how to submit assignment on perusall

Turn your assignments into a social experience

Perusall makes your study sessions interactive and fun, helps you connect with peers, discuss challenging concepts, and master your subjects together! Find helpful resources, FAQs, and ways you can start your Perusall courses below.

Features for students

Make connections with classmates.

Highlight and comment to start a conversation with your peers. Use hashtags, upvoting, emojis, gifs, and more to make challenging concepts fun!

Learn more: student collaboration

Customize your Perusall experience

Personalize your profile account with a custom profile picture, your pronouns, and bio. Adjust settings to fit your needs.

Learn more: accessibility & inclusion

Create a book or journal club with your classmates

Organize your own course to discuss ebooks from our catalog or upload your own content.

Browse the book catalog

It's easy to get started!

Student resources

Start your study session off with a curated playlist, find your answers in our perusall knowledge base, or learn more about our privacy and security policy. have a question contact us..

What students are saying about Perusall!

"The most beneficial feature of Perusall is the opportunity to engage with the text from a problem-centric approach. By this I mean that when my classmates asked questions, I redoubled my efforts to understand that material, even seeking outside sources which I could link within my annotations."

"It has been so handy in helping connect the class with discussion about our textbooks and has sparked numerous classroom discussions. The website overall has really helped me with the learning process for this class and assists in keeping my thoughts in order and expanding upon them with other people's annotations or thoughts to give me more perspective."

"I really enjoyed reviewing the material in this way. I've never used Perusall before this course, but it does make it easier to stay engaged with the text when you can see conversations along the way."

Using Perusall

There are several features and capabilities that you should become familiar with to use Perusall to its fullest. You may want to view the quick start video below. More detailed information is available in the tabs.

Have a question not answered by this guide? Visit the Support page or the Perusall Knowledge Base Articles for more guidance.

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.

Select Work on assignment to begin annotating.

Reminder: Always access a Perusall assignment from the modules; failure to do so will result in lost work.

Annotation Tools

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

• Annotate Text - Select specific text on the page to annotate.
• Annotate Figure - Select a general area, image, or figure to annotate.
• Print - Prints a specific page range.
• Download - Download the document as a PDF.
• Back to last read location - Return to the last page you were on if the document has more than one page.
• Zoom - Allows you to zoom in, zoom out, zoom in to full width of the page, or fit the page on one screen.
• Students can @ people in the class, including the instructor, and they will get a notification.
• Students can select the question mark icon, which will indicate to the instructor that he or she has a question.

• All Conversations - Shows a list of all the current annotations/conversations in the document. Select a conversation to view the conversation thread.
• My Starred Comments - You are able to star any comments in a conversation thread which will show here for easy accessibility.
• Page Thumbnails - Shows full-page thumbnails for the entire document. This is useful if you need to go to a certain page.
• Search - Allows you to search the document for certain words or phases.
• Notifications - Notifications will appear here if anyone has @ you.
• 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.
• Notes - Allows you to add private notes that will not affect your grade. These notes may also be shared with another student or instructor.
• Read Aloud - Perusall will read the text aloud. You may alter the speed and change the language.
• My Assignment Progress - Displays a pop-up dialog box with your assignment progress, including how many annotations have been completed and how many are required.

Adding Comments to Videos

• 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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

Why do we use Perusall in this course? 

Collaborating and sharing ideas in a course is a great way to enhance and broaden your learning experience. Reading, critical thinking, and social collaboration are a few ways Perusall enhances the online classroom. By encouraging collaboration, Perusall allows you to have a voice in classroom conversations for a more authentic and engaging experience. What you have to say is important, and sharing your ideas with others is a great way to learn! 

What is Perusall? 

Perusall is an interactive, social annotation tool that allows students and faculty to engage with, and transform, online readings and videos in a learning environment that encourages collaboration. Students and faculty are able to post comments, respond to peers, and upvote peer responses. Perusall is a great tool to see what points or passages are important to instructors and students, encouraging a rich and dynamic conversation that transforms online conversations.

Watch the video to see an overview of the Perusall student experience!

Accessing Perusall

Any assigned Perusall activities will be linked in the course modules and will automatically open in a new tab or window for you. 

If you are accessing a textbook, you may be prompted to purchase it if you haven't previously. You can purchase online with a credit card, or you can purchase a Perusall access code at your college bookstore that you can redeem within Perusall for access to the book.

What do I share in Perusall? 

In Perusall, you have the opportunity to share your ideas by annotating the assigned readings or video alongside your instructor and classmates.

What is annotation ? It is the visual process of adding a note, reference, idea, or thought to a text or resource that has already been written. The annotation can ask a question, provide additional information, link a corresponding idea, or refer to a supplemental resource. 

Here are some examples of annotations you can share in Perusall: 

You could provide a summary or overview in your own words to make connections to other topics or experiences.

You could ask questions to seek clarity or more information, investigate tone and bias, or discuss the accuracy, strengths, or supposed weakness of the material.

You could share data, alternative resources, and/or factual summaries that shed light on the text without bias. 

In Perusall, annotations are how you collaborate and converse alongside your classmates and instructor. Make sure you have read all of your instructor's assignment guidelines before completing a Perusall assignment to know how your instructor wants you to participate. 

To see an example of what annotations in Perusall look like, watch the Perusall Overview video above and read the next section below . 

How do I collaborate in Perusall?

When you open an assigned reading or viewing material in Perusall, you'll see highlights superimposed on the document in yellow and blue. These represent comments that you and other students have entered. 

Yellow highlights indicate comments or questions by you or other students

Blue highlights indicate comments from your instructor.

You can participate in new and existing conversations by highlighting the text and submitting your comment like the examples below: 

Starting a new conversation Highlight some text; once you finish highlighting, you will see a panel open on the right where you can type your comment. Press Enter or Return to submit the comment. If any of your classmates are in the document, they will see it appear in real time.

Responding in a conversation When someone responds to your question or comment, you will receive a notification by email, and you can post a reply by either signing on or merely replying to the email.

Adding to an existing conversation Click on the highlight in the text to open up the conversation panel, type your comment, and then press Enter.

Commenting on a figure You can also highlight part of a figure rather than text by using the toolbar buttons at the top of the screen. To highlight a figure, click on the image icon in the tool bar (pictured below), then click and drag to draw a box around the area of interest, or simply click to drop a map pin.

Perusall Netiquette

Always be cognizant of the information you share in Perusall. It's important to remember that, as an ASU student, you will be using Perusall within the defined course policies and Academic Code of Conduct, according to the parameters below: 

Be clear and professional in your communication. Proofread to reduce grammar and misspelling mistakes. 

Be kind and courteous to your classmates. 

Respect individuals. Refer to each other by name. 

Be wary of sarcasm. In person, sarcastic comments can be funny and break up a tense situation. Online, it’s hard to tell the difference between when someone is being sarcastic and when someone is genuinely being rude.

Consider how your posts could potentially be misinterpreted. 

Don’t make it personal. If you disagree, focus your criticism on the view you’re disagreeing with, and not the person who holds it. If someone disagrees with you, understand that it’s not a personal attack you on, but a matter of not being persuaded by your view.

Avoid stereotyping. Just because someone holds view X, and some people you know of who hold view X also hold view Y, doesn’t mean that holding view X means holding view Y. Real people are complicated!

Do not share others' information without their permission. 

Do not share private or sensitive information in Perusall. 

Aim for authentic and genuine conversations. 

Include a quote or citation when making a claim.

Feel the freedom to express your opinions with the reasoning of your opinions on any of the topics brought up in the class. Your own reactions to the material are part of the learning process.

Please report any netiquette violations or questions to the instructional team by email. 

Perusall Scores and Grades

If your Perusall activities count toward your grade, you can view your scores by clicking the My scores button in your Perusall menu. The scoring is based on the quality and timeliness of your comments, questions, and responses, and may include other measurements of engagement as determined by your instructor. If you don't see a score for an assignment, it may be because your instructor hasn't released the scores for that assignment yet.

You may continue to ask questions, answer questions, and make comments past the due date of a particular reading assignment. However, note that if you edit a comment that was counted towards an assignment whose deadline has passed, that comment may no longer count towards your score for that assignment.

If you have specific questions or concerns regarding your scores and participation, ask on the Get Help: Course Question & Answer Forum.

Online Perusall Support

Before reaching out to your instructor, have you watched the overview video above? If you still have questions about a Perusall assignment, email your instructor. Your instructor can assist with expectations, due dates, and other assignment parameters; technical questions should be directed to the Perusall support staff below. 

General and technical questions that are not specific to your course may be answered on the Perusall support page . 

If you have a technical challenge with Perusall, you can submit a help request form through their website . 

Perusall Quick Start Guide

Submit a Perusall Support Ticket

Click on the down arrow to learn more about how to annotate in Perusall.

Email ULC Learner Support

Email ULC Courses to create a help ticket for technical support.  

Live chat is available during business hours.  Click here and sign in with your ASURITE to start the session.

Call 1(844)448-7707

Clio and the Contemporary

The past is present

A Beginner’s Guide to the Perusall Assessment

Perusall is an online social annotation tool that aims to increase student engagement with course materials. Here is a quick guide to setting up your course with a discussion of assignment options and some suggestions for how to help students make the most of it. For a more in-depth look at how to create different assignments for history courses specifically, see the companion piece “How to Get Students to Read like Historians with Perusall.”

Setting Up Perusall for your Course

Perusall is relatively easy to start using, although it does take some time to get to know how to make it work best for your classes.

Analytics and Grading Settings

Determine the course settings, which include analytics and mode of grading. The analytics give you information about student engagement in the material, such as viewing and active time spent on the material, number of annotations, and responses given or received. With larger classes, Perusall can also generate a confusion report which tries to assess how well students understood the material. The options relate to the grading mode as automatic grading requires analytics. There are four options for analytics and grading:

• Automatic grading with analytics (instructors can change the scoring criteria, using Perusall’s presets or manually setting the weight of each)
• Manual grading with analytics
• No grade with analytics
• No grade, no analytics

Automatic Scoring

Screenshot of the Perusall algorithm setting options. Photo Credit: Elyssa Gage.

If you select the automatic scoring, you will then set how you want the algorithm to weigh student work. Perusall’s algorithm uses seven weighted metrics: annotation content, opening assignment, reading to the end, active engagement time, getting responses, upvoting, and quizzes. Customize each weight (set to 0% to ignore that metric when computing student scores) and how much engagement is needed to earn credit. Weights can total more than 100% to provide students with multiple ways to earn full credit. The settings apply to the whole course, but you can create unique settings within assignments.

Screenshot of the Perusall scoring setting options. The preset options automatically change the weight of the 7 measures. The settings can also be adjusted manually. Photo Credit: Perusall Blog ( https://blog.perusall.com/summer2022updates )

There are many factors that should go into your decision on whether to use the algorithm or grade manually. The algorithm method is good if you are wanting freer discussion, and the point is for students to get words down. It works relatively well in evaluating the engagement of a comment, but it is based largely on length and structure and does not assess the correctness of the content itself. If you want to assess the accuracy of students’ comments, some degree of manual grading will be necessary.

Course Library

Once you have determined the settings for your course, you can begin building the course library by uploading media including pdfs, URLs, videos, audio files. Perusall also has a library of available books that students can buy or rent directly through the platform and you can request books that are not already available.

Assignments

Create assignments using one or more of the files in your library. You can assign sections of documents, give specific instructions, set deadlines, change the grade settings for that particular assignment, assign it to a group or an individual student.

A relatively new function, you can now add quizzes to a Perusall assignment. Instructions on quiz setup are here . You first have to create the quiz in the library and then add it to an assignment like a reading. If you assign a quiz in the same assignment as a reading, students will be able to navigate between the two.

The Gradebook

The Perusall gradebook allows you to see student grades and with automatic grading, the detailed breakdown of how the grade was calculated. From here you can override the assigned grade. If you use an LMS, you can sync the Perusall gradebook either so each assignment is an assignment in your LMS or so that the average of the scores goes to a single Perusall average. The specifics of LMS integration depend on the institution so I will not go into detail here. For more information and assistance, see this Perusall support page .

For more information about getting started with Perusall, click here or see this demo course in history.

Setting Up Students for Success in Perusall

Student Experience

Students read/watch/listen to the assigned documents from the platform itself and comment on them. Here are some examples of the functions:

• Respond to each other,
• Highlight and make notes of important or striking passages,
• Use hashtags to create a bank of searchable tags across the course,
• Take private notes,
• Use @name in a comment to notify named users of their post.

If you allow them to be visible, students can see their user analytics to understand how they are being evaluated.

Introducing the Platform

For most students, Perusall offers a new way of reading and of being assessed. Of course, you can use the Perusall platform without associating grades, though, emphasizing transparency of purpose is important with or without grades. Offer an introductory Perusall workshop to your class to clarify the expectations for each type of assessment and the parameters for grading from the start. Include pragmatic instruction about using the software but also address larger questions about reading comprehension, discussion, and critical engagement with historical material.

Begin your Perusall workshop for students by giving examples of how to comment on texts in the software, but also how to respond to each other. Encourage the use of upvotes instead of “I agree” comments. When discussing academic honesty, include a section on how to use other students’ Perusall comments.

For freshmen and sophomores, use class to discuss students’ reading habits: when do they do class readings, how do they mark up, how do they take notes, etc. Encourage them to bring examples to share and talk about techniques that have been successful for them or provide a short reading to annotate in class and then discuss their approaches in groups. The exercise can be used for upperclassmen with more focus on reading for different purposes. In my experience, even more advanced students are unsure about their reading habits. To conclude the session, move the discussion to how they think the group format of Perusall will affect how they read and what they mark, how they should approach the text and the discussion. Suggest different reading strategies, such as reading through the documents first and then going back to comment versus commenting as they go. Perusall’s research recommends reading in multiple sitting (“Opening assignment” 2 in the Perusall algorithm), but that might not be a realistic expectation depending on the frequency of the class and student workload. 

Use this introductory class to create a set of rules of engagement and “netiquette” ( here is an example of netiquette guidelines from the University of Oxford ), as well as create relevant hashtags (e.g. create one per course objective, theme, period, geographic space). Finally, be clear about how and how often you will be participating on the platform. Encourage them to tag you if they want to ensure you respond to a comment.

Lay out ahead of time how students should cite when referencing each other in comments, but also potentially in other assignments.

Students may think of the Perusall website as the thing that should be cited. This may be true with websites, as Perusall takes a snapshot of the site when you add it to the library, therefore the Perusall version and the live site may be different. To clarify for students, include the bibliographic citation either within the library item itself or on the assignment information.

Find out about creating assignments that follow transparency frameworks here .

Labor Considerations

While Perusall can be an excellent tool to maximize what students get out of reading (or watching/listening to) the material and reduce an instructor’s grading labor, it can also become overwhelming for both parties.

Managing Your Labor

The possibility of grading via the algorithm can make Perusall a good way to manage your labor. However, it is obviously important for professors to be reading the comments and even responding, and that can quickly become a mountain of work. Depending on the class size, as well as the length and number of readings assigned, it may not be possible for the instructor to read every single comment. Here are a couple tips to help you focus your engagement with the platform.

Filter for questions and starred comments, which can help you narrow it to comments that might require a response whether on the platform or in class.

Look at the most upvoted comments: if many students are drawn to a comment and you realize it is incorrect, you will want to make sure to address that.

Stay out of the conversation during the early stages of discussion, though you can scan through comments to get a sense of recurring themes or questions. Allow students to answer their peers’ questions to foster a conversation between students rather than with the professor.

Be upfront with students that you might not see every comment, encouraging them to tag you if they want to ensure you read something.

Here is a helpful guide on the Perusall blog on sifting through comments.

Unequal Labor and Collaborative Learning

While the form is different, this is a type of group work and students might offer resistance, thinking others will unjustly benefit from their hard work. There are a few strategies to mitigate both the abuse and the distrust and much of this goes back to setting the stage in class discussions early on.

• Lean into the idea of learning from each other’s ideas and approaches. In a US history class, encourage international students to make comparisons between what they read to the histories more familiar to them. In one class, a student posted definitions of unfamiliar words, which their classmates frequently found helpful.
• Encourage students to express their agreement with classmates, but remind them that, if they are being graded, that will not be sufficient to get full credit.
• Remind students that if they are using classmates’ ideas, they need to cite them, (in comments @Name) failure to do so constitutes plagiarism.
• If you are worried about bad feelings between students, consider making assignments anonymous (making sure students know they are anonymous to each other but not to you).
• By default, Perusall breaks up classes into groups of 20, and the application will create different groups for each assignment, but you can also create your own groups and assign readings accordingly. You may try creating set study groups that work more collaboratively together (for example each is assigned a number of terms from the study guide).

A final note, while the assignments in Perusall tend to simply be the readings you would normally assign and expect to be done before class, the format requires more work from most students (and even those who would have read and annotated diligently on their own, will likely put in even more work). Be careful with adding Perusall to a class without consideration for this extra labor.

Featured Image Credit: Elyssa Gage

Share this:

One thought on “ a beginner’s guide to the perusall assessment ”.

• Pingback: How to Get Students to Read Like Historians with Perusall – Clio and the Contemporary

Leave a comment Cancel reply

Website Built with WordPress.com .

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar