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Student guide

Use your Virtual TA as a learning partner

The Virtual TA brings course modules, learning materials, practice questions, and AI tutoring into one workspace. Use it to work through course ideas and your own reasoning, while following your instructor's directions for official submissions, grades, and course requirements.

Create Your Account First

Before using the Virtual TA, ask your instructor for approval and a private registration code. Register with that code and your approved course email, then create your password. If registration does not work, contact your instructor to check your approval or issue a new code.

RegisterLog in

How To Get Started

1. Register first

Create an account with your approved course email. If your email is not on the approved list, contact your instructor for access.

2. Set your preferred name

During registration, enter the name you want the app to use when addressing you and in your own chat history.

3. Choose your course

Open Courses, select a course, and choose Talk to your TA. After any required consent, you will enter the full chat for that course.

4. Review consent

You must consent before using the app because chat history is saved for course support and possible de-identified research use.

5. Explore a module

On the homepage, choose Modules next to Talk to your TA to open your selected course's materials. You can also choose Modules beneath a selected course in Courses, or use Course modules at the top of chat. Choose Talk to your TA at the top of the modules page to return to chat with the current lesson context.

6. Learn with your tutor

Ask for explanations or feedback alongside the module. The tutor receives your current module or lesson as context and can draw on the full course knowledge base.

7. Track your own learning

Mark activities complete for personal progress. Use My Learning Snapshot for private notes, confidence checks, and additional generated practice questions. These are study tools, not grades.

8. Verify important details

Submit graded work and check official grades where your instructor directs, such as Canvas. Confirm deadlines and policies with the syllabus, announcements, and your instructor.

You can browse materials your instructor has published. The tutor can also use unpublished knowledge-base materials from your course to support explanations, but that does not give you direct access to those files. Module practice questions are ungraded, and completion marks reflect your own study progress rather than mastery.

Use View material to read a published file without leaving the lesson. Word and Excel files can open as read-only PDF previews; spreadsheet previews show printable pages rather than editable cells. Layout or fonts may differ. Download the original when you need to edit it or inspect the complete file, especially if a preview-limit notice appears.

Choose Check my understanding in a module for ungraded practice. Explain the main idea in your own words; a short, clear answer is welcome. The TA looks for core understanding and offers a useful next step when needed. You can revise once or continue after feedback. Ask your instructor about feedback that seems unclear or unfair.

Start With Official Course Sources

Check the instructor-provided materials, syllabus, assignment instructions, rubrics, and announcements for course requirements. These may be published here or in Canvas, as your instructor directs. AI explanations support your learning; verify important details against those sources.

Good Ways To Use It

  • Clarify a concept you do not understand.
  • Interpret assignment instructions before you begin.
  • Break a large task into smaller steps.
  • Review your own thinking before submitting work.
  • Ask for study strategies or examples of how to approach a problem.
  • Get feedback on structure, clarity, or reasoning.

What To Avoid

  • Completing assignments for you.
  • Generating final answers for graded work.
  • Answering quiz or exam questions.
  • Replacing the syllabus, Canvas, or instructor announcements.
  • Confirming grades, deadlines, or policies without checking official sources.
  • Sharing private, sensitive, or identifying information.

How To Ask Better Questions

The TA works best when you give context. You do not need to write a perfect question, but a little detail helps the TA give more useful support.

Mention the course topic, assignment, or document you are asking about.

Explain what you already understand and where you are stuck.

Ask for feedback on your reasoning instead of asking for a final answer.

Ask for a checklist, outline, or study plan when you feel overwhelmed.

Use follow-up questions to clarify one point at a time.

Compare the response with Canvas and instructor guidance before acting on it.

Use My Learning Snapshot

After you have saved chat activity, open My Learning Snapshot to review your own study patterns. The page can show common topics you asked about, topics worth revisiting, suggested next study moves, and practice questions you generate on purpose. Practice questions are based on your recent learning patterns and matching course materials when the app can find a useful source match.

Save private study notes for reminders such as concepts to review, assignment questions to clarify, or ideas to ask about in class.

Add confidence checks using low, medium, or high so you can notice which topics are becoming clearer over time.

Your Learning Snapshot is for your own reflection. It is not a grade and should not be treated as a formal evaluation of your performance. Private notes and confidence checks stay private to you. Generated practice questions may be reviewed by your instructor under an anonymous label so the instructor can improve question quality and keep study prompts aligned with course materials.

Helpful Question Starters

Can you explain this concept in simpler language?

What should I pay attention to in this assignment prompt?

Can you help me make a checklist for this task?

Here is my idea. What might be unclear or missing?

Can you help me understand the difference between these two terms?

Examples Of Course-Support Questions

Concept help

I am confused about reliability and validity. Can you explain the difference with a simple example?

Assignment planning

Can you help me create a checklist for this assignment prompt without writing the assignment for me?

Rubric review

I drafted my project idea. Based on the rubric, what parts should I strengthen?

Study support

What should I review before class this week based on the topic of measurement?

Privacy And Academic Integrity

Chat history may be saved for course support and research purposes. Research use is intended to hide names and direct identifiers. Avoid entering student ID numbers, addresses, health information, or personal details that are not needed for course learning.

If you attach a file in chat, upload only course-related files you are comfortable using for learning support. Attached files may be kept temporarily so the TA can answer follow-up questions in the same chat, then they are automatically deleted. Do not upload private personal information or files you do not have permission to use.

Use the Virtual TA to understand, organize, revise, and reflect. Do not use it to bypass learning or complete graded work.