Course Assistant
A learning companion inside your LMS that spots where students struggle, explains concepts with course context, and produces study materials and low-stakes practice, while helping faculty give faster, more consistent feedback.
Multimodal context: syllabus, pages, PDFs, slides, media
Generates study guides, flashcards, and practice quizzes
"Check my understanding" self-assessments with hints
Drafts rubric-aligned feedback for faculty review
Signals to Nudges for proactive outreach on struggle patterns
Can you explain how photosynthesis works?
Based on Chapter 8 of your textbook...
Can you create a practice quiz?
An in-course copilot with multimodal RAG
An in-course copilot that uses the Common Data Model and multimodal RAG to answer questions with course-specific evidence, generate tailored study materials, and assist instructors with fast, consistent grading workflows.
Powered by syllabus, readings, videos, and assignment context
Detects struggle, explains, and assists
Detects struggle points from LMS activity and assessments, explains concepts at varying difficulty levels, creates formative practice, and drafts rubric-based comments, keeping humans in control for final judgment.
See how it works
Watch the course assistant in action
Key capabilities
Built to help students learn and instructors teach more effectively
Context-aware explanations
AI understands your course material and syllabus, delivering answers grounded in lecture content, readings, and assignments, not generic responses.
Practice & study tools
Auto-generates quizzes, flashcards, and summaries tailored to upcoming exams and assignments, helping students retain material and self-assess.
Instructor support
Provides grading assistance with rubric-aligned feedback drafts and automates FAQ responses, freeing faculty to focus on high-impact teaching.
Always-on course FAQ
Answers common student questions 24/7, from syllabus details to assignment requirements, reducing repetitive emails and support tickets.
LMS integration
Embedded directly in your learning management system so students and instructors access it without leaving their existing workflow.
Academic integrity safeguards
Built-in guardrails ensure students receive explanations and guidance, not direct answers to graded work, maintaining academic honesty standards.
High-impact use cases
From study support to grading assistance
Concept clarification
Student asks, "I don't understand eigenvalues." Assistant pulls explanations from lecture slides and provides a simpler analogy.
Exam prep support
Students request flashcards for Chapter 5. Assistant generates questions from key terms, formulas, and instructor highlights.
Essay feedback drafts
Instructor uploads rubric and 50 essays. Assistant drafts inline comments for each criterion; instructor edits and approves.
Early struggle alerts
10 students repeatedly ask about the same concept. System alerts instructor and triggers nudge to offer office hours or tutoring.
Outcomes you can measure
Proven results from courses using Course Assistant
Improved student engagement
Of students actively engage with the assistant, asking questions, generating study materials, and exploring course content.
Reduced instructor burden
Average hours saved per instructor on grading, FAQ responses, and repetitive support tasks.
Round-the-clock learning support
Students get instant help with course material anytime, removing barriers of office hours and time zones.
Better course completion
Improvement in course completion rates driven by timely support and personalized study resources.
Works where learning happens, no new tabs required
Course Assistant integrates directly into your existing LMS
LMS Native
Embeds directly in Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, or D2L, accessible from every course page, assignment, and discussion.
Common Data Model
Pulls syllabus, course materials, grade data, and interaction logs to provide personalized, context-aware responses.
Nudges & Alerts
Sends struggle-pattern signals to the Alerts & Nudges engine for proactive advisor or instructor outreach.
Human-centered and integrity-safe
Built with academic integrity and data protection at the core
Academic integrity guardrails
- Students receive explanations and hints; no auto-completion of graded work
- Faculty review and publish feedback; draft provenance retained
- Citations to course materials; "show your steps" prompting by default
Privacy & security
- PII minimization; encryption in transit/at rest; environment separation
- RBAC by course/section; audit logs for generated content and feedback
- FERPA/GDPR aligned; opt-in controls for artifact uploads
Implementation timeline
From pilot to campus-wide rollout in 4–6 weeks
LMS integration
- Install Course Assistant plugin in pilot LMS
- Sync course rosters and material libraries
- Configure role permissions for students and faculty
Pilot with 3–5 courses
- Faculty upload rubrics and supplemental materials
- Students ask questions and request study aids
- Gather feedback on accuracy and usability
Refine & expand
- Tune response quality based on pilot feedback
- Add more course content types (videos, labs)
- Train additional faculty on grading workflows
Full rollout
- Enable for all courses campus-wide
- Launch office hours support and help docs
- Monitor usage patterns and iterate
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to boost learning inside every course while saving instructors hours each week?
See how Course Assistant can transform teaching and learning on your campus