Overview:
Tool: ELMS-Canvas + TerpAI or Gemini*
Time: 30 min
What you need: access to your ELMS-Canvas course analytics
How to do it:
- In your ELMS-Canvas course, click "Course Analytics" in the left-hand navigation (in blue). Select "Course Grade" from the top menu. You will see a graph of grade distribution across assignments over time.
- Take a screenshot of the graph, download a CSV file of the data, or write down the average scores for each major assignment.
- Open TerpAI or Gemini. Describe or upload the data — you don't need a perfect CSV, a plain-language description works: "Assignment 1 avg: 84%, Assignment 2 avg: 71%, Midterm avg: 62%..."
Paste the prompt below.
"Here is a summary of average assignment scores across my course in sequence, along with assignment due dates: [paste your data]. Identify any points where student performance dropped sharply. For each cliff you identify, suggest three plausible pedagogical explanations — related to course design, workload, or sequencing — and one question I could investigate further."
- Ask: "Which cliff concerns you most, and what is one question I could ask students about that week to better understand what happened?"
Notes:
This works from your own course data only. It cannot accurately compare your cliff pattern to similar courses taught by colleagues — that comparison requires different access.
To see whether a performance cliff is specific to your section or systemic across the course, connect with our Educational Effectiveness team.
*We encourage you to exclusively use UMD-approved GenAI tools, which are deployed in alignment with institutional security and compliance requirements.