Cadmus

Cadmus is an online assessment tool, where subject coordinators create and students complete written assessment tasks in a dedicated environment, accessed through the LMS.

What is Cadmus?

Cadmus is a browser-based, online assessment environment, accessed through the LMS. It is made up of two connected applications: The Cadmus Teacher Environment and The Cadmus Student Environment.

In Cadmus the assignment is digitally ‘observed’ as the entire assignment writing process is conducted within Cadmus which teaching staff can 'observe’ and review as needed.

In the Teacher Environment, staff can:

  • Create and release assignment instructions to students through a web-based text editor
  • Use Cadmus templates to deliver learning-centred assessment instructions
  • Add equations to instructions using the on-screen/computer keyboard or LaTeX
  • Attach files and web-links as resources to assignments
  • Manage draft and final submissions, view similarity scores, and access marking through the in-built class list
  • Use Turnitin Feedback Studio to grade submissions through the Cadmus-Turnitin integration
  • Automatically sync grades to the Gradebook

In the Student Environment, students can:

  • Access assignment instructions and resources released by staff
  • Take notes and plan assignments in a designated space
  • Write their submission in a web-based text editor, including equations
  • Access context specific academic skills information and curated university guides as they work
  • Benefit from educative scaffolds and behavioural nudges to encourage academic best practices (e.g. paraphrasing and citing)
  • Submit drafts and finals
  • Review similarity reports through the Cadmus-Turnitin integration
  • Access grades and feedback in Turnitin Feedback Studio once marking is completed

Throughout the duration of a Cadmus Assignment, staff are provided with cohort-level Learning Analytics outlining student engagement and progress. This provides greater insight into student learning processes, empowering staff to improve teaching effectiveness and assessment design.

Cadmus takes a learning-centred approach to academic integrity — it does not detect contract cheating or use keystroke analytics. Instead, Cadmus focuses on helping students follow academic best practices as they work, and enabling staff to create supportive and engaging assessment experiences. In order to assist with cases of potential academic misconduct, the Cadmus team can provide information about the construction of individual student submissions upon request.

Teaching and learning applications

Cadmus can be used for a range of written assessment types like essays, literature reviews, lab reports and take home exams, with support for inserting equations using LaTeX. Staff can easily create scaffolded assessment experiences that guide students through authentic learning processes, using Cadmus functionality like checklists and resources. For more formative assessment designs, students can submit Drafts through Cadmus. This allows staff to easily provide feedback and create more opportunities to support student learning.

Access and licensing

All University of Melbourne staff have access to Cadmus through the University licence.

Getting started

Cadmus is available in all LMS subjects. To create a Cadmus assignment, follow the instructions in setting up a Cadmus Assignment. Staff will then be able to access the Cadmus Teacher Environment, where they can create and release assignment instructions to students.

When setting up Cadmus in your subject, please get in touch with Learning Environments so that we can assist you with getting started with this digital assessment system, and that you have access to the extra learning design and direct student support provided by the vendor that the University has arranged for this service.

Support and resources

Cadmus is supported by Learning Environments. Please submit a support request for assistance.

Staff guides

Learning Environments provide training and assessment design support for all staff using Cadmus.

To learn more about the Cadmus Assignment process, refer to the following vendor guides:

Student guides