What does Terracotta collect and store, and why?

LMS Admins often want to know what kinds of student information Terracotta collects and stores, and for what purposes (and rightfully so!).

Informed Consent

If an experiment includes an informed consent assignment, then students responses will be stored with a the students' unique Terracotta IDs in our database. Students who don’t consent are, from that point on, considered non-participants. Students who consent become participants in the experiment, and their deidentified data can be exported by the instructor or researcher.

Student submissions

Student submissions to assignments created within Terracotta are shared with and stored within Terracotta.

Student submissions to assignments not created in Terracotta are not shared with or stored within Terracotta.

Grades

Grades are shared with Terracotta (and back from Terracotta to Canvas in the case of assignments that must be graded within Terracotta).

Grades on assignments not created in Terracotta are only shared with Terracotta if the instructor adds them to the experiment as Outcomes (e.g., the instructor wants to link an exam grade to the experimental treatments).