Create an Assignment

When to Use?

Effective August 9, 2024, the Assignments and Tests functions will be separated into two distinct features. Many of you requested this change, allowing students to view assignment instructions without starting an attempt. Sometimes, students mistakenly make blank submissions trying to view the instructions, which confused both students and instructors.

Starting with the August 9^th update, blank submissions are no longer possible. However, they are still allowed for assignments created prior to the update, which is why we are encouraging instructors to recreate their assignments instead of course copying previous assignments.

Procedure

To create a better experience, the new assignment page includes these improvements: 

• A new Instructions box where instructors can use the full content editor to craft assignment instructions.
• There are no options to add questions to an assignment. 
• The Settings panel now includes only options relevant to assignments. 
• Blank attempts are no longer created when students view assignment instructions. The system only creates an attempt when students add content to the file drop zone / content editor.
• Note: Group or timed and proctored assignments continue to create attempts when students view the instructions.

Assignments created before this update will continue to create blank attempts when students view the instructions. Anthology Blackboard address this issue in a future update. 

Image 1. Instructor view of the New Assignment page with the new Instructions box

Image 2. Instructor view of adding instructions to an assignment

Image 3. Students view of the new Assignment Information panel and the View Instructions option

Image 4. Student view of the assignment instructions

Instructions

1. On your course content page, select the plus in the location you’d like to add an assignment and then select Create.

2. You’ll find the assignment option under the Assessment heading.

3. Begin by giving the assignment a title.

4. Next, start building the assignment. Add text to provide assignment details or instructions and add files from your computer, content collection, or cloud storage.

5. After you’ve built the assignment, open the settings panel and set a due date and grading options. Then set any optional additional settings you want.

6. When you are finished, select Save.

7. Set when you want to make the assignment visible to students.

Note: When you create an assignment, a gradebook item is created automatically.