Modules & assignments

What is a module?

A module is a unit of work. Think a lab, a project, or a weekly problem set. Every module is backed by a Github repo. When you publish a module, Classmoji creates a copy of a template repo for each student (or team), with all the assignments already loaded as issues.

Creating a module

Go to Modules and click New module.

Basic info:

• Title: becomes the repo name slug (e.g. “Data Structures” → data-structures-username)
• Description: learning objectives or overview, shown to students
• Type: Individual (one repo per student) or Group (one repo per team)
• Weight: what percentage of the final grade this module counts for
• Extra credit: marks the whole module as extra credit
• Drop lowest: automatically drops the N lowest-scoring assignments from the grade

Github template:

• Template repo: a Github repo path (e.g. myorg/data-structures-template) that becomes the starting point for every student’s repo. Starter code and issue templates are copied from it.

Assignments are added inline while creating the module (see below).

Group modules:

If type is Group, you’ll also configure:

• Team formation: Instructor-assigned (you assign teams) or Student-formed (students self-organize before a deadline)
• Max team size: cap on students per team
• Team formation deadline: for student-formed teams, when they need to finalize

Publishing a module

Modules start as drafts. Nothing is visible to students until you publish.

When you publish:

• Classmoji creates a copy of the template repo for every student (or team) in your roster
• Each repo gets the assignments loaded as Github issues
• Assignments with a future release date are not created yet; they appear automatically when their date hits

Syncing a module

After publishing, hit Sync if something is missing. A student joined late and doesn’t have a repo, or a release date just passed and the issue didn’t show up. Sync checks for gaps and fills them in. That’s all it does.

Assignments

Each assignment becomes a Github issue in the student’s repo. Assignments are added while creating or editing a module.

Per assignment:

• Title: the issue title
• Weight: percentage of this module’s grade
• Description: instructions shown in the issue body, supports rich text
• Release date: when the issue gets created in student repos. Leave blank to release immediately on publish. Issues are released daily at 12:01 AM, so set the date to the day before if you want something available first thing in the morning. Want to drip-release weekly? Set it up once and forget it.
• Student deadline: the due date, used to calculate late penalties
• Grader deadline: when graders should finish. Internal only, doesn’t affect students.

How students submit:

Students work directly in their repo and push their changes. When they’re done, they close the issue, which marks the assignment as submitted in Classmoji. Closing the issue is the submit button — make sure your students know this.

What’s next

• Grade assignments