Getting started with in-class activities

Step-by-step setup

1. Plan how you will use MATCHA and give students adequate notice. Some instructors require MATCHA, while others make it optional. Use our syllabus generator to draft syllabus language, then adapt it to your institution's policies.
2. Decide on a backup in case a student's computer fails or cannot run MATCHA. A pencil-and-paper option is a common fallback for in-class activities. Telling students this in advance may encourage them to arrive with functioning computers.
3. Create an account in the MATCHA Dashboard .
4. Create a course if needed. Within that course, create an activity and select the first suggested activity type: Proctored test or similar timed activity .
5. Review the recommended settings below and make any course-specific adjustments. Normally, use the Check-In feature to ensure that only students who are in the room can participate. Use the prefilled syllabus generator to communicate installation, exam conduct, and submission expectations to students.
6. At the start of the activity, open it in MATCHA Proctor . If it has not already started, open the Action menu and start it. MATCHA Proctor is always available from the Dashboard .
7. See the Proctoring Guide for detailed proctoring procedures.

Recommended activity settings

• Proctoring: on. Enable proctoring when you or another proctor will be available to check students in and respond to situations such as internet outages .
• Check-in requirement: enabled. This helps ensure that only students who are physically in the room can write. For a low-stakes activity, relying on the access code alone may be sufficient, but a student can easily share the code with someone outside the room.
• Availability, start: manually by proctor. Students can open the activity in advance, but they cannot begin writing or see an attached prompt until a proctor starts the activity. Until then, a distinctive green wait screen lets proctors confirm the state of the room at a glance.
• Availability, end. Submissions are not accepted after this time. Set it far enough in the future to accommodate late submissions. This setting is primarily for housekeeping.
• Notes: enabled. Students can use the built-in notes area during the activity.
• Browser: disabled by default. Enable the built-in browser only if students need access to online resources. It can provide full web access, access to course-pack readings only, or restricted allowlist-based access. For exams, the browser is usually disabled.
• Anonymous submission: disabled. Turn this on only if you do not want student names on cover pages.
• External-Paste Block: enabled. This prevents text from being pasted in from outside MATCHA and is one of the core controls for reducing AI misuse. If you disable it, MATCHA marks externally pasted text instead.
• Single-App Mode: enabled. This keeps MATCHA fullscreen and discourages switching to other apps, which is usually desirable for in-class assessments.
• Complete Work History: disabled. This more extensive recording mode is primarily useful for unsupervised activities rather than typical in-class sessions.
• AI Assistant: usually disabled for exams; optional for writing exercises. If you allow AI help, enable MATCHA's AI Assistant at the level that fits the activity: grammar only, grammar and style, or full composition. If you want to help students learn writing mechanics, turn on pedagogical mode . AI-assisted changes are tracked and reported in the Writing Analysis .

What students experience

Students open the activity and wait on the start screen until a proctor starts it and either checks them in or allows them to begin writing. They write in MATCHA and check out before leaving. Depending on your submission setup, they either submit directly from MATCHA or export a certified .docx file for upload. The in-person exam syllabus preset turns these expectations into copy-ready student instructions.