June 2022 Vantage Release Checklist

Everything you need to know about the upcoming Vantage release

The following enhancements will go live in all courses, even those that are active and in progress, with the release now planned for June 29, 2022.  

All Chapter Tests will be renamed as Chapter Quizzes.  

• Why have we made this change? This update was made based on feedback from many instructors who felt that the summative assessments at the end of each chapter were more closely aligned with a quiz rather than a higher-stakes test. We agreed with this feedback and decided to make this change programmatically across the platform for all courses. 
• What do you need to do to prepare for this change? Be aware that this change will be made to all courses, even those currently in progress, once the release goes live.  
  • If you are using Vantage with your LMS, you may want to update the title of your Chapter Test assignments to “Chapter Quiz” to avoid any confusion with your students. You can do this by clicking on a Chapter Test assignment within your LMS course and selecting the “edit” option to change the title.
  • Additionally, you may want to update your course syllabus to reflect this change and let your students know that Chapter Tests in Vantage will be called Chapter Quizzes, starting on June 29. 

An optional "Assignment Start Date" feature will be added to Chapter Quizzes, preventing students from accessing the Chapter Quizzes until the date you determine.  

• Why have we made this change? This was a popular feature request we have received from instructors wishing to prevent students from completing their homework assignments too far in advance of their weekly lessons. 
• What do you need to do to prepare for this change? Nothing! If you wish to take advantage of this new feature in an active course that is currently in progress, you can update this manually for upcoming Chapter Quizzes from the Assignments page. Here’s how: 
  • Navigate to the Assignments page for your Vantage course and locate an upcoming Chapter Quiz. Note that no Assignment Start Date has been set. Click on the pencil icon to edit the settings for this Quiz

• In the Assignment Start Date section, indicate your preference on how many days ahead of the due date you would like to allow access to the Quiz, then save your changes. Note that a due date must be set on your Chapter Quiz for this functionality to apply. 

• We recommend making these changes individually for each upcoming Quiz in active and in-progress courses instead of making the change in your Global Assignment Settings so that you do not override any individual assignment settings you may have already made to your assignments.  
• When you set up a new course in Vantage, you can make this change for all Chapter Quizzes in the Global Assignment Settings section during course set up. 

The Assignments page will reflect a new, sleeker design, which will make it easier for you to assign and unassign content and assessments the next time you set up a course. 

• Why have we made this change? We have received many requests from instructors asking to make it easier to assign and unassign chapters, sections of content, and assessments. The new Assignments page makes it easier than ever to set up your course and unassign content you will not be covering in class and will help guide your students through their course materials with due dates now tied to both assessment and content.  
• What do you need to do to prepare for this change? Nothing for active and in-progress courses. The next time you set up a course in Vantage, visit the Assignments page for a seamless experience assigning and unassigning entire chapters, sections of content, and assessments.  

Students will now be able to see their "Vantage Grade to Date" on their Dashboard, along with an optional message showing what percentage their Vantage homework is worth in your course. This message can be managed in your Gradebook Settings. 

• Why have we made this change? This is a popular feature request we have received from students and instructors since we first launched Vantage.  
• What do you need to do to prepare for this change? No action is needed from you. After the release, students will automatically see their Vantage Grade to Date (rounded up to the nearest decimal point) displayed on their Dashboard in Vantage. This percentage is an accurate representation of their grade to date, based on any assigned completed assessments and can also be found in the “Percent to Date” column in your Gradebook.   
  • If you would like to display the percentage that you have designated Vantage to be as a portion of your students' overall course grade, you can do this by editing your Gradebook settings. Enter your percentage in the field and select “Display on Student Dashboard.” 

The Student Dashboard will also reflect a new, modern design to make it easier and more intuitive to navigate. We have also added Flashcard functionality to all courses in Vantage, which will be available in the redesigned Student Dashboard when this release goes live. 

• Why have we made this change? We wanted to make it easier for students to locate their assignments and jump right into the content you have assigned for them. We’ve moved the Table of Contents tab to a more visible location on the Dashboard and added Flashcard functionality to all current and upcoming Vantage titles.  
• What do you need to do to prepare for this change? Nothing! Vantage will show a pop-up message to students the first time they log in after the release, explaining the Dashboard changes. However, you may want to let your students know that they will be able to take advantage of the Flashcard study tool in their course after the release. We hope you and your students find value in this new feature. 

We are always working behind the scenes to make Vantage better and we genuinely value your feedback. Please reach out to your SAGE sales representative if you have any questions about this upcoming release!