Top Hat - Engaging learning & assessments

Top Hat is an all-encompassing assessment platform designed to enhance your learning experience before, during, and after class. With Top Hat, education becomes enjoyable and engaging (yes, really!), setting you up for academic achievement while fostering connections with your instructors, fellow students, and the material you are studying both inside and outside of the classroom.

Here’s what you can expect from Top Hat:

Engaging resources accessible on your smartphone or laptop

• View your professor's lecture slides on your personal device

• Participate in class through a straightforward response system that is always at your fingertips

• Engage in discussions with instructors and classmates via the app

Cost-effective textbooks that help manage educational expenses

• Access vibrant, interactive textbooks packed with images, videos, audio snippets, and more

• Benefit from course-specific content that is kept current in real time

• Read your digital resources from any location and have them permanently

Assessments and polls designed to enhance understanding

• Test your knowledge by taking polls and quizzes on your devices

• Boost your ability to retain information with interactive assessment features

• Identify gaps in your knowledge with both graded and ungraded assignments and short quizzes

How Top Hat meets the needs of educators and students:

1 Our engagement platform integrates with your LMS to bring the student learning experience to life

2 We help institutions quickly and efficiently scale evidence-based learning across campus for faster results

3 We use learning science to deliver evidence-based features and empower educators to teach more effectively

4 Top Hat Services offer tailor-made solutions to enable faculty to deliver evidence-based instructional practices in every class

5 We are helping institutions level up learning with AI-powered features for educators and students

6 Our platform generates unique data that cannot by captured by an LMS alone, giving institutions insights they can use to prioritize resources, improve course delivery in real time and over time, and more

88% of students agree that Top Hat helped them feel engaged in learning

22% reduction in DFW rate for FSU General Chemistry students using Top Hat and Aktiv Chemistry*

How do I sign up for a Top Hat account?

If you were invited to create an account, use the sign-up link in your email. Alternatively, you can register for a new account at tophat.com/start. Please note that account creation must be done on a browser, not through the mobile app.

How do I enroll in a course?

Once logged in, click on "Join a Course" and enter the unique 6-digit join code provided by your instructor to enroll into your course. If your course requires a payment, you will be prompted at this point to purchase Top Hat.

How do I purchase a Top Hat subscription?

You can purchase a subscription directly through the Top Hat website on a web browser. When enrolling in your course for the first time, you'll be prompted with a checkout screen to pay for your course or redeem an access key if you bought one from your bookstore. Alternatively, if you are on a trial, click the 'Purchase' button in the top-center of your course on a web browser to complete the checkout process.

How do I activate a free trial on Top Hat?

When enrolling in a course, you'll see an option to "Start a 14 Day Free Trial" on the checkout screen. Click this option to activate your trial instead of paying for the course immediately.

Can I get a refund for my subscription?

To receive a refund, you must make the request within 14 days of purchase. Please log in to your Top Hat account using a web browser, click on your name in the top-right corner to access your account settings, and then choose 'Subscriptions & Purchased Content'. This will take you to the page displaying eligible products for refund.

What do I do if I forget my password?

Click on "Forgot Password" on the login page, enter your email, and follow the instructions to reset your password.

Why can't I see my course content?

Please make sure you are enrolled in the correct course. Verify that you are viewing the 'Content' tab of the course, and finally, confirm that content has been assigned by your professor.

I responded to a question in my lecture, but it says I didn’t answer it in my gradebook?

Submitted responses that are successful will always appear in the gradebook. There are several reasons why submissions may not be visible, such as failing to click the submit button, the timer expiring, or connectivity issues preventing the submission. Once you submit a response to a question, a success prompt will confirm that the question is now marked as 'Submitted', indicating that your response has been saved.

We appreciate your use of Top Hat. As you explore the application, we welcome your insights!