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Student Tools

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

How to Open an Assignment

When you open an assignment link in Canvas, you will automatically be directed to the corresponding assignment in Perusall. You can see the due date, grading requirements, and see a summary of their recent activity.
Reminder: Always access a Perusall assignment from the modules; failure to do so will result in lost work.

Accessing assignments with work on assignment button outlined and arrowed to

Annotation Tools

The tools below are available for both faculty and students to annotate and respond to others. Explore the interface below:

Student annotation tools labeled A through S
  1. Annotate Text - Select specific text on the page to annotate.
  2. Annotate Figure - Select a general area, image, or figure to annotate.
  3. Copy to clipboard - Adds highlighted text to your clipboard to be pasted elsewhere.
  4. Look up in Wolfram|Alpha - Searches highlighted text in WolframAlpha.
  5. Settings - Adjust the zoom level, rotate the document, or set highlight colors for specific students.
  6. Assignment information - Expand or collapse the 'Assignment information' pane.
  7. Members of my group - Expand or collapse the 'Members of my group' pane to see who in your class has commented on this assignment.
  8. Current Conversation - Shows the conversation thread for the selected annotation.
    1. Annotate Text - Select specific text on the page to annotate.
    2. Annotate Figure - Select a general area, image, or figure to annotate.
    current conversation annotate text labeled a and an annotate figure labeled b
  9. All Conversations - Shows a list of all the current annotations/conversations in the document. Select a conversation to view the conversation thread.
  10. My Starred Comments - You are able to star any comments in a conversation thread which will show here for easy accessibility.
  11. Page Thumbnails - Shows full-page thumbnails for the entire document. This is useful if you need to go to a certain page.
  12. Table of Contents - Shows the table of contents for the assigned reading.
  13. Search - Allows you to search the document for certain words or phrases.
  14. Dictionary - Looks the highlighted word up in the dictionary.
  15. Generate citation - Attempts to generate a citation for the document you are viewing. Highlighting text will also create in-text citations.
  16. Notifications - Notifications will appear here if anyone has @ you.
  17. Bookmarks - Add a bookmark by selecting + Bookmark this spot, which will add a bookmark and name it so that you may easily access specific content in the future.
  18. Notes - Allows you to add private notes that will not affect your grade. These notes may also be shared with another student or instructor.
  19. Read Aloud - Perusall will read the text aloud. You may alter the speed and change the language.
Students ability to add comments on a video with add comment button
  • When viewing a video, click the Add comment button in the upper right corner of the video to pause the video and start a conversation. A blue (instructor) or yellow (student) dot will appear in the video timeline to show there is a conversation at that point in the timeline.

Interaction Options

In addition to annotating text and commenting on annotation threads, faculty and students can also upvote, mark questions, add hashtags, and tag individuals within Perusall. Read more about each interaction option below.

Upvote

Instructors and students can upvote a comment that is helpful or important. Select the check mark on a comment to upvote it. When an instructor upvotes, it will be noted on the comment.

Upvote icon oultined and arrowed to to in a Perusall conversation

Mark a Question

You can mark your own comment as a question or select a question on another comment to indicate you have the same question. Anyone can answer a question in another comment, including the instructor or other students. You may want to tag a user if you are answering their specific question.

Question icon outlined and arrowed to in a Perusall conversation

Hashtag

Hashtags can be added to follow trending topics; utilize key words to identify topics. To add a hashtag, enter # to a comment. It will show currently used hashtags for the course; so you can select one or create your own.

# icon arrowed to with different common tags outlined

Tag Users

You can tag people in the course by entering @ and selecting the person's name from the list. You may wish to do this to answer specific questions or build upon an individual's point(s).

@ symbol arrowed to with your options to tag people oulined

My Scores in Perusall

You are able to view your Perusall scores by selecting My scores in the menu. The symbol indicates that the assignment is still open and you can improve upon your score.
Note: A warning icon will appear when a score is not syncing to Canvas. This means you did not access Perusall via the assignment link in the Canvas modules and the grade is not syncing to Canvas. If you see this icon, you should reach out to your instructor ASAP; the instructor might be able to manually update the grade or you may have to replicate your work by selecting the assignment link in the modules.

Student scores on assignments from a student view

How does Perusall Calculate My Score?

Not all Perusall assignments have grades associated with them; refer to your course or a specific assignment criteria to determine if it is for a grade.
All graded Perusall assignments are automatically scored using a weighted algorithm applied to multiple scoring components. Not all assignments have the same components; always check the specific assignment to verify the criteria. Otherwise, reach out to your instructor with any specific questions.
The Perusall algorithm automatically grades students according to the following (potential) scoring components:

  • 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.

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This page was last updated June 24, 2025