Computing guide > Using Minerva

Minerva is Bath Spa University's virtual learning environment and it enables you to access, using any Internet enabled PC, information about your course, discussions forums, lecture notes and a whole host of other resources.

Logging on to Minerva

You will need a BSU user name and password to log on. Your user name should be the same as your BSU student ID.

  1. Go to https://minerva.bathspa.ac.uk
  2. Click 'Login'
  3. Type your user name and password into the relevant fields. Click 'Login'.
  4. A page with the title 'Welcome, (your name)" should open. Under 'My Announcements' there will be any recent announcements. You can click on any words that are underlined to view more information.
  5. On the right hand side of the screen, under 'My Courses' there should be links (underlined in blue or purple)to modules on your course. Click on one of these.
  6. This should take you to a section of Minerva relevant to the module you have selected.

Viewing Announcements

  1. Follow the steps above.
  2. Click on 'Announcements' in the top left of the window.
  3. Announcements for the last 7 days should appear. If you wish to view announcements for the last day, 30 days or all announcements use the grey tabs above the date in the middle of the window.

Viewing Information about Staff

  1. Follow the steps in 'Logging on to Minerva' above (unless you have already followed these).
  2. Click on 'About Staff' on the left of the window.
  3. This should take you to a page containing information about your tutors - eg email addresses, websites, etc.

Viewing Documents

This is probably the section of Minerva that you will be using the most, as tutors will put links to lecture notes, discussion forums and other resources here.

  1. Follow the steps in 'Logging on to Minerva' above (unless you have already followed these).
  2. Click on 'Documents' on the left of the window.
  3. This should take you to a page with various links to lecture notes, discussion forums, etc. Click on any link in which you are interested to view more information.

Using Discussion Boards

Discussion boards enable you to communicate with other students on your course, whether they are at a Partner College, Newton Park or Sion Hill. To view discussion boards:

  1. Follow the steps in 'Logging on to Minerva' above (unless you have already followed these).
  2. Click on 'Discussion Board' in the left of the window.
  3. A page should appear with links to various discussion boards. Click on one in which you are interested.
  4. To add a new thread (topic within a discussion board) click the 'Add New Thread' button.
  5. To view a topic already being discussed, click on the title of the topic (on the left). Clicking on the name of the person in the middle of the page will open a new email addressed to them.
  6. To reply to a message, select the message title, then click the 'reply' button. Write your message in the box provided then click 'submit'. Your message will appear below the one to which you have replied.

Viewing Course Information

  1. Follow the steps in 'Logging on to Minerva' above (unless you have already followed these).
  2. Click on 'Course Information' in the left of the window.
  3. A page should appear that contains information about your course's syllabus and timetable.

Viewing Tasks

This is where tutors may set tasks for you to complete.

  1. Follow the steps in 'Logging on to Minerva' above (unless you have already followed these).
  2. Click on 'Tasks' in the left hand side of the window.
  3. A page should appear containing links to any tasks that you should complete. Click on any of the links to view more information.

Note that some modules may look different to the descriptions above. Some tutors choose to arrange course materials within the modules in Minerva in 'week 1, week 2, etc' format on the left hand side of the page.

Submitting work using Turnitin

All students at BSU are required to submit written work electronically via Minerva, using Turnitin, which is a plagiarism detection system.

Make sure you've saved your work in an acceptable format and name (Word, txt, Postscript, PDF, RTF and HTML), and with none of these characters in the file name: / ? < > \ : * | " ^

In 'Minerva', select the module in question, and then the 'Assignments' item from its menu. You should see a list of one or more assignments now.

Select the 'View/complete' link for the assignment against which you'd like to submit work.

'Turnitin's' view of your own 'Inbox' will appear, with a list of assignments for the module, and 'Submit' buttons.

Select the 'Submit' button, and you'll see a new panel, with various choices. You'll need to pick the file you're to submit, and name the submission.

Once work is submitted, the system will email you a receipt number - and your 'Turnitin Inbox', when revisited, will have more information.

If you need to resubmit ...

You'll find that the assignment won't accept multiple submissions from you. However, if you get in touch with your tutor, they will be able to delete your original submission and you'll then be able to resubmit the work.

If you have any problems, contact Jonathan Prestidge at j.prestidge@bathspa.ac.uk.