The debrief: a learner write-up before feedback

The debrief is an optional written stage between the conversation and the feedback: when the conversation ends, the learner writes up what happened in their own words before they see any assessment. It turns the report from something the learner receives into something they arrive at — the skill it practises is synthesis, and the evaluation can grade the write-up itself.

What the learner experiences

The conversation ends on a closure card — “Conversation complete”, over the dimmed chat, with a Continue to debrief button. The card waits for the learner; if they don't click the button, it moves on by itself after 20 seconds.
They write the debrief. The debrief page tells the learner Write your debrief — you get feedback on it too., so they know the write-up is graded. It shows your question with the full transcript open beside it — open book by design. An enabled debrief is always required: the learner cannot skip past it to the report.
They submit it, and the evaluation runs. The write-up is saved before grading, so a failed evaluation never costs the learner their text. A learner who closes the tab mid-debrief returns to the debrief, not to a finished report.

Turn it on

Any creator can add a debrief to a simulation they can edit.

In the simulation editor, open the Debrief page (in the Simulation Display group).
Switch on Ask for a debrief. Cesura adds one long-text question in the simulation's language. In a simulation you have not saved yet, save it first to add the question.
Rewrite or extend the question in the same editor that forms use.
Click Save.

The default question asks for the write-up the learner's role would produce: Summarize this conversation the way your role would require: what happened, what you concluded, and what you decided to do next. It is available in every language learners can run a simulation in.

A debrief that is switched on must ask something. If you delete every question, the editor shows This debrief asks nothing. Add a question, or switch the debrief off. The simulation still saves, but learners would be stopped on a debrief page with no question, so fix it before you share the simulation.

The Activity steps timeline shows a Debrief marker between the conversation and the report, marked on or off, with a configure link to the Debrief page.

The debrief is off by default, and a simulation has at most one. When you duplicate a simulation, the copy keeps its debrief.

Grade against it

Once the simulation asks for a debrief, each feedback criterion shows a Judged on setting with a checkbox for each thing the simulation collects: The conversation, The learner's debrief, and The learner's briefing when the simulation also has a briefing. A criterion you have not set has The conversation and The learner's debrief ticked, so switching the debrief on grades the write-up without editing each criterion.

The conversation alone — graded on the transcript only; the write-up is not considered.
The learner's debrief alone — graded on what the learner wrote, not on how the conversation went.
The conversation and The learner's debrief — graded on both, and the evaluator is asked to name any gap between what the learner did and what they wrote.

The last ticked box cannot be cleared, so a criterion is always judged on something.

A criterion judged on The learner's debrief alone has nothing to grade when there is no write-up. If the simulation doesn't ask for a debrief, the editor warns you that every learner scores 0 on that criterion; enable the debrief, or change what the criterion is judged on. In a run where the learner submitted no debrief, that criterion scores 0 with a note saying so.

Where the write-up appears

The report's Debrief tab — you and your instructors read the write-up next to the transcript and the feedback. A learner who submitted nothing shows as such.
The PDF — Include the learner's debrief on the PDF Export page adds the write-up to the learner's download. If criteria are judged on the debrief, include it — otherwise the reader gets feedback they cannot check against anything.
The space export — the Participants sheet of the Excel export has a Debrief written column (Yes or No) for each activity, next to Evaluation completed.

Translations and exams

The debrief question is translated with the rest of the simulation, alongside its forms and quizzes — see Translate a simulation into another language.
An exam (a simulation with the Exam purpose, or any setup with the feedback report hidden) still collects the debrief: the learner writes it before the run completes, and you read it on the Debrief tab — see Set up a simulation as an exam.

The brief stays reachable during the write-up

The debrief is open-book: the transcript sits beside the question on a wide screen, and behind an edge tab on a narrow one. The simulation brief the learner is writing about is behind the same panel, so they can reread the scenario while they write.