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The Assignment Tool

Adding | Retrieving | Returning

The Assignment tool (separate from the Assignments area) can be used by instructors as a way to collect student assignments digitally.  When instructors choose to create a place in their course for students to submit their assignment, a column is automatically added to the course Grade Center.  This enables the instructor to easily track which students have submitted their assignment, grade the assignment, and return the graded assignment to students for their review. 

Adding an Assignment

1. Click the Control Panel.
   
   
2. Click the content area (i.e. Course Documents) in which you want the assignment to appear.
   
   
   
   
3. At the top-right corner of the web page, you will see a drop-down menu.
   Select Assignment from the menu, and click the GO button located immediately to the right.
   
   
   

4. Type a name for the assignment, one that is easily recognizable.
   
   NOTE: We recommend that you not use special characters in naming the assignment.  For example, instead of naming the assignment Essay #1, name it Essay 1. 

5. Give the assignment a point value.

6. Type detailed instructions for the assignment, including the due date.

7. If you want to attach a document that outlines the assignment or is a template students are to use when completing their assignment, you may attach the document under the Assignment Files section.
   
   Click the Browse button.
   Locate the document you want to attach, and click Open.
   
   Note:  To add more than one file, click the Submit button at the bottom of the page, click OK to return to the listing of documents, click the Modify button to the right of the assignment, and click Browse to add the next document.
   
   
8. Under Options, click Yes by make the assignment visible.
   You may also choose to track the number of views and set a date restriction.
   
   
9. Click the Submit button.

Note:  It is a good idea to post an announcement informing students of the availability and location of the assignment. For example, your announcement could read, “This week’s assignment, (assignment name), is now available in the Course Documents section.”  This tells students what assignment is available and where to locate it.

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Retrieving Assignments

You have two options for retrieving submitted assignments. You may a) retrieve them one at a time as students complete them or b) wait until all are finished and retrieve them all at once.

To retrieve assignments one at a time:

1. Click the Control Panel.

2. Click Grade Center.

3. Locate the assignment you want to correct, click the dropdown arrow to the right of the exclamation point, and choose Grade Details.

4. Click the View Attempt button.

5. Under User's Work, right-click on the link to the student’s document, and choose Save Target As.
   
   
6. Save the file to a desired location on your computer. 
   
   Note:  It is often helpful to use a naming convention when saving student assignments so that you can easily identify which assignment belongs to a student.  For example, you could name the file as:  studentlastname_studentfirstname_documentname_corrected
   
   If a student posted more than one file for a given assignment, you could name the second file as:  studentlastname_studentfirstname_documentname02_corrected

To retrieve assignments all at once:

1. Click the Control Panel.
   
   
2. Click Grade Center.
   
   
3. Click the dropdown arrow next to the name of the column and choose Assignment File Download.
   
   
4. Check the boxes next to the names of the students whose assignments you want to download. You may also choose “Check All” to download all students’ assignments or “Check Ungraded” to download only those students whose work has not been graded.
   
   

5. Click Submit.

7. On the next page, you will see a link to the assignments that have been packaged. Click on that link to save the assignments to your computer.
   
   Note:  Your computer must be able to open zip files in order to view these assignments. If you do not have this capability, it is recommended that you download each assignment individually.

8. The File Download box will appear. Locate where you want the file to be saved on your computer, give the file a recognizable file name, and click Save.

9. Locate the zip file you saved to your computer and open it (you may be prompted to extract the files).  When you’ve finished assessing a student’s assignment and adding your comments, resave the file to your computer and close the document.

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Returning Corrected Assignments

Once you have assessed a student’s assignment, you can return it to the student for their review.

1. Click the Control Panel.
   
   
2. Click Grade Center.
   
   
3. Locate the column / row for the assignment you want to return, click the dropdown arrow to the right of the exclamation point, and choose Grade Details.
   
   
4. Click the View Attempt button.
   
   
5. Under Feedback to User, assign the grade, make any comments you want to send to the student, and attach the corrected file.
   
   
6. Click the Submit button.
    
7. Repeat this process for each student.

Note:  The graded assignment will appear for students under Tools>My Grades.  They may view your comments by clicking on the score they received.

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