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Instructor Tools

Below are basic tools and features that can be utilized by the Instructor.

How to View Perusall Assignments

Reminder: Never access an assignment directly in the Perusall interface. Always navigate to Canvas first and access via the modules page.
When you access an assignment as an instructor, you'll be able to view assignment options. Do not alter any names of the imported assignments/library items. This can disconnect the content from Canvas for grades to sync automatically.

Edit assignment page for perusall instructor with different options labeled A through F
  1. Verify that it is the correct assignment you are trying to review.
  2. Select Open to open the assignment and view annotations. You can also add your own annotations and respond to students.
  3. Select Extended deadlines to give a new due date for this assignment for one student. (See below for further instruction).
  4. Select Analytics to view analytic reports. Options include Grade Distribution, Annotation Submission Time Heat Map, Page View Report, and Student Activity Report.
  5. Select Confusion Report to view a report of where most student expressed questions on the document.
  6. Select All comments to view the comments for the document for all students in one report.

How to Extend a Deadline for a Student

Extensions for Perusall assignments need to be made within the Perusall interface; adding an extension in Canvas will not extend the assignment in Perusall.
After selecting Extended deadlines (see guidance above), a pop-up dialog box will appear.

Instructor override deadline for student assignment with add deadline override labeled 1, chose student labeled 2, and new submission deadline labeled 3
  1. Select + Add deadline override.
  2. Select the student from the dropdown (students will only appear if they have access Perusall content via the Canvas course modules).
  3. Enter the new deadline.
  4. Select OK.

How to View Individual Student Work in Perusall

The Students tab on the Perusall Course Home page is where you can view analytics on specific students and view assignment submissions for a specific student.
Note: Students will not appear on the roster unless they have accessed a Perusall assignment for the class.

Individual student work dashboard for instructors select student to view labeled 1, select assignment to review labeled 2
  1. Select the student that you would like to view.
  2. Select the assignment you want to view.

View Scoring Policies

Scoring can vary by assignment or by course - you can view an assignment or course setting using the directions below.
Do NOT change the course or assignment scoring settings without prior authorization from the college. These settings are established during the course development process; the steps below are to help you view the settings only.

View Course Scoring Policies

Course scoring policy labeled 2 via settings labeled 1

Navigate to 1. Settings, and then select 2. Automatic Scoring.

View Assignment Scoring Policies

Edit assignment button outlined, arrowed and labeled 1 Scoring in assignment settings outlined, arrowed and labeled 2

Navigate to the specific assignment (use the View Assignments and Provide Extensions tab for guidance).
Select 1. Edit; a pop-up will appear. Select 2. Scoring - an assignment will either default to the course scoring policies or have custom scoring policies listed.

How Scoring Works in Perusall

Not all Perusall assignments have grades associated with them; the course developer has determined the grading policies for a Perusall assignment.
All graded Perusall assignments are automatically scored using a weighted algorithm applied to multiple scoring components. The course developer may choose to include all, some, or no scoring components. Check in the Information for Instructors area of the course for specific grading standards or contact the college.
The Perusall algorithm automatically grades students according to the following scoring components established by the developer:

  • Number of annotations
  • Quality of annotations (How is comment quality defined in Perusall?)
  • Number of times the student has accessed the assigned reading
  • How much of the document the student reads
  • Number of minutes spent reading the material
  • Number of responses and engagement with peers
  • Number of upvotes from peers/faculty

Learn more about Perusall Scoring and Grades.
Want to see the scoring setup in Perusall? Visit the Scoring Policy tab for guidance on how to view course or assignment scoring policies.

Understanding the Perusall Gradebook

Students will be listed in the Perusall gradebook once they have accessed a Perusall assignment in the course. Students must access the assignment through the Canvas modules to be assigned a grade in Canvas.
Review the Perusall Gradebook interface below:

Perusall gradebook student score labeled A, edit score icon labeled B, release to students button labeled C
  1. View / Edit Scores: Select the score of an assignment to edit the student's score manually as well as view a detailed explanation of how the Perusall AI Calculated the student's score.
    • Always edit a student's Perusall assignment score in Perusall. If you edit their Perusall assignment score in Canvas, it will be overwritten by Perusall the next time the student opens any assignment.
    • A warning icon will appear when a student's score is not syncing to Canvas (this is visible for both the student's scoring view and the course gradebook). This means the student did not access Perusall via the assignment link in the Canvas modules. You must manually enter this score into Canvas or the student will have to replicate their work by selecting the assignment link in the modules.
  2. Release Grade(s): Depending on the policies set by the developer, Perusall grades are not automatically released to students or synced to Canvas until you select Release to students. If this button does not appear, then grades are automatically being synced back to Canvas.

Student View

Much like Canvas, instructors are able to view the Perusall course as a student.

Step 1

Perusall side menu student view outlined and arrowed to

Select Student view from the menu.

Step 2

Select OK in the pop-up dialog box.

pop-up dialog with ok button outlined and arrowed to

To return to the instructor veiw, you must log out of Perusall and open it in Canvas again. Select Return to your instructor account by logging out.

Return to your instructor account by logging out link arrowed to
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This page was last updated June 24, 2025