Create an Assignment

On Brightspace there are two ways to create and share assignments, via the Assignments tool and via the Content tool.

We recommend creating the assignment via the Content tool as this is the simplest way to create, share, and link the assignment to the content unit.

Irrespective of where you start the assignment building experience and procedure is the same.



For video instructions, please see Assignments – Create an Assignment – Instructor

Create an Assignment via Content Tool

  • To create an assignment via the Content tool: Go to Content → Select Create New → Select Assignment

Screenshot of the navbar with the content button highlighted
Content tool on course navbar
Screenshot of the Create New button in Content

Create an Assignment via Assignment Tool

  • To create an assignment via the Assignments tool: Go to the Assignments tool → Select New Assignment


Configure Assignment settings:

  1. On the New Assignment page, enter the assignment Name, add the max point Grade (optional), and add a Due Date if necessary.

Due Dates and End Dates

A Due Date is the submission deadline of the assignment. Students can still submit after this date however submissions made after the due date will be marked as late, and late penalties might apply.

End Date is the final date and time that the assignment will allow new submissions. Once the end date of the assignment has passed, users can no longer submit to that assignment folder for credit. Learn more about the End date in Availability Dates and Conditions

  1. Select each of the right hand drop-down menus (Availability Dates & Conditions, Submission & Completion, and Evaluation & Feedback) to set the specific assignment parameters, details are listed below.

Add Assignment Instructions

 

Use the instruction field outline assignment purpose, methods and tasks, using the Brightspace HTML editor.

Add text, attach resources, (i.e. videos, audio, gifs and other media files).

Select the Insert Stuff icon or the link icon to reuse or upload new resources to the assignment.

See HTML Editor for more details.

Assignment Grade Options

 

Select Grade Out Of to assign a grade value and to review grading options.

Grading Options

  • Edit or Link to Existing means this assessment counts towards the final grade and will appear in the Grades tab

    • Assign to grades category (optional)

  • Not in Gradebook means the assessment does not count towards final course grade and will not appear in the Grades tab, but has an associated score

    • Likely use case: Study, practice, or for preliminary submissions.

  • Reset to Ungraded reverts the assessment to an ungraded item

Availability Dates & Conditions

 

  • Set Start Date & End Date

    • Start Date: Earliest students can see an assignment

    • End Date: Last day students can see an assignment

 

 

  • Add parameters for Special Access

    • Useful for all student accommodations, and releasing assignments only to a specific group of students

    • Select Manage Special Access to add accommodations

 

 

Submission & Completion Options

 

  • Add or associate an existing assignment Category

    • This is strictly an organizational feature to tailor the view of the assignment’s tool into categories it does not impact grading or the final grade

  • Set the Submission Type

    • File submission: Students submit a file attachment such as a PDF or Word document

    • Text submission: Students submit a text response through the HTML editor or attach a video via the insert stuff button.

    • On paper submission: Students submit a hardcopy of their work in person. No submission online but grades can still be distributed through the Assignments tool

    • Observed in person: Students present work in person. No submission online but grades can still be distributed through the Assignments tool

 

  • Determine the max Files Allowed Per Submission

    • Unlimited: students can submit multiple attachments per submission

    • One file: students can only submit one attachment per submission

 

  • Outline the Allowable File Extensions

    • Students must upload specific file types, options include: PDF, Annotatable files (File types supported by annotation), Files that can be previewed without conversion (e.g., HTML, BMP), Images and Videos, Custom File Types, Compatible with Turnitin.

 

  • Set the parameters for attempted Submissions

    • All submissions are kept: Students can resubmit an unlimited amount of times until the End Date and instructors can view all submissions

    • Only one submission allowed: Students can only submit one time

    • Only the most recent submission is kept: Students can resubmit an unlimited amount of times until the End Date and instructors can only view the most recent submission

 

  • Add a Notification Email for completed submissions

Evaluation & Feedback

 

 

  • Learning Objectives: select Manage Learning Objectives to attach existing learning objectives to the assessment

 

  • Annotation Tools: this feature allows Instructors to provide in-line feedback, we recommend enabling this feature for a more efficient and effective grading process.

    • Learn more about annotating in Brightspace in this article:

 

  • Anonymous Marking: this feature cannot be disabled once submissions have been made, after grading is complete and feedback is published, usernames are revealed to the instructor and the assignment is no longer anonymous

 

  • Turnitin Integration: select Manage Turnitin to outline Turnitin similarity checking settings, ensure you read through ALL settings as some of the defaults have changed with this new integration

Review Assignment Details and Save

Once all assessment details are reviewed, toggle the visibility indicator to make the assignment accessible to students on the chosen start date and time. Then select Save and Close to save the assignment.

  • By default assignments are invisible and must be made visible in order for them to become available on the start date/time (the start date/time will not trigger the visibility of the assignment alone)


 


Please contact CPI at edtech@brocku.ca with any questions or comments about the contents of this site.