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About assignments

An assignment is essentially an activity where the instructor tells the student, “Go do this, and then submit proof that you’ve done it”. Optional features enable the instructor to supply the student with a file, to upload a file, and to submit both feedback and comments. Blackboard will create a link in the assignment, for the student to upload material to the instructor.

Every assignment must have instructions and a student submission. The instructions are entered by the instructor when (s)he creates the assignment. The student submission can be material that the student types directly into the assignment-feedback form, or something that the student uploads (such as a word document or picture).

The instructor can give a student feedback on the student’s submission. In return, the student can give the instructor feedback on the assignment. Instructors can also allow multiple submissions, so the student has multiple tries to get it right. No matter how many trials the student takes, or how many files the student uploads, the instructor will give only one grade to the student.

Adding an assignment

To add an assignment to a Content Page, follow these steps:

  1. Select the Content Page to which you want to add an assignment.
  2. Select Create Assessment | Assignment. The Create Assignment page is displayed.
  3. Both the Name and the Instructions fields that you enter will be displayed on the page with the assignment, as shown in the following screenshot:
  4. In the preceding example, the instructor tells the student to download a file. You might want to remind the students to create a folder on their computers to hold all the material that they download from the course.

  5. Under Attached Files, you can add any files that you want the student to download and use in the assignment (this is optional). These can be files that you want the student to modify and then upload (such as a form to fill out), or files that contain instructions for an activity (such as instructions for performing an experiment), or source files that the student will use to create something (such as some raw video footage).
    If the student will complete the assignment while (s)he is online, enter the instructions into the Instructions area as shown earlier. If the student will complete the assignment while (s)he is offline, consider supplying the student with printer-friendly instructions that (s)he can download.
    Blackboard will allow the student to upload files up to 100 MB in size.
  6. The Grading and Availability sections contain standard options.
  7. If you enter Due Date for the assignment, it will not appear on the Content Page (see the preceding screenshot). However, it will appear in several other places. When the student enters the assignment, the due date will appear on the assignment page:

    The due date will also appear in the student’s To Do block. Usually, the To Do block is added to the course’s home page, and also to the student’s home page. In the following screenshot, you can see the assignment in the To Do block of the course’s home page. Because it was recently added, you can also see the assignment in the What’s New block:

    And finally, Due Date will appear on the student’s My Grades page:

  8. The due date has no effect on the availability of the assignment, or the student’s grade. It is for informational purposes only. If you want Blackboard to limit the time period for which students can submit an assignment, use the Availability setting to make the assignment available only during a specified time.

  9. Under Recipients, determine if this assignment will be graded individually for each student, or for a group.
  10. Click on Submit to save your work.

The assignment is added to the course. You don’t need to do anything to make the assignment appear within the Assignments page and the To Do block. And, you can create a link to the assignment on the pages of your course.

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