What is SAM, and how is it different from MindTap?
MindTap is Cengage’s course platform for many subjects, and SAM is its Microsoft Office skills platform, which can run inside MindTap or on its own. Cengage’s MindTap help defines it this way: “SAM (Skills Assessment Manager) is a web-based application in MindTap that helps students become more proficient in Microsoft Office software and teaches fundamental computer concepts.” On its own, Cengage says to “Sign in to SAM at sam.cengage.com unless you are using a learning management system (LMS).”
From SAM, Cengage says, “You can take exams, training, projects, and SAM Path assignments in SAM or launch into the MindTap reader.” If your class uses Canvas, Blackboard or Moodle, you start from the course there instead. Cengage’s student Terms of Service list SAM next to MindTap, WebAssign, CNOW and OWLv2 as separate platforms covered by the same terms.
What are the SAM assignment types?
| Type | What you do | Retakes | How it’s scored |
|---|---|---|---|
| Training | Watch a skill, practice it with guidance, then apply it “unaided in a simulated Microsoft Office and computing environment” | Unlimited until the due date | Best score goes to the gradebook; practice only after the due date |
| Exam | Use what you learned in training for “the higher-stakes assessment” in the SAM Content Player | Set by your instructor (1 to 50 allowed) | Your instructor’s time limit and incorrect actions per task |
| Project | Download a start file, finish it in desktop Office, upload it | Can be set up to 10 attempts | SAM grades every step automatically, out of 100 by default |
| SAM Path | Exams and trainings in a fixed order, such as Pre-Exam, Training, Post-Exam | Per part | One score or separate scores, depending on settings |
The retake and scoring rules for trainings and exams come from Cengage’s SAM in MindTap help. Your instructor sets most of them, so the details window for each assignment is the final word.
How are SAM trainings graded?
You can retake a training as often as you like before the due date, and your best try counts. Cengage’s SAM in MindTap help says “Students are allowed an unlimited number of retakes until the due date. Only the student’s best score is recorded in the gradebook.” Cengage describes three steps inside a training: students “Observe the skill with voiceover and on-screen callouts,” then “Walk through a guided practice where they control the keyboard and mouse,” then apply the skill on their own.
The due date is firm for the grade. When it has passed, the details window tells you so, and Cengage says “You can still take the training for practice, but the score does not update in the Gradebook or Reports.” The same page adds: “If you submit an Office training after the due date, your score does not change, but the status of tasks is updated in task lists and reports.”
Two instructor settings change how a training works. Practice means “The assignment does not affect student grades.” Start Training on Apply Mode means “Students initially attempt tasks without assistance,” with step-by-step instructions still there if you need them.
How do SAM exams work?
Before an exam starts, SAM opens a details window. Cengage lists what it shows: the assignment name, “Time limit,” “Instructions,” “Incorrect actions allowed per task,” “The number of times an exam can be retaken” and “The number of retakes you have remaining.” Read it before you click Start, because those are your instructor’s rules for that exam. Cengage’s SAM in MindTap help explains the settings behind them:
- Time limit. “The time begins when the student first launches their assignment.”
- Retakes. Instructors can let students “retake the exam 1-50 times before submitting it for a final grade.”
- Incorrect actions per task. “Students can attempt each task 1-10 times before it is marked incorrect. Students are shown the number of remaining attempts.”
- Restrictive Mode. “Students can only navigate to tabs, menus, or dialog boxes that lead to the correct answer.”
- Pass/Fail. Students “must answer your percentage of questions correctly to receive a pass grade.”
Instructors can replay your work, too. Cengage says Exam Playback shows them “the exact steps a student took for incorrect attempts.” Some exams are proctored through your LMS, and Cengage notes that “After you finish your exam in SAM, your browser will continue to be locked down until you submit the quiz in your LMS.”
How do you submit a SAM training or exam?
- Close other apps, tabs and windows. Cengage says this “helps ensure that the SAM Content Player performance is not affected,” which matters most on a timed exam.
- Open the assignment from the Activity Calendar or Activity List, and enter the password if your instructor set one.
- Check the details window, then click Start. The assignment begins when the SAM Content Player opens.
- Follow the instructions for each task.
- Click OK to submit. To turn it in with tasks unfinished, click Submit › Yes.
Don’t close the browser window to finish, because Cengage says “Your assignment is not submitted if you close the Content Player by closing the browser window.” If your computer crashes or the connection drops, sign back in and reopen the assignment; Cengage says “The Content Player begins where you left off and any completed questions and tasks save.” Keep to one window as well. SAM allows one session at a time, and signing in somewhere else ends the first one, where “you will lose any unsubmitted work or unsaved changes.”
How are SAM projects graded?
Automatically, step by step, from the Office file you upload. You download a start file, follow the instructions in desktop Microsoft Office, save, upload the file to SAM and click Submit in the Submit for Grade panel. Cengage says “SAM grades the project automatically,” and its SAM in MindTap help adds that “Every step is graded,” that students “are graded out of 100 by default,” and that “The points awarded for each step and availability of partial credit might be different.” Your result is under Grading Report in Attempt History. Cengage’s help lists file rules that can block a submission:
- Use your own start file. “Start files are not interchangeable between projects, courses, or students.” In MindTap, Cengage says SAM inserts students’ names into the start file.
- Match the file name. It must match the Expected File Name. Cengage says a Wrong Name error often comes from an added extension such as .docx, an extra space, or not renaming the file as the instructions say.
- Keep it off cloud editors. A Project incident rejection can happen when the file “has been opened from OneDrive, Google Drive, or other cloud-based storage” or “opened or edited with Google Docs, Google Sheets, or a cloud-based version of Office.” Cengage adds that “Project incidents can happen even when you submit your own work,” for example with a file from an earlier course. The fix is to download the start file again.
- Check your setup. SAM 365 projects need Windows 10 or later or macOS 10.14 or later with a Microsoft 365 subscription or Office 2021, and they are “Not compatible with Microsoft Office Online.” Cengage also says “The computer’s region must be set to English (US).”
Late projects lose points. Cengage says “Scores for projects submitted late have late submission penalties applied to the score in the reports. The original score without the late penalty is not shown.” On the instructor side, SAM projects “can be configured to allow up to 10 attempts.”
What is a SAM Path assignment?
A bundle of exams and trainings taken in a fixed order. Cengage lists three: “Pre-Exam > Training > Post-Exam,” “Training > Exam” and “Exam > Training,” and says “You need to complete SAM Path Assignments in the order that they display.” Scores “may display separately in the Gradebook as Exam and Training Assignments or as one score,” depending on how your instructor set it up.
How do you sign in to SAM, and what is the institution key?
Through your LMS if your course uses one, and otherwise at sam.cengage.com. New users click New User and enter an institution key, which Cengage describes as “an 8-digit number used to make sure your account is associated with the right school.” If you don’t have one, Cengage says to ask your instructor. You then confirm the school, enter your account details and agree to Cengage’s Terms of Use and Privacy Statement.
Where Silent Student fits
We make Silent Student, a desktop app for Mac and Windows from El Dorado Ignition LLC. Our published Cengage coverage is MindTap activities opened from Canvas (see Silent Student on Cengage), and we have published no SAM run, so this guide makes no claim about SAM trainings, exams or projects. It does not take proctored exams or tests that need a lockdown browser.
Questions people ask
What is Cengage SAM?
SAM (Skills Assessment Manager) is Cengage’s web-based platform for learning Microsoft Office and basic computer concepts. You use it at sam.cengage.com, through your LMS, or inside MindTap.
What is the difference between MindTap and SAM?
MindTap is Cengage’s course platform for many subjects. SAM is its Microsoft Office skills platform, and it can run inside MindTap or on its own.
Can you retake a SAM training?
Yes. Cengage’s SAM in MindTap help says students get unlimited retakes until the due date and only the best score is recorded in the gradebook. After the due date a training is practice only.
How many times can you retake a SAM exam?
Your instructor decides. The exam’s details window shows how many times it can be retaken and how many retakes you have left. Instructors can allow 1 to 50 retakes.
What does incorrect actions allowed per task mean in SAM?
It is how many tries you get on each exam task before SAM marks it incorrect. Instructors set it from 1 to 10, and SAM shows how many attempts remain.
Is my SAM assignment submitted if I close the window?
No. Cengage says your assignment is not submitted if you close the Content Player by closing the browser window. Click OK to submit, or Submit › Yes to turn it in with tasks unfinished.
What is a SAM institution key?
An 8-digit number that links your SAM account to your school. You enter it when you create an account at sam.cengage.com, and your instructor can give it to you.
Does Silent Student do SAM assignments?
We have published no SAM run, so we make no claim about SAM. Our published Cengage coverage is MindTap activities opened from Canvas, and it does not take proctored exams.
Sources
All fetched and checked October 20, 2026 unless a line says otherwise.
- Training Assignments (Cengage SAM Student Help)
- Exam Assignments (Cengage SAM Student Help)
- SAM Path Assignments (Cengage SAM Student Help)
- Taking Assignments (Cengage SAM Student Help)
- Complete a Project (Cengage SAM Student Help)
- Project incident rejection Error (Cengage SAM Student Help)
- Wrong Name Error (Cengage SAM Student Help)
- Reports (Cengage SAM Student Help)
- Recovering and Resuming from a Crash or Lost Connection (Cengage SAM Student Help)
- SAM Sign In / Create Account (Cengage SAM Student Help)
- Take Proctored Exams Through Your LMS (Cengage SAM Student Help)
- Microsoft Office (Cengage SAM Student Help, project requirements)
- SAM in MindTap (Cengage MindTap Instructor Help)
- Create Training Assignment (Cengage SAM in MindTap Instructor Help)
- Create an Exam (Cengage SAM in MindTap Instructor Help)
- SAM in MindTap Project Workflow (Cengage SAM in MindTap Instructor Help)
- SAM Features (Cengage)
- SAM: Premier Training for Microsoft Office (Cengage)
- Terms of Service for Cengage Higher Education Platform , last updated November 2025
How this guide was made. We read each Cengage page listed above on October 20, 2026 and quote them directly. Some rules, such as unlimited training retakes and the 1 to 50 exam retake range, come from Cengage’s SAM in MindTap instructor help; standalone SAM courses may show them differently, so check your assignment’s details window. We wrote the guide with AI assistance and checked each quote against its source.
Related guides: Where do you find a Cengage course key? · What happens when a MindTap assignment is late? · Is there a MindTap answer key? · Does WebAssign automatically submit? · How to use Cengage MindTap · Cengage MindTap automation: what works · All guides · Cengage
Written by the company that makes Silent Student. Silent Student is not affiliated with or endorsed by Cengage. Cengage, SAM and MindTap are trademarks of their owner, and Microsoft Office is a trademark of Microsoft.