Simulation Display: shaping the learner's experience

The Simulation Display section is everything the learner experiences, in order: the steps before the conversation, the live conversation itself, optional real-time coaching, and the report at the end. Nine pages, listed below in the order the sidebar shows them. The first, Delivery Mode, decides whether the conversation is typed or spoken.

Delivery Mode

Decides how the conversation reaches the learner: as a typed Text chat, as a spoken Voice call, or Let the learner choose between the two before the run starts. In a voice call the learner talks to the character out loud, there is no text composer, and the run ends when the call does. Here you pick the voice, the on-screen experience under Choose Audio Experience (Phone Call, Portrait or Video call) and the Character photo. A simulation Cesura has set to a lifelike video avatar also shows Lifelike video avatar; see Video avatar mode. With no photo chosen, the character wears the simulation’s own image, if it has one. Under the voice, Voice and delivery describes how the character sounds at their everyday level and how their voice changes under pressure; it is used only in voice conversations and shows only when the delivery includes voice.

Voice is on for every account, individual accounts included. An organization admin can switch Voice simulations off for the whole organization on the organization's Preferences page; the page is then still there, with its controls greyed out, and says an organization admin can turn voice back on. A voice run is charged as two runs and is capped at 20 minutes. The full walkthrough is in Set up a voice simulation, and what the learner experiences is in What a voice simulation is like for the learner.

Activity steps

The whole activity as one timeline. A fixed Simulation marker sits in the middle: steps above it run before the simulation, steps below it run after it. The Activity steps (n) count in the sidebar is the number of steps on the timeline, before and after the simulation.

Drag any step to reorder it — including across the Simulation marker, which moves it from one phase to the other. The marker itself cannot be moved or removed; click configure on it to jump to the Simulation Chat settings. When the simulation lets the learner choose between text and voice, a fixed Learner picks text or voice marker sits just above it; its configure opens Delivery Mode. Above those sits a fixed Briefing marker showing whether the briefing is on or off; its configure opens the Briefing page.

Before the simulation

The introduction. Use it to welcome the learner, set the scene (without giving away the character), explain how the simulation runs, and say what they will be assessed on. Aim for about 5–10 minutes of reading — too long and learners skip it, too short and they miss the context.

Each step is one of:

Section — formatted text. Supports Markdown and can embed videos, PDFs and images (see Formatting content with Markdown).
Quiz — a set of questions.
Form.
Media — a video or audio clip. You can require the learner to watch or listen before continuing.
Image.
Document.

Any step can be set to appear on its own page.

After the simulation

The report flow the learner moves through once the conversation ends. Directly below the Simulation marker sits a fixed Debrief marker showing whether the debrief is on or off; click configure on it to open the Debrief page. Alongside the steps you add, the report includes these built-in ones:

Start — a landing / welcome step.
Feedback — the assessment with criteria and grades (shown or hidden on Report Display).
Evaluator Chat — the feedback chat (shown or hidden on Feedback Chat Intro).
End — the final step, where the learner can download a PDF and leave a rating.

Each step you add here can be a Report Step (formatted text), Quiz, Form, Evaluator Chat, Media, Image or Document, with Markdown content that can embed videos, PDFs and images.

Briefing

An optional stage between the introduction and the conversation: on a Before you start screen, the learner attaches a document, answers your questions, or both. Switch on Let the learner attach a document, Ask the learner questions, or both; there is no briefing until one of them holds something. The evaluator reads what the learner gives, and so does the character unless you switch off The character reads the learner's answers and document. The full walkthrough is in Add a briefing before the simulation.

Simulation Chat

Configures the live conversation. Two settings:

Starting Sentence

The character's very first message — the moment the learner enters the situation and meets the character. In 1–3 sentences it should place them in the scene, show the character's voice, and invite a response without revealing everything at once. (This is the same opening message you can also set on the Scenario page.)

Example (matter-of-fact): "Good morning. I asked you in because there are a few things we need to close out — mostly from last week."

Minimum rounds

The number of full exchanges (learner message + AI reply) required before the learner can finish. Around 5–10 is a good default: too few and the conversation stays shallow, too many and learners tire.

Realtime Guide

An optional coach that gives the learner advice during the conversation. Set the Advice Frequency:

Off — no advice.
Beginner — detailed guidance with dialogue examples (up to 5 sentences). Best for first-timers.
Regular — concise strategic observations (up to 3 sentences).
Custom — strategic observations with frequency and length you set yourself.

When the guide is on, choose a Delivery Mode:

On-Demand — the learner clicks a button to ask for advice when they want it.
Automatic — advice appears on its own at the right moments.

For any active level you can fine-tune how many messages before the first advice and the minimum messages between advice. Choosing Custom also adds the maximum sentences (3–5) and an editable Custom Advice Prompt. For step-by-step help, see Enable and configure the Realtime Guide.

Debrief

An optional written stage between the conversation and the report: the learner writes up what happened before they see any feedback. Switch on Ask for a debrief to seed one long-text question you can rewrite or extend; once enabled, the learner cannot skip it. The full walkthrough is in The debrief.

💡 The next three pages all control the learner's report only. Instructors always see the full report in the space dashboard, whatever you set here.

Report Display

Whether the learner gets a feedback report at all, and how grades look inside it. The Show to learner switch at the top of the page turns the whole report on or off (you still see it either way).

A simulation whose purpose is Exam or Screening locks Show to learner off, and the switch says why. To change it, change the purpose under What this station is for on the General Info tab. See Choose a simulation's purpose.

Grade Display — set separately for Show Summary Grade and Show All Criteria Grades: No grades, Numeric grade (0–100), Clustered grades with positive names, or Pass/Not Passed.
Criteria Load Collapsed — whether the criteria cards start collapsed or expanded.

To hide one individual criterion while the rest of the report stays visible, use the eye toggle on the criterion itself — see Feedback Instructions.

Feedback Chat Intro

The AI feedback chat that runs after the report. Show to learner at the top turns it on or off — with it off, the feedback report is still available. An Exam or Screening purpose locks it off; see Choose a simulation's purpose.

Feedback Chat Introduction — the feedback chat's opening line to the learner. Leave it empty for an automatic introduction.
Minimum rounds — exchanges required before the learner can move past the feedback chat (0 = no requirement). This needs an Evaluator Chat step on the timeline; without one the page tells you to add it in Activity steps.

The feedback chat assistant's identity and instructions are set separately on the Feedback Chat page.

PDF Export

What the learner can download. Allow PDF download at the top of the page turns it on, and the page then shows a live summary — "Learner's PDF will include:" — so you can see exactly what they would get:

Include Simulation Chat — adds the full simulation conversation to the PDF.
Include the learner's debrief — adds the write-up the learner produced after the conversation. Offered when the simulation asks for a debrief; if criteria are judged on it, include it.
Include Evaluator Chat — adds the feedback chat conversation to the PDF.

The switches follow the order the PDF prints them in. With the feedback report hidden and nothing else included, Cesura warns that the learner's PDF would be empty. Owners and instructors always receive the full report regardless.

The download is offered on the End step, so it needs one: if your activity has no final step, the page says so and points you at Activity steps. An Exam or Screening purpose turns the download off.