Question 1

What is TeachTimeLab?

Accepted Answer

TeachTimeLab is an AI-powered marking assistant for QCAA senior science. Upload a student .docx and TeachTimeLab either drafts feedback (anchored Word comments plus a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory checklist) or produces a full final mark (a QCAA best-fit band and mark per criterion, a highlighted ISMG, and an annotated student response) — all in your calibrated style, and always yours to confirm.

Question 2

What subjects does TeachTimeLab support?

Accepted Answer

On the Free plan, TeachTimeLab is pre-configured for Year 12 Chemistry research investigations. Pro and School plans support any subject — you configure your own marking rules, rubric, and checklist items in Settings.

Question 3

Is TeachTimeLab only for senior high school?

Accepted Answer

Currently TeachTimeLab supports Year 11 and Year 12. The AI uses your state's official marking guide for the correct year level.

Question 4

Do I need to know anything about AI to use it?

Accepted Answer

No. Upload a Word document, click Evaluate, review the results. The AI is invisible — you just see comments and a checklist, like any other marking tool.

Question 5

What's the difference between draft feedback and final marking?

Accepted Answer

Draft mode gives students formative feedback — anchored Word comments in their own document and a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory checklist, with no marks shown. Final mode produces a defensible grade: a QCAA three-step best-fit band and mark per criterion, a highlighted ISMG, and an annotated student response. You pick the mode per file at upload.

Question 6

What does TeachTimeLab actually check?

Accepted Answer

By default (Chemistry): key term definitions, combustion equations (and whether they're correct — CH₄ is methane, not diesel), research question structure, source introductions, figure placement, citation format, limitation vs quality distinction, conclusion structure, claim evaluation, improvements, extensions, and referencing. You can customise all of this.

Question 7

How accurate is the AI evaluation?

Accepted Answer

Accuracy depends on the rubric clarity and the calibration examples you provide. In testing on Year 12 Chemistry, the AI correctly identified over 90% of checklist issues that a teacher would flag. For final marking it proposes the band and mark using the QCAA best-fit rules — and you confirm or override every one. It occasionally misses nuance, which is why teacher review is always the final step.

Question 8

Can I edit the AI's comments before sending to students?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and you should. Every comment is editable, deletable, and retype-able. The AI generates a first draft — you approve the final version.

Question 9

What is the "comment tone" setting?

Accepted Answer

Strict gives terse, pointed prompts matching the example style ("not a limitation", "be specific"). Balanced is slightly more explanatory. Guided is for weaker students or non-native English speakers — slightly more structured, but still short.

Question 10

What is AI calibration?

Accepted Answer

You can paste examples of your own comments from past marked papers into your Settings. The AI uses these as style references, learning your phrasing and tone. The more specific the examples, the better the match.

Question 11

Can TeachTimeLab learn how I mark? (Train TeachTimeLab)

Accepted Answer

Yes. In Train TeachTimeLab you mark a paper yourself; TeachTimeLab compares its judgement to yours, shows where it under- or over-marked, and you agree what gets remembered. That calibration then shapes how it selects descriptors and phrases feedback for every future student — your standard, applied consistently.

Question 12

What file format do students get back?

Accepted Answer

It depends on the mode. Draft feedback comes back as the student's original .docx with Word Review comments in the margins, plus a Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory checklist .docx. Final marking produces a highlighted ISMG and an annotated student response — the student's .docx with each passage colour-coded to its descriptor and a margin note explaining why it meets it.

Question 13

Does TeachTimeLab work with all Word documents?

Accepted Answer

TeachTimeLab works with standard .docx files. Heavily formatted documents (complex tables, embedded objects) may have minor issues with paragraph detection, but the core text extraction handles most student submissions correctly.

Question 14

Can I process a whole class at once?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Batch tab on the dashboard lets you upload multiple .docx files simultaneously. TeachTimeLab processes them sequentially and shows a progress dashboard. Download individual ZIPs or review each student in turn.

Question 15

What is in the download ZIP?

Accepted Answer

For a draft: the annotated .docx (your comments under your name) plus the checklist .docx. For a final: the highlighted ISMG and the annotated student response.

Question 16

Can I export marks to a markbook?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Select final evaluations on the dashboard or the History page and export to Excel — a per-student sheet (bands, marks, total) plus a cohort summary with means, medians and band distributions.

Question 17

Where is student data stored and how is it protected?

Question 18

Are student documents stored anywhere?

Accepted Answer

No. Documents are processed in memory during your session and never written to disk or stored in a database. When you close the tab, the document is gone.

Question 19

Is student work used to train AI models?

Accepted Answer

No. TeachTimeLab uses the Anthropic Claude API. Anthropic's API usage policy does not use your inputs to train models. Student work is never used for training.

Question 20

Is TeachTimeLab compliant with Australian school privacy requirements?

Accepted Answer

TeachTimeLab is designed to minimise data handling — no persistent document storage, no student identifiers required. For specific compliance advice, contact us. We're happy to discuss data processing agreements for School plans.

Question 21

Is the free plan really free?

Accepted Answer

Yes. 5 evaluations per month, forever, no credit card required.

Question 22

What counts as one "evaluation"?

Accepted Answer

One evaluation = one student document processed by the AI. Reviewing, editing, and downloading do not count — only the initial AI evaluation.

Question 23

Can I cancel Pro anytime?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Cancel from Account Settings → Billing. You keep Pro access until the end of the paid period, then revert to the free plan.

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