MindTap Updates

Leveraging GenAI and exclusive Cengage content, the Student Assistant delivers a personalized learning experience to students available 24/7. Learn more.

We are thrilled to announce the addition of Level Up content to MindTap, designed to bridge the gaps between the current editions of CompTIA A+, Cloud+, Linux+ and PenTest+ and the latest CompTIA objectives. This new content will be a valuable resource for students, providing them with the most up-to-date information on emerging CompTIA A+, Cloud+, Linux+, and PenTest+ technologies and developments.

WHERE: The Level Up content will be seamlessly integrated into MindTap as a plank labeled Level Up at the top of the Learning Path for the current edition (no course rebuild necessary)

WHEN: It will be made available to all customers

• Cloud+ - available now
• Linux+ - available end of August
• A+ - available now
• PenTest+ - available now

WHAT: It specifically focuses on covering the newest concepts added to the CompTIA exam.

With new support for a Manual Due Dates Sync Option in your LMS, you can select specific, multiple or all assignments to sync due dates – no more manual date-changing on your end needed.

Instructors can also sync due dates even if there are no students enrolled in the course.

The new universal sidebar design offers a single navigation experience for all users, allowing them to more easily navigate their course materials in MindTap.

When you extend or remove due dates for assignments that have an active late policy applied, MindTap will now automatically recalculate grades to remove the late penalty on existing submissions. The late penalty will be applied on assignments submitted past an extended due date.

In any instance where you can extend or remove a due date, MindTap will alert you that taking this action will automatically remove the late-penalty deduction from existing assignment submissions.

This feature enables you to identify students who don t have access or are currently in the grace period in your MindTap course. Access this feature by opening the Progress App and selecting the Roster tab.

• Licensed appears when a student has access to MindTap
• Unlicensed appears when a student does not have access to MindTap and is no longer covered by the grace period
• Trial Access appears when a student is still covered by the grace period

Test bank functionality is available for select MindTap products.

• Introduces an easy-to-use workflow for instructors to create completely new, unique assessment
• Enables instructors to create assessments using a bank of pre-existing questions and/or develop their own questions using the instructor authoring functionality
• Click the +Add/Create button, select Activity , select Activity Bank and click the +New Activity button to begin building your custom assessment 

• Live Share: Instructors can view students as they code before assignment submission. This is designed to enhance real-time instructor-student collaboration and coding practice for students in computer science and MIS courses.
• Live Chat: Instructors can communicate in real time with students during the Live Share session.
• Inline commenting: Instructors can provide inline comments while students code using the Live Share session.

Enhanced test cases and improved coding lab instructions with examples provide students more effective guidance in completing assignments.

Available for selected programming languages and web design products:

• Lambert's "Fundamentals of Python: First Programs," 3e
• Malik's "C++ Programming: From Problem Analysis to Program Design," 8e
• Farrell's "Microsoft Visual C#: An Introduction to Object-Oriented Programming," 8e
• Minnick's "Responsive Web Design with HTML5 & CSS," 9e

• Review Mode: You now have the ability to review student work in MindTap. This eliminates the need for students to bundle and share their work.
• Auto-grading functionality: We reinstated auto-grading for those of you using the following Web Programming titles: Minnick's "Responsive Web Design with HTML 5 & CSS," 9e, Carey's "New Perspectives on HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript," 6e and Carey's "New Perspectives: HTML5 and CSS3," 8e. Since each title has a mix of auto-graded, manually graded and practice labs, please be sure to check the Cengage Instructor Center for your title to get the latest list of labs (under Resources) so you can verify which lab is which.

• Streamlined the grading workflow by removing the "Calculate Grade" button so that students still receive immediate feedback. Grades will dynamically update upon clicking "Run Task" after each completed task, allowing students to monitor their performance as they work through an assignment.
• Updated existing instructions and feedback with additional information where needed.
• Continued UX/UI enhancements such as minimizing select popups to help students focus on the salient parts of the experience.
• Added prerequisite assignments that familiarize students with the coding labs experience to the Course Orientation Folder in MindTap.
• Implemented additional reviews and quality assurance on content overall to address errors.

• Copilot: Copilot is available to assist students with debugging practice and analyzing effective code (available upon request for titles with coding labs).
• View query history: Users can access, view and execute previous queries during a coding session for the following MIS titles: “MIS,” 11e, “Principles of Information Systems,” 15e, “Database Systems,” 14e and “A Guide to SQL,” 10e.
• Pagination: Students can easily navigate through tasks within the assignment, jumping to the exact page they need in just a few taps.
• Selective file execution: Specific to programming languages titles (Python, C++, Java and C#), this feature gives students the option to select the specific file to run code on.
• Reset Exercise button: Students can get a fresh instance of the assignment with the new option to reset progress.
• Sidebar updates: A new Task Summary button gives students the status of their tasks (what's completed, etc.) as well as a new run code button (updated from a lightning bolt to a standard play button).

• Getting Started Materials: Helpful resources for students are available in the Getting Started folder within each MindTap course in addition to being hyperlinked here: Student Help and Instructor Help.
• Categorized List of Labs: Find these under Resources in the Cengage Instructor Center, in a document titled "List of Labs – Grading Type".
• Enhanced Speed: We enhanced the speed to one third of the original run time.
• Back-to-School Resources: Find steps to prepare for the term in the GitHub Back-to-School Readiness Checklist.

*If your MindTap course was built before March 2024, we recommend you rebuild it, rather than copy it, to ensure you have access to all the new features and improvements.

Instructors can now configure Exam options to display Exam Playback in the Student Study Guide. 

For Office 365/2021 Courses: Introductory Textbook Projects for Word, Excel and PPT include a Mac version of the module posted as a Support file for students in the SAM Project workflow. This version is written specifically for Mac users and includes Mac screenshots, language and tips for completing projects successfully. 

Instructors can now preview and export a list of SAM tasks in the Project Preview button. This is especially helpful for instructors who want to quickly review tasks when selecting projects. It also helps instructors customize training to match skills used in assigned SAM projects. 

A simplified and improved student workflow in SAM features a new one-page experience.

• Easier File Downloads: Students can choose to download individual project files or download all files at once (instruction files, SAM start files and any supporting files)
• Clearer PC/Mac Instructions: Students receive improved notifications about downloading and completing projects on PC/MAC if operating system detection is enabled for a project
• Save Work to SAM: Students can save their in-progress project file directly to SAM, minimizing lost work
• Error Messages for non-SAM Start Files: SAM will alert the student if it detects that the start file was not downloaded prior to uploading the file
• Ease of Access to Reports: Students can easily view their most recent Graded Summary and Study Guide Reports
• SAM Upload and Download Icons for Textbook Projects: Displayed to let students know when to start and submit a Textbook Project
• View Submission History: Students can easily see their history of assignment submissions

Once the Reports plank is available in the Learning Path, it can be deep linked into your LMS if you have integrated your MindTap Collections course.

To add this link to SAM within your MindTap course:

1. Click + Add/Create Activity
2. Click SAM-Assignment
3. In the Assignments tab, click Add Reports

You can now filter SAM reports to see data only for a selected section.

The revamped diet analysis software in MindTap is designed to provide faculty and students with an enhanced user experience, making it easier than ever to navigate and use with confidence. Diet & Wellness Plus is now powered by the ESHA (Trustwell) database giving you and your students a wide-ranging selection of over 100,000 foods, including name-brand and global food items. Additionally, generated reports will now include a dedicated “Added Sugars” lin

Here s what you can expect from the latest updates:

• Modern Design: a new, visually appealing and engaging user interface
• Updated Profile Options & Avatars: customize your profile and express your personality
• New Homepage and Healthy Behaviors Section: provides comprehensive support for your overall health and well-being
• Enhanced Instructor Options: updated dashboard provides a seamless experience for managing and organizing assignments
• New Gradebook Functionality: customized graded assignments, grading commentary, grade adjustment and color-coded grade analysis

Watch this video to check out the updates.

Help your students develop important critical thinking and communication skills with Bongo™ Video Presentation Assignments in MindTap. Challenge your students to verbalize their learning while encouraging collaboration and enhancing digital literacy.

With AI and human-driven asynchronous feedback, students can improve future attempts and have a safe and supportive environment for practice and growth

Learn how instructors are using video presentation assignments in their classroom.