Simplify Classroom Management with Onshape’s Classes & Assignments

What is Onshape’s Classes & Assignments?

Released for Education Enterprise users in 2022 and then to a wider audience with the Educator plan in December 2023, Classes & Assignments is designed to meet the needs of educators in classrooms everywhere. This feature streamlines how you administer, access, and assess student work in Onshape, alleviating the previous challenges of searching for student work and feeling overwhelmed by the number of documents used and shared in a classroom.

This functionality allows educators to create classes, add members such as students or TAs, and assign work using a simplified interface. Educators can create as many assignments as needed throughout the school term. Once the term is over, classes can be unpublished and cloned to become templates for the next term – a great time saver as you refine your curriculum and coursework over the years.

How do I get access to Classes & Assignments?

Anyone on an Education Enterprise plan can start using Classes & Assignments right away. The Enterprise Administrator will need to ensure educators are added to the Educator team under Enterprise settings > Teams > Educators. Once an educator has been added to that team, they will immediately have access to create classes and add members.

If you have an Educator plan, Onshape’s free plan for educators, you are the administrator of that plan and can begin creating classes and assignments for your students. 

If you do not have an Educator plan or are using the free Education plan and it’s been a while since you logged in, go to Onshape for Education and walk through the signup process. It will prompt you to sign up or upgrade to the Educator plan.

How do I use Classes & Assignments? 

Once your account is ready, click the blue “Create” button to create a class. We recommend creating classes for each group of students you teach in a day. For example, if you have three sections of Intro to Engineering, create three classes for easy student management and assessment throughout the term.

To add students to those classes, open the desired class and click the “Members” tab at the top of the screen. Students can be added one at a time by typing in their email addresses, or you can use the “Upload by CSV” button to upload groups of students all at once.

Now that classes have been created, assignments can be posted in each class. 

While viewing a class, use the blue “Create Assignment” button to create a new student assignment. There are three options for assignments:

1. Students begin with a new document.

2. Students start with a copy of a selected document.

3. Students can choose what to submit.

The first option is great when students can build parts from scratch. The second option allows you to create starting geometry that students can work from, which is an excellent scaffolding tool for supporting students along their CAD journey. The last option will enable students to choose from their documents to attach to the assignment.

6 Tips for Getting the Most from Classes & Assignments

1. Quick Status Change

Update assignment statuses directly from the assignment list by clicking on the status icon of any assignment. Close the assignment when you are done receiving submissions from students to remove the submit button from their documents.

2. Detail View

Use the Details panel on the right to get a quick rundown of the selected assignment, including how many students have started or submitted the assignment. Read more about Administering Assignments.

3. Assignment States

Use the Assignment view to track student submissions. Mark student work as “Graded” or “Needs Revision.” When an assignment is marked as “Needs Revision,” the student will receive an email and notification to revise their work.

4. Versions and History

While viewing student submissions, use the Versions and History panel to check student work and progress. Every time a student hits the submit button, a Submission version will automatically be created for you to view the document as it was at the time of submission.

5. Comments

Leave Comments on your students’ submissions to help them improve their work. Use the Tag Entity feature to create links so students can easily view the specific part of the document the comment refers to. Students will be notified of comments left on their documents.

6. Clone a Class

At the end of a term, you can clone an active, unpublished, or archived class. This will create a new class containing drafts of all the assignments from the original class but without any members. This is a great way to reuse the hard work you have already done.

Classroom Management in One Space

With Onshape’s Classes & Assignments, you can transform your classroom management and focus more on what truly matters – teaching and inspiring your students. 

This tool simplifies administrative tasks and enhances your ability to provide meaningful feedback and support to each student. Embrace this innovative solution and experience a more organized, efficient, and impactful teaching journey. Let Onshape help you become the educator you aspire to be every single day.

If you want more information about how to use Classes & Assignments and its features, check out the Teaching a Class in Onshape self-paced course in the Onshape Learning Center. Check out this back-to-school webinar to help you get the new school year organization off to a great start. 

Please feel free to ask any questions or share ideas about what could be improved in the Education Community’s Onshape Forums discussion. This is also a great place to engage with the amazing group of educators using Onshape in their classrooms.