Academic Application: StudyMate

Overview

What is it?

StudyMate Campus is a self-study tool from Respondus (maker of LockDown Browser) that enables faculty and students to create interactive study activities, flashcards, self-quizzes, games, crosswords, and matching exercises, entirely inside the Brightspace. There is no external website, no separate student registration, and no URLs to share or track.

StudyMate appears as a native tool inside Brightspace. Faculty create instructor-curated study sets from course vocabulary, key terms, or concept pairs and publish them for students. Students can also create their own study sets and share them with classmates, all within Brightspace.

Who is it for?

Faculty: Create study sets from course materials (glossaries, key terms, concept pairs) and make them available inside your Brightspace course. View statistics on how often and effectively students are using each set.

Students: Access instructor-created study sets or create your own from within your Brightspace course. Practice with flashcards, quizzes, and games — no login or registration required beyond your standard Brightspace access.

Access

Through your Villanova Brightspace course — click the StudyMate link in the course menu or content area.

Authentication

Villanova Brightspace SSO

LMS Integration

Brightspace (D2L)

Cost

Included with your Villanova account.

Availability

Available in Villanova's Brightspace environment.

Vendor

Respondus, Inc. — respondus.com

Managed By

Learning Technologies, Academic Technologies, University Technology Services

Key Features & Use Cases

For Faculty

  • Instructor-Created Study Sets: Build sets of term-definition, concept-explanation, or question-answer pairs from your course materials. StudyMate automatically converts each set into five different activity formats.
  • Five Activity Formats from One Set: Flash Cards, Self-Test (multiple choice), Challenge (competitive quiz), Crossword, and Pick-a-Letter (Hangman-style) all generated automatically from the same term list. Students choose their preferred learning style.
  • Usage Statistics: View data on how frequently and effectively students are engaging with each study set and which activities they used, how many attempts, and overall accuracy.
  • No External Accounts: Everything stays within the Villanova LMS. No student registration, no external links, no FERPA concerns from third-party data collection.

For Students

  • Multiple Practice Formats: Practice with Flash Cards, Self-Test quizzes, Crosswords, and Challenge games, all from the same set of terms. Switch between formats to find what works best for you.
  • Create Your Own Sets: Build your own personalized study sets from lecture notes, textbook terms, or class material and share them with classmates.
  • No Extra Login: Access StudyMate directly from your Brightspace course — no separate account, password, or app download required.

Getting Started / Quick Start

Faculty / Instructor Setup
Student Setup

How-To Guides & Resources

Vendor Resources

Best Practices & Tips

  • Release a StudyMate set for each major exam at least one week before the test date students consistently report higher confidence when study tools are available early.
  • Build study sets from your glossary, key terms list, or lecture slide vocabulary, this takes just a few minutes and provides students with five practice formats automatically.
  • Encourage students to create and share their own study sets, peer-created content reinforces learning for both the creator and their classmates.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do students need to install anything to use StudyMate?
Can I copy a StudyMate study set from a previous course?

Training & Resources

Vendor Information