Introduction: How Assign AI Works

Welcome to the documentation for Assign AI! Our application is designed to help teachers streamline the homework process by leveraging web technologies and Artificial Intelligence. Here's a brief overview of the workflow:

Teachers can sign up, create classes, add students, and then design homework assignments using a rich text input. Our system converts this content into interactive web pages. Students access these pages via unique links, complete their work online, and submit it. Teachers can then view these submissions and, in the future, will benefit from AI-assisted correction and feedback.

Getting Started: For Teachers

1. Creating Your Account

To begin using Assign AI, you'll first need to create a teacher account. Navigate to our Sign Up page. You will be asked for:

  • A unique username.
  • Your email address.
  • A secure password (minimum 6 characters).
  • You'll also need to solve a simple math question (CAPTCHA) to verify you're human.

Upon successful registration, you'll be automatically logged in and redirected to your dashboard.

2. Your Dashboard Overview

The dashboard is your central hub. From here, you can:

  • See quick stats like how many active homework assignments and classes you have.
  • Access quick action buttons to "Create New Homework," "Manage Classes," or "View Homework & Submissions."
  • View a list of your most recent homework assignments and their student access links.
  • Get an overview of your classes and the number of students in each.

Teacher's Guide: Class Management

Organizing your students into classes is essential for targeted homework assignments.

Creating a Class

From the dashboard, click on "Manage Classes." On this page, you'll find a form to "Create a New Class." Simply enter the desired class name (e.g., "Grade 7 Math - Section A") and click "Create Class."

Adding Students to a Class

Once a class is created, it will appear in the "Your Classes" list on the "Manage Classes" page. Click the "Manage Students" link next to a class. On the next page, you can type a student's name into the "Add a Student to This Class" form and submit it. The student's name will then appear in the list for that class.

Removing Students from a Class

On the "Manage Students" page for a specific class, each listed student will have a remove icon (a trash can). Clicking this will prompt a confirmation: "Are you sure you want to remove [Student Name] from this class? Their submissions for homework taken as part of this class will also be deleted." If you confirm, the student will be unenrolled from that class, and their relevant submissions for that class context will be removed.

Deleting a Class

On the "Manage Classes" page, each class has a "Delete" button. Clicking this will open a confirmation modal. You must type the exact class name to confirm. Deleting a class is a significant action:

  • It removes all students enrolled in that class and their associated records.
  • It deletes any homework assignments that were *only* assigned to this class. All student submissions for these deleted homeworks will also be removed.
  • For homework assignments shared with other classes, only the association with the class being deleted is removed; the homework remains active for the other classes.

Teacher's Guide: Homework Management

Creating a New Homework Assignment

Navigate to "Create New Homework" from your dashboard. You'll need to provide:

  • Homework Title: A clear title for the assignment. This becomes the main H1 heading.
  • Homework Questions & Content: This is the main textarea where you'll input all your questions, instructions, explanations, etc., using a Markdown-based syntax. This allows for rich text formatting, lists, headings, and special tags for interactive questions like Multiple Choice, Short Answer, and Long Answer. Refer to the Formatting Content with Markdown guide below for detailed syntax.
  • Answers for AI Correction / MCQ Key: For Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs), you'll need to provide the correct answer text, referencing the ID automatically assigned to the MCQ (e.g., mcq_1: Correct Option Text). For [SHORT] and [LONG] answer types, you can provide ideal answers or a marking rubric. This information is for the teacher and future AI-assisted correction features; it is not shown to students.
  • Assign to Classes: Select one or more of their created classes.

Upon successful creation, a unique student access link (and a short code) will be generated. You can create up to 20 active homework assignments (depending on your plan, currently 3 for the free plan).

Formatting Content with Markdown

The "Homework Questions & Content" field uses a powerful Markdown-like system to structure your assignments. Here’s how to format your content:

Overall Homework Title

The text you enter in the "Homework Title" field on the creation form will automatically become the main Level 1 Heading (<h1>) of the student's homework page.

Standard Markdown Elements

The system supports common Markdown syntax for text formatting:

Headings (H2-H6)

Use hash symbols for headings. Since the homework title is H1, you'll typically start with H2 (##) for sections within your content, down to H6 (######).

## Section Title (H2)
### Subsection Title (H3)
#### Further Detail (H4)
Paragraphs

Simply type your text. Separate paragraphs with at least one blank line. The system will handle line breaks and create distinct paragraph blocks.

Lists

Unordered Lists: Start each item on a new line with an asterisk (* ), a plus sign (+ ), or a hyphen (- ), followed by a space.

* Item 1
+ Item 2
- Item 3

Ordered Lists: Start each item on a new line with a number followed by a period (1. ) or a closing parenthesis (1) ), followed by a space.

1. First item
2. Second item
3) Third item can use a parenthesis
Inline Formatting

Apply emphasis, links, and images within your text blocks:

  • Bold: **bold text** or __bold text__
  • Italic: *italic text* or _italic text_
  • Bold & Italic: ***bold and italic*** or ___bold and italic___
  • Strikethrough: ~~strikethrough~~
  • Links: [Link Text](https://example.com "Optional Title")
  • Images: ![Alt Text](/path/to/image.jpg "Optional Title"). Images will be displayed responsively.
  • Automatic links: URLs like https://example.com pasted directly into the text will be automatically converted to clickable links if they are not already part of an existing link or image tag.

Custom Interactive Elements

These special tags allow you to create interactive components for students:

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQ)

Use the [MCQ] tag structure to create multiple-choice questions. The question itself is placed within the text attribute of the opening tag. Each answer option must be on a new line, enclosed in double quotes.

[MCQ: text="What is the capital of France?"]
"London"
"Paris"
"Berlin"
"Madrid"
[/MCQ]
MCQ Answer Key: Each MCQ element will be automatically assigned an ID (e.g., mcq_1, mcq_2, etc., based on its order in the document). In the "Answers for AI Correction / MCQ Key" field on the homework creation page, you must specify the correct answer for each MCQ using this ID. For example, if the question above is the first MCQ, you would write: mcq_1: Paris.
Short Answer Input Fields

To insert a single-line text input for students, use the [SHORT] tag on its own line.

What is your favorite color?
[SHORT]

Automatic Labeling: If a paragraph or a heading immediately precedes the [SHORT] tag, that text will be automatically used as the label for the input field. In the example above, "What is your favorite color?" would become the label.

Long Answer Input Fields (Textareas)

For answers requiring more space, like explanations or short essays, use the [LONG] tag on its own line. This will create a multi-line textarea.

Explain the main theme of the book in 2-3 sentences.
[LONG]

Automatic Labeling: Similar to [SHORT], the paragraph or heading immediately preceding the [LONG] tag will be used as its label. So, "Explain the main theme..." would be the label in this case.

Putting It All Together: Example "Homework Questions & Content"

Here's how you might combine these elements in the "Homework Questions & Content" textarea:

## Chapter 5 Review: The Solar System

Our solar system is a fascinating place. Read the notes below and answer the questions.

**Key Terms to Know:**
* Planet
* Star
* Orbit
* Galaxy

### Question 1
Describe the difference between a planet and a star.
[LONG]

### Question 2
[MCQ: text="Which planet is known as the Red Planet?"]
"Earth"
"Mars"
"Jupiter"
"Saturn"
[/MCQ]

What is the name of Earth's natural satellite?
[SHORT]

You can learn more at [NASA's Space Place](https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/).
And here's an image of the planets:
![Planets Lined Up](assets/img/placeholder_solar_system.jpg "Our Solar System") 
---
Remember to use **complete sentences** for your written answers.

If this were created, and the "Homework Title" was "Astronomy Basics", you'd expect a page with:

  • An H1 heading: "Astronomy Basics".
  • An H2 heading: "Chapter 5 Review: The Solar System".
  • An introductory paragraph.
  • A bolded paragraph "Key Terms to Know:".
  • An unordered list of terms.
  • An H3 heading: "Question 1".
  • The paragraph "Describe the difference between a planet and a star." serving as the label for:
  • A long answer textarea.
  • An H3 heading: "Question 2".
  • A multiple-choice question "Which planet is known as the Red Planet?" with its options.
  • The paragraph "What is the name of Earth's natural satellite?" serving as the label for:
  • A short answer input field.
  • A paragraph with a hyperlink.
  • A paragraph followed by an image (ensure path `assets/img/placeholder_solar_system.jpg` is valid or update it).
  • A horizontal rule (from `---`).
  • A concluding paragraph with bold text.

By leveraging this Markdown syntax and the custom tags, you can create well-structured and interactive homework assignments for your students.

Viewing Your Homework Assignments

From the dashboard, click "View Homework & Submissions." This page lists all homework you've created, showing:

  • Title
  • The full Student Access Link (with a button to copy it) and the short unique code.
  • Classes it's assigned to.
  • Creation date.
  • Actions: "Preview," "View Submissions," and "Delete."

The "Preview" link shows you how the structured homework will generally look to students, based on the output of the formatting system, but in a read-only format (no actual input fields).

Managing Submissions

Clicking "View Submissions" for a homework assignment takes you to the submissions page. Here you can:

  • See a list of all students who have submitted that homework, along with their class and submission date.
  • Click "View Details" for any submission to see the student's specific answers displayed alongside the original questions/content.
  • Download Submissions:
    • An option to "Download All Submissions" for that homework as a single CSV file.
    • When viewing details for a single submission, an option to "Download This Submission" as a text file or PDF.
  • Delete a Submission: When viewing details or in the list, you can delete an individual student's submission. A confirmation modal will appear to prevent accidental deletion.

(Future: AI-generated corrections and grades will also appear here.)

Student's Guide

1. Accessing Homework

Students receive a unique link from their teacher (e.g., https://assignai.net/student_homework_page.php?code=XYZ123). Clicking this link opens the homework.

2. Identifying Themselves

Before seeing the questions, students may need to:

  1. Select their class from a dropdown (if the homework is assigned to multiple classes they might be part of).
  2. Select their name from a list specific to that class.

This ensures their work is correctly attributed.

3. Completing & Submitting Homework

The homework will be displayed as an interactive page. Students type their answers into the provided fields (text boxes or larger text areas) and select options for MCQs. Their progress may be saved automatically in their browser. When finished, they click the "Submit Homework" button. A confirmation message will indicate if the submission was successful.

Troubleshooting

Homework Content Not Appearing Correctly for Students?

If students see issues with how homework content is displayed:

  • Ensure you used the correct Markdown syntax and custom tags ([MCQ], [SHORT], [LONG]) in the "Homework Questions & Content" box. The system relies on these specific patterns.
  • Double-check for typos in tags, like a missing bracket or incorrect attribute formatting for MCQs.
  • Make sure paragraphs are separated by blank lines.
  • Verify that content intended as labels for [SHORT] or [LONG] tags is directly on the line(s) preceding the tag.
  • If using images or links, ensure the URLs are correct and accessible. Image paths like `/path/to/image.jpg` are relative to the domain root. For images within your project, ensure they are in a web-accessible folder (e.g., `assets/img/your_image.jpg`).
  • Contact support if the issue persists, as there might be an unexpected interaction or a bug.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Q: How many homework assignments can I create?
A: This depends on your plan. The free plan allows up to 3 active homework assignments. The Pro plan allows up to 20. You can delete older ones to make space for new ones.

Q: Is there a limit to the number of students or classes?
A: Currently, no, you can create an unlimited number of classes and add an unlimited number of students to them on all plans.

Q: How are IDs for MCQs generated for the answer key?
A: The system automatically assigns IDs to MCQ elements (e.g., mcq_1, mcq_2) in the order they appear in your Markdown content. You use these IDs when providing the correct option text in the "Answers for AI Correction / MCQ Key" field (e.g., mcq_1: Correct Option Text).

Q: When will AI-assisted correction be available?
A: We are actively working on integrating AI features to help with grading and feedback. This is planned for the Pro Teacher tier. Stay tuned for updates!

Contact & Support

If you encounter any issues or have questions not covered in this documentation, please don't hesitate to reach out. info@assignai.net