Assignments and grading

Assignments live inside a module, alongside lessons, with instructions written the same way as a lesson (headings, text, and callouts).

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Assignment types

An assignment accepts one submission type, set when it’s created:

• Text — typed directly into the submission.
• File — an upload from the student’s course files.
• Link — a URL, such as a link to outside work.

Each assignment has a due date, a point value, and an optional rubric.

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Attempts

A student can submit once, and resubmit one additional time before the due date — as long as the first submission hasn’t already been graded. Once the due date passes, or once a submission has been graded, that’s final.

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Rubrics

A rubric is a set of criteria, each with several levels (for example, “Needs work,” “Meets expectations,” “Exceeds expectations”) and a point value per level. Grading against a rubric means choosing a level for each criterion; the assignment’s score is built from those choices.

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AI-drafted feedback

From a submission and its rubric result, Tessera can draft written feedback for the instructor — a starting point, not a final answer. Like every other AI output in Tessera, drafted feedback is labeled and must be reviewed: the instructor edits it, or keeps it as written, before it’s attached to the grade. The grade records whether its feedback originated as an AI draft or as the instructor’s own words.

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Releasing grades

Grades and feedback are held back from students until an instructor releases them for the assignment. Before release, an instructor can keep adjusting scores and feedback without a student seeing a partial result.

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Gradebook

A course’s gradebook lists every assignment across the top and every student down the side, with each cell showing a score, a submission state (submitted, graded, or missing), and whether the grade has been released. It exports to CSV for use outside Tessera.