needs and guide student learning.

Updated Excel Tutorials for Statistics: New 3–5-minute videos deepen statistical analysis skills in Excel, perfect for lab settings or individual assignments.

100+ New Introductory Psychology Videos: Expanded video collection covering Alzheimer’s, bias, therapy advances, and more, all assignable and assessable with gradebook reporting.

80+ New Developmental Psychology Videos: New videos and activities illustrate key concepts while addressing privacy concerns, making it easier to connect course material to real-life applications.

AI-powered Tutor*: The AI chatbot-embedded Assessment homework offers instant guidance and personalized support, promoting meaningful learning without giving away answers. It reduces reliance on external resources (such as Google or Chegg) and allows students to ask questions anytime, leading to better preparation and more productive discussions during office hours.

*Limited to specific courses in Fall 2024.

Content-First Assessments: Enhance understanding of core concepts with short, interactive activities that merge multimedia content with assessment. These assessments empower students to self-evaluate progress, fostering metacognition and self-reflection in an engaging, low-pressure environment.

Contextualized Student Assessments: This feature streamlines grading settings for instructors and clarifies assessment criteria for students, enhancing the assessment experience by improving grading settings creation and offering clear assessment guidelines. Feature 3: iClicker: AI Question Creator

iClicker: AI Question Creator: This AI-powered tool enables educators to seamlessly create engaging questions for classroom activities, effectively addressing the challenge of fostering active learning while significantly reducing the time spent on devising questions. Learn More

iClicker: Formula/Symbol Question Type: The new iClicker Formula/Symbol question type enables students to answer with equations, mathematical expressions, symbols, and Greek letters. This feature provides instructors, especially those in STEM fields, with the ability to ask more complex polling questions, presenting a more engaging challenge beyond the typical Multiple Choice.

Achieve's Support Community Search: Access curated help content seamlessly through Achieve's Help Center search, designed to provide quick and easy answers within the platform.

Content Collection: Consolidate all instructor resources onto a single page, streamlining access to prebuilt publisher materials and custom content to easily search and filter.

Create Pages with HTML Editor: This feature introduces a new user-friendly HTML editor, making it easy for instructors to create an HTML page and integrate it with other Achieve course content. With centralized updates, changes to one document automatically apply across all courses, streamlining content management.

Enhanced Gradebook Export: Instructors can optimize their workflow by exporting only the Course Total and Category Totals for each course. Select your preferred grading format from the export dialog box, offering a simpler view of grades and enhanced flexibility to accommodate your needs.

iClicker Events for Site Licenses: Now available for site license institutions, iClicker Events transforms audience engagement at meetings and events. With easy-to-use live polling and insightful data gathering, it enhances interactivity and fosters connections, making every gathering a success. The best part is that participants don't need an iClicker account to join, making engagement easy and accessible. Learn More

iClicker's Mobile Quick Join: Enroll in courses or join events on the go with a simple scan of a QR code, a join code, or a quick search (for courses). This feature streamlines the iClicker app experience, making it faster, more convenient, and reducing errors.

Printable Assessments (Beta): Printable Assessmenprovidedes a convenient option to print Assessments (exams and homework) with unanswered questions, simplifying the process of accommodating student needs, administering exams, and meeting departmental requirements.

Side Panel for Gradebook: Simplify your workflow and manage assignment details, student notes, and due date extensions directly within the Gradebook. This pop-up side panel feature ensures a seamless experience across Achieve, allowing instructors to effortlessly extend due dates, update scores, and annotate within the context of real-time Gradebook data.

Student Activity Launch Log Export: Instructors can now download logs detailing each time a student initiates an activity in Achieve, providing crucial insights into students' work habits and verifying their system usage times. This feature enhances instructors' understanding and oversight of student engagement.

Topic Selector for Course Setup: When creating a new course, instructors can easily customize the course by reviewing, reordering, removing, or adding chapters/modules right from the start. This streamlined process enhances the course setup experience, making it simpler for instructors to personalize prebuilt courses to their liking.

Enhanced LTI Advantage: Seamlessly deploy ungraded content in Canvas with LTI 1.3 (LTI Advantage). We've expanded LTI 1.3 capabilities to bridge the gap with our current integrations, ensuring a superior user experience with more flexibility and improved functionality.

Streamlined Content Deployment to Canvas: Enhance content deployment to Canvas by utilizing the LTI 1.3 (LTI Advantage) update, ensuring a seamless Achieve-Canvas integration. This upgrade simplifies the transition to LTI 1.3 for institutions, offering a smoother, more intuitive experience for users.

Notifications of New Resourcess: A new notification feature that shines a spotlight on recently added resources in the Content Library. Educators can easily identify, review, and incorporate new material into their courses, keeping course materials relevant and up-to-date.

New Features in Achieve Essentials: Three of the most popular features from the premium version of Achieve are available now in Achieve Essentials courses – at no extra cost. Help students learn metacognitive skills with Goal-setting and Reflection Surveys. Engage students in class with iClicker. Gain actionable data on students’ performance with Reports and Insights.
Take a self-guided tour of our new features!

Google Classroom Integration: For K12 Achieve users, the seamless integration with Google Classroom creates a conduit for deep connectivity. Asset level linking, assignment creation, automatic and manual grade synchronization, class rostering, and direct access to Achieve, are all made effortlessly accessible through the user-friendly interface of Google Classroom.

Millie: In-Product Chatbot: Millie is seamlessly integrated into your workflow, providing self-service and live agent support within Achieve. Access help without leaving your tasks through Achieve's chat icon or the "Chat With Us" option in the Help Center. From onboarding to maximizing product usage, Millie is your dedicated support.

Individual Student Gradebook View: Gain a comprehensive overview of each student's performance with the new Individual Student Gradebook View. It provides a snapshot of a student's progress across all assignments, scores, due dates, and completion dates, proving invaluable for office hours, post-class discussions, or determining the need for additional support.

Academic Integrity: Limiting Copy/Paste: To protect academic integrity, assessment question text is now safeguarded against easy copying and pasting into other systems. This measure acts as a deterrent against cheating.

Video Assessment Grading Flexibility: Achieve’s unique video and assessment pairing just got better. Now, you can have questions alongside the video at specific timestamps and set late allowances, including the option for students to complete work after the due date. This enhancement better caters to instructor needs while preserving the activity’s low-stakes nature. Available in selected Achieve courses that utilize video assessment activities.

Sync Assignments in Bulk: (Canvas) Providing access to assignments in the Learning Management System (LMS) has never been easier. Now, Canvas offers the ability to sync multiple items simultaneously, allowing you to save valuable time and effort. Note: This is for Canvas 1.0, not LTI Advantage (1.3).

iClicker Text Recognition [Pilot]: In a pilot phase and available upon request, iClicker can now automatically present text within question images during live polling and post-class study sessions. This key development ensures a more equitable learning experience, particularly benefiting students using screen reader assistive technology.

Reusing Content Across Courses: Save time and effort by copying and reusing saved work such as custom assessments created and included in an Achieve course to another course — all with just a few clicks! You can quickly customize your courses by drawing from already-created work, making it easier to deliver unique and impactful lessons tailored to your student's needs.

Adjust Due Dates Across Terms: Set up your new courses with ease by carrying over assignment dates from previous terms or sections. You can easily reset the due dates for all assignments based on the first assignment's date — or choose not to copy over any dates at all! This eliminates the need to manually input each individual due date, making it much easier to set up your course.

TA Role: You can now add TAs to your courses and grant them grading permissions while limiting other instructor rights. This streamlines course management by enabling TAs to interact with the Gradebook as "restricted instructors," allowing easy addition or removal of TAs as needed.

Bulk Due Date Extension: Easily extend due dates in bulk for Achieve assignments, for individuals or groups. This is invaluable for students struggling to meet deadlines, allowing you to give extra time without the hassle of adjusting each assignment individually.

Drag and Drop Due Date Extension from Calendar: Adjust assignment due dates directly from the calendar for individual students, groups, or the whole class. This feature saves time and simplifies the process of granting extensions.

Reopen and Reset Timed Quizzes: Timed quizzes can now be reopened and reset, enabling students to continue from where they left off or start anew. This option is available for all quiz types, including Multi-Take Quiz, making quiz retakes more manageable.

Interactive Video Assessment: Introduce your students to concepts with a new, engaging assessment experience that intersperses knowledge check questions within high-quality video content. This feature offers visibility into students' assessment experiences while addressing the rising need for immersive learning and is available within a growing set of courses.

Video Exploration Assessments: Limited to Developmental Psychology, this enhanced version of interactive activities (formerly known as “Video Activities”) combines valuable, engaging content with assessment questions. Gain visibility into your student's work and guide them as they progress, creating a more effective and comprehensive learning experience.

Accessibility and User Interface Updates for Writing Tools: Experience improved guidance and support in setting up and managing writing assignments. Our improved usability and design features make it simple to navigate, create writing assignments, and monitor student progress.

Assessment Response Tab: New navigation makes it easier for you to locate and access essential Assessment data. This change prioritizes what you need by making student insights even easier to find.

Pre-authored Quizzing in iClicker: iClicker Pre-Authored Quizzing allows you to display pre-authored questions in the mobile student app and upload quiz questions as PDFs for self-paced quizzing during synchronous class time. This practical feature saves time on creating, administering, and grading quizzes, enabling you to concentrate on student engagement.

iClicker Groups: *iClicker Groups make it easy for you to set up and conduct group activities and manage group collaborations. This new polling feature guides students through consensus-building, promotes peer-to-peer learning, and ensures every voice is heard. By requiring consensus before answer submission, it encourages active participation by all group members and interaction among students and helps to add the value of group learning — only a click away on the iClicker toolbar.

*iClicker is included at no extra fee to students in most Achieve courses.

Allow Late Submissions

WHAT IT IS: Gives instructors the option to allow late assignments and set the grade impact. Applies to the many assignment options in Achieve: Learning Curve, Read & Practice, Links, Files, Interactives, readings, in-class activity guides, Smart Worksheets, ESHA (a 3rd party nutrition tracking tool used for Analyze my Diet Activities), and GoReact Video Assignments.

WHY IT MATTERS: Enhances connections to individual student needs and offers instructors greater flexibility to have assigned practice (e.g. Learning Curve) and late submissions count towards completion grades.

Grade All Drafts

WHAT IT IS: Continues to enhance grading capabilities by adding the ability to grade drafts including peer reviews. For students, allows them to see due dates for drafts and gradebook entries in the LMS for all writing assignments, including drafts and peer review.

WHY IT MATTERS: Helps students manage due dates and gain greater visibility into gradebook entries and gives instructors the flexibility to grade interim - not just final - drafts. Especially helpful in courses that use writing assignments.

Added Content Selection Options

WHAT IT IS: Adds additional content categories to enable enhanced search capability and helps to convey the purpose of the content.

WHY IT MATTERS: Helps instructors more easily find and understand the purpose of the most highly sought-after and high-value content.

Added Aides to Finding Assessment Questions By Type:

WHAT IT IS: Adds a new search and filter option in the assessment question bank to identify which questions contain variable content.

WHY IT MATTERS: Makes it easier for instructors to find the questions that will provide additional randomization within their assessments, which assists in cheating prevention.

Improvements to Time-on-Task Insights Cards

WHAT IT IS: New in Fall 2022, Time-on-Task Insights Cards enable instructors to proactively communicate estimated time to complete assignments. Aggregated time-on-task data also makes it easy for instructors to identify time-on-task outliers.

NEW - SPRING 2023: Introduces new navigation for Insight Cards section of Achieve that allows instructors to choose the data they want to see in half the clicks and revamps insight cards to address feedback on desired data insights to display.

WHY IT MATTERS: Helps students plan and manage their time for assignments. Helps instructors identify area for intervention and detect cheating; research demonstrates a direct connection between time pressure and increased likelihood to cheat.

Easier Assignment Sync with Canvas

WHAT IT IS: Gives instructors the ability to deploy an assignment directly from Achieve to their Canvas course. Instructors can organize assignments into Canvas modules directly from Achieve, change Achieve resources and have them refresh automatically in Canvas. Changes made in Achieve will automatically reflect in Canvas.

WHY IT MATTERS: Makes it easier to push assignments to Canvas from Achieve by reducing steps instructors need to take and removes the need for a content refresh. For more information including how to link your course in Canvas, please see the updated Instructor guide.

Category and Course Total Grade Sync with Blackboard

WHAT IT IS: Offers options for instructors using Blackboard LTI Advantage for how they want grades to sync; introduces the ability to automatically sync individual, category, and course totals.

WHY IT MATTERS: Creates options for how instructors can view Achieve grades in the LMS gradebook.

iClicker Screen Capture

WHAT IT IS: Shares screen captures with students in the iClicker mobile student application without having to activate the polling feature.

WHY IT MATTERS: Facilitates sharing of content with students to help them use iClicker for studying after class. With iClicker’s Study Tools, students get a copy of content, polls, quizzes, and other material shared and can create flashcards or a practice test for review.

GoReact Video Assignments

WHAT IT IS: Supports video assignments in Public Speaking and Human Communication courses via technology integration with GoReact. Enables feedback that aligns with specific points in the video.

WHY IT MATTERS: Helps students by giving them a way to easily submit videos and comment on videos as part of their speech communication assignments. For instructors, the feature makes it easy to collect, track and provide feedback on video assignments or make video content available for student comments.

Achieve Editable E-books

WHAT IT IS: Introduces a new way to create and edit Custom Achieve e-books using VitalSource Studio bringing together custom-authored content with video, images, and assessments created by Macmillan. Facilitates creation and self-editing for the author and allows ongoing edits to be made and published to Achieve quickly.

WHY IT MATTERS: Gives authors greater ability to update their own content as needed - before and after publishing the course in Achieve. Provides the flexibility of custom digital publishing with the added benefit of interactive elements like videos and assessments. By publishing to Achieve get added benefits of accessibility, Goal Setting & Reflection Surveys, Insights and Reports, LMS integration and more.

Lab Simulations 2.0

WHAT IT IS: Adds even greater support for accessibility by adding features such as colorblind mode and keyboard navigation. Simulations available for Biology and Chemistry labs take lab learning beyond the classroom. The new lab environment now has in-lab procedures and a lab notebook integrated for an improved student experience.

WHY IT MATTERS: Enhanced simulations provide improved lab access to all students, regardless of location or ability. All-in-one lab environment prevents the need to leave the lab simulation or use paper.

Lab Smart Worksheets

WHAT IT IS: Helps students learn, check, and progress in data entry associated with their labs by providing specific, targeted feedback in an auto-graded assignment. Includes features such as graphing, balancing equations, complex calculations and timeline mode.

WHY IT MATTERS: Improves student data analysis skills by allowing them to work through the Smart Worksheet with their own lab data while receiving guided feedback and hints along the way. Helps students learn through the guided experience and avoid the frustrations of missed calculations which can compound during an experiment. Saves instructors time grading and provides grade consistency

Video with Integrated Assessment

WHAT IT IS: Introduces a new pause-and-play video assessment student experience in a limited beta trial (by invitation only). Videos are paired with assessment questions in a low-stakes, engaging environment. The student is prompted to watch a video, which pauses at designated checkpoints, to present the students with questions to test their understanding.

WHY IT MATTERS: Allows students to have a low-stakes assessment experience that promotes learning with video and addresses instructor needs to better assess learning. Limited beta (invitation only)