How to Read and Use the Writing Process Report

(BETA) Currently available to Early Access users; full launch expected Spring 2026. Reach out to your Packback representative to learn more.

• Where to Find It
• What Each Phase Represents
• How metrics are calculated
• How to read the Engagement Insights Report

Where to Find It

The Writing Process Report appears on a student’s Deep Dive submission, in the Insights tab on the evaluation.

It complements the Originality Fingerprint by visualizing the writing process, showing how the student approached, revised, and reflected on their writing.

To access a student's Engagement Insights Report:

1. Open the desired Writing Assignment and click the Submissions tab at the top of the assignment
2. Assuming students have submitted their writing assignment, click Grade under the Grading Status column next to their name. This will take you to the evaluation page.
3. Over on the right, underneath Evaluation Assistant, click Insights to be taken directly to the student's Engagement Insights report for that assignment. 

What Each Phase Represents

How Metrics Are Calculated

• Time spent per phase
  Measures the total duration between the first and last event in that phase, excluding idle time and breaks between sessions.
• Sessions
  A “session” is a group of writing events separated by no more than 30 minutes of inactivity. Session count and average session duration help show whether a student wrote in one sitting or returned multiple times.
• Feedback viewed
  This measures how often a student engages with the Packback’s AI feedback provided to them. When a student opens a feedback category to review the comments or suggestions inside, each feedback item in that category is counted as “viewed.”

How to read the engagement insights report

The Writing Process Report shows a student’s planning, drafting, revising, and reflection activity behind their final submission. It gives teachers quick, meaningful visibility into how students actually engaged with the writing process. The report should make it easier to tailor support and feedback, but should never act as a single indictment of student behavior.

Let’s take a look at a few reports together. For each report, we'll share how these should be interpreted, and our recommended follow-up action.

Example 1

What the Report Shows

• Activity: Balanced engagement across Planning, Drafting, Revising, and Reflecting.
• Timeline: Shows upfront planning, breaks, and return visits for refinement.
• Drafting: Relatively low time percentage suggests text was typed externally.

What This Means

• Workflow: Student likely imported text but continued to refine and use feedback after pasting.
• Engagement: Represents a high level of meaningful engagement with the writing process.

Note

• Starting in another editor is common for comfort and does not on its own imply misconduct.

Example 2

What the Report Shows

• Activity: Substantial time in Drafting and Revising; meaningful feedback usage.
• Gaps: Little to no visible activity in Planning or Reflecting phases.

What This Means

• Workflow: Student likely jumped directly into writing and revising.
• The "Missing" Steps: Planning and reflection likely occurred mentally or outside the platform.

Note

• A lack of visible planning data does not on its own mean the student failed to prepare.

Example 3

What the Report Shows

• Activity: Minimal drafting time; no planning, revision, or feedback interaction.
• Pattern: Indicators suggest a "paste and submit" behavior.

What This Means

• Workflow: Student wrote a near-final draft externally (e.g., Google Docs) and pasted it in.
• Engagement: Primary goal was submission rather than in-platform process improvement.

Note 

• Pair with the Originality Fingerprint for any authorship concerns.
• Use as a conversation starter about writing process, tool use and the benefits of Packback’s feedback loop.