Syllabus language generator

This course uses MATCHA Writer for selected writing activities. MATCHA is a desktop writing environment that records the work process inside the application, including drafting, revision, notes, and—when Complete Work History is enabled—reading and research in its built-in browser.

Download and install MATCHA Writer from https://matchawriter.com/download well before the first MATCHA activity. Choose the installer for your computer and open MATCHA once before the activity to confirm that it launches successfully. Keep MATCHA updated during the course. Installation help and information about what MATCHA records are available in the Student’s Guide: https://matchawriter.com/student-guide

At-home essay assignments: Complete all substantive work for the assignment in MATCHA. This includes reading assigned and cited works in the built-in browser, taking notes in the Notes area, outlining, drafting, and revising. Your work history is part of the submission and part of the assessment.

To properly connect your writing and reading, make sure to cite the exact documents you are reading in the browser. First add them to your library using the "Add to library" button. Then cite them using MATCHA's citation insertion feature (the quote button). MATCHA should also insert citations when you copy-paste from documents already in the library.

Every citation should have an attached relevant passage whenever possible. A passage is attached by copy-pasting from the document when editing the in-text citation. You will then see a text-in-dashed-box icon appear next to your citation.

This course uses MATCHA Privacy Level 2 — No personally identifiable information shared. Before each activity begins, MATCHA displays an Activity Summary describing the information collected for that activity’s actual configuration. This syllabus disclosure summarizes the expected collection and sharing.

MATCHA records document and notes editing history, project data, references, and technical activity metadata such as app version, device details, timestamps, and activity state. This information supports the writing activity, submission, troubleshooting, and integrity controls.

When Complete Work History is enabled, MATCHA also records work inside its built-in browser, including page visits and snapshots, scrolling, clicks, mouse movement, input-field focus, and reading-time information. MATCHA does not record ordinary browsing outside its built-in browser. It does not record passwords or other text typed into browser fields, except where a website later displays that text as page content.

Cloud submission sends submission metadata and the configured .docx and/or .mcha files to the course’s selected storage destination. A submitted .mcha file may include document content, notes, edit history, built-in-browser history, references, and project metadata. If the institution uses a third-party storage provider, that provider processes the submitted files under its own terms and institutional agreement.

At Privacy Level 2, personally identifiable information, including student names, email addresses, and IDs, is encrypted end-to-end between the student’s copy of MATCHA and authorized teaching staff; MATCHA and its subprocessors cannot read the identifying information. Anonymous control data is still shared for troubleshooting and integrity enforcement. Anonymized student work and quiz context may be processed by MATCHA services and a third-party AI provider to generate student-specific questions or assist with preliminary quiz review.

Information voluntarily supplied through a technical-support request, or information associated with an individual paid license, is handled separately as described in MATCHA’s privacy documentation: https://matchawriter.com/docs/data-protection-privacy

Submit your work directly from MATCHA using the Submit tab and wait for the confirmation that the submission was received. Retain your local .mcha project file until the assignment has been graded.

For each at-home or writing-lab essay assignment, 30 percentage points of the assignment grade are awarded for the documented work process. This component rewards meaningful engagement with the work—not a fixed number of hours, clicks, or edits—and is graded in four increments:

30% — Good effort: the history shows a sustained and appropriate process, including engagement with relevant readings, useful notes, drafting, and substantive revision over time. 20% — Sufficient but low effort: the history shows enough work that the student could normally have produced the essay, but limited effort or development. 10% — Limited work: the history shows some relevant activity, but not enough research, note-taking, drafting, or revision to demonstrate a sufficient process. 0% — No or negligible work: the history contains no meaningful evidence, or only negligible evidence, of the work required to produce the essay (only typing, no research).

Each at-home essay assignment includes an in-person follow-up quiz worth 20 percentage points of the assignment grade. The quiz asks tailored questions about the essay, its sources, and the decisions made while writing it.

The follow-up quiz is graded on an all-or-nothing basis. A student receives all 20 percentage points when the answers show evidence of understanding that is consistent with authorship of the submitted essay; otherwise, the student receives 0 percentage points for this component.