Top Hat FAQs

Supporting Teaching and
Learning in Higher Education

This FAQ provides clear, up-to-date answers about Top Hat, the leading student engagement platform for higher education. Learn how Top Hat supports interactive teaching, personalized learning, affordability, accessibility, and student success through evidence-based, AI-powered tools.

Nov 5, 2025. Top Hat team.

About Top Hat

1

What is Top Hat?

Top Hat is the leading student engagement platform for higher education, empowering educators to deliver interactive, personalized learning experiences. Grounded in learning science and enabled by AI, Top Hat makes it easy to engage students in and beyond class, track progress in real time, and drive the outcomes that matter most: belonging, persistence, and academic success. In addition to its engagement platform, Top Hat offers a catalog of interactive eTexts, interactive OpenStax titles, and custom publishing solutions that let educators create, adapt, and personalize course materials to fit their teaching goals and students’ needs.

2

Who uses Top Hat?

More than 30,000 instructors at over 1,500 colleges and universities across North America use Top Hat to support the learning of over three million students each year. Faculty rely on it to make teaching more engaging and impactful; students use it to stay motivated, practice what they’ve learned, and track progress in real time. Institutions use Top Hat to scale research-backed teaching practices across courses and disciplines—strengthening consistency, engagement, and student outcomes campus-wide.

3

How does Top Hat make learning more personalized?

Top Hat lets instructors tailor course materials, assignments, and assessments to student needs. Educators can edit or create interactive eTexts, embed polls and discussions, and adapt content based on real-time feedback. With AI-powered study tools, Top Hat identifies where students are struggling and offers practice to close comprehension gaps—helping every learner stay on track.

Teaching and Learning with Top Hat

4

How does Top Hat support evidence-based teaching and learning?

Top Hat’s design is informed by decades of research in cognitive science and pedagogy. The platform helps educators implement evidence-based teaching practices such as active learning, retrieval practice, and formative assessment—proven to improve engagement, and academic outcomes. By making these practices easier to implement, Top Hat empowers instructors to teach more effectively and helps students achieve lasting success.

5

How does Top Hat improve student outcomes?

Top Hat helps instructors apply evidence-based teaching practices that drive better results. The platform supports frequent, low-stakes assessments that let students practice, get feedback, and apply what they’ve learned throughout the course. These regular check-ins keep learners engaged and help close gaps in understanding. Faculty who use Top Hat report higher grades, stronger course completion rates, and improved student persistence. An IRB-approved study with Indiana University found that courses using Top Hat had an 11.5% lower student withdrawal rate than comparable courses that did not use the platform.

6

How does Top Hat support institutional goals?

Top Hat helps institutions scale active learning and data-informed teaching practices that improve retention and graduation rates. Centralized analytics offer visibility into engagement and performance trends across courses, helping leaders identify where additional support is needed. By linking classroom-level data to institutional goals, Top Hat strengthens belonging, well-being, and student success campus-wide.

AI-Powered Teaching and Learning

7

How does Top Hat’s AI help students learn?

Through Top Hat Ace, students receive secure, personalized AI study support. As they work through assigned readings and questions, Ace offers proactive assistance, providing guidance that helps students work through problems rather than simply revealing answers. It also helps students review and clarify challenging concepts—all grounded in their instructor’s course materials. With clear explanations and instant feedback, Ace helps learners stay on track, close comprehension gaps, and build confidence before high-stakes tests.

8

How does Top Hat’s AI help educators?

Top Hat Ace helps instructors save time and spark engagement by creating questions and examples directly from their course materials. Educators can instantly generate questions, examples, and discussion prompts from lecture slides or readings, making it easy to create interactive lessons. Within Top Hat Pages, instructors can highlight a concept to generate real-world or career-relevant scenarios, helping students see why the material matters.

Course Content, Affordability, and Accessibility

9

Can I create or customize my own course materials
in Top Hat?

Yes. Top Hat lets instructors adopt, adapt, or build interactive eTexts, and assignments that fit their teaching goals. Educators can personalize materials using OER and OpenStax titles, add their own multimedia, and update content anytime—without coding or design expertise.

10

How much does Top Hat cost for students?

Top Hat offers flexible pricing and institutional licensing to keep learning affordable. Interactive eTexts are often less expensive than traditional textbooks, and many OpenStax or instructor-created resources are free within the platform. Educators can try Top Hat free for 14 days to see how easy it is to create interactive, personalized learning experiences that keep students engaged and on track.

11

Is Top Hat accessible for all learners?

Yes. Accessibility is built into Top Hat. All student experiences meet WCAG 2.1 Level AA and Section 508 standards. Features such as keyboard navigation, screen-reader compatibility, and adjustable display settings ensure every student can participate fully. The Ace Content Enhancer helps faculty improve accessibility of imported PDFs, OER, and content created in Top Hat pages.

Integrations, Insights, and Analytics

12

Is Top Hat an LMS or something different?

Top Hat is not a traditional Learning Management System (LMS) like Canvas or Blackboard. Instead, it’s a student engagement platform that integrates seamlessly with leading LMSs, including Canvas, Blackboard, Moodle, D2L Brightspace, and Sakai, to make learning more interactive. Top Hat syncs rosters, grades, and assignments while enabling live discussions, polls, quizzes, and readings—all with real-time insights into participation and comprehension.

13

How is Top Hat different from polling tools like iClicker or Kahoot?

Polling tools collect quick responses; while Top Hat supports deeper learning across the full course experience. Beyond live questions, Top Hat offers interactive readings, analytics, and AI-powered study aids. It’s a complete engagement platform built on learning science—not just an in-class student response tool.

14

What insights does Top Hat provide to educators and institutions?

Top Hat tracks attendance, participation, assignment, and assessment data in real time, giving educators clear visibility into student engagement and comprehension. In-class polls and quizzes deliver immediate insights, while educators can use the Top Hat Gradebook to monitor performance trends at both the class and individual level. The Weekly Course Report provides at-a-glance summaries that highlight progress and identify where students may need additional support. Together, these insights help instructors personalize feedback and adapt instruction. At the institutional level, aggregated analytics reveal trends that inform strategic support and improve student outcomes.

Support and Getting Started

15

What kind of support does Top Hat provide?

Top Hat offers personalized, hands-on support from day one. Educators receive dedicated onboarding guidance to help them set up courses, and get comfortable using the platform. They also receive support to integrate with their LMS, along with access to live chat, email, and training resources. Institutions benefit from dedicated Customer Success Managers who partner with campus teams to scale adoption, and continuously enhance teaching and learning outcomes.

16

How can I get started with Top Hat?

Educators can create a free instructor account at tophat.com, explore our textbook catalog, connect with a representative, or explore Top Hat on your own. Onboarding teams help ensure a smooth setup for both instructors and students.