creating an assignment on blackboard

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Online Assignments in Blackboard

• Benefits for Teaching & Learning
• Online Tutorials
• Quick Guides
• Additional Resources & Troubleshooting
• Information on Purchasing Equipment & Support Statement

You can create assignments within Blackboard and provide feedback using rubrics and annotations. Blackboard assignments offer greater support for group submissions and delegated marking than Turnitin assignments but have more limited annotation tools.

→ Click on the titles below to view information and guides on using Blackboard assignments.

Online assignments allow students to submit essays in Blackboard and provide you with the functionality to give detailed feedback to your students using annotations, rubrics and text. Click on the video below for a brief overview of how you can use rubrics in Blackboard assignments to provide detailed feedback to enhance student learning. A separate page is available for  Turnitin in Blackboard assignments .

If you are planning to use the Blackboard Assignments tool for summative online exams, we have an overview page on online exams giving general advice on using Blackboard Assignments, Tests and Turnitin for exams.

Notice regarding the SafeAssign Similarity Score : You can enable SafeAssign when creating a Blackboard assignment - this allows you to check a student's submission against the SafeAssign database of papers. The similarity score in the SafeAssign report is not a measure of plagiarism within a piece of work but represents where there are similarities to other sources (journals, essays, books etc.). A submission with a high similarity score might be satisfactory once the bibliography, cover sheet etc. are accounted for whereas a submission could have a low score but could be heavily paraphrasing other sources without citation.

You can use online assignments to:

Quick Guide 1: Creating an Online Assignment

This Quick Guide gives IT Services' recommended settings for creating a standard individual or group assignment in Blackboard.

Quick Guide 2: Grading Student Submissions

This Quick Guide gives IT Services' recommended settings for grading individual or group assignment submissions in Blackboard.

Quick Guide 3: Releasing Assignment Results

This Quick Guide gives IT Services' recommended settings for releasing results for an assignment in Blackboard.

Webinar Recording: Assignments in Blackboard (Oct 2022)

This webinar recording covers how to create and grade individual or group assignments in Blackboard and the Bb Annotate tools for providing feedback.

Webinar Excerpt: Weighted Total Column

This brief excerpt from the Assignments in Blackboard webinar covers how to set up the Weighted Total column in your Blackboard module.

Submission Guide for Your Students

An online guide for students is also available to help them with the submission process. Refer your students to the 'Student Help' tab in Blackboard (top right of the screen after logging in) to access this and other guides on using Blackboard.

Blackboard Vs Turnitin Assignments

This interactive guide gives an overview of the pros and cons of using Blackboard or Turnitin assignments.

Procedure: if a student has issues submitting we would advise them to contact the module instructor so there is a record of this and because the instructor would need to make a determination as to whether to allow an additional attempt based on the different circumstances. Clearing/resetting attempts needs to be done by the instructor of a particular module in the first instance. We also strongly recommend that if there are submission issues due to account/access problems etc. with an individual student, please accept the submission via email as proof of submission until the issue is resolved. If an instructor cannot resolve the issue themselves, the instructor can contact us for advice via [email protected]. We recommend therefore when you create an assignment to allow more than one attempt. More details on granting an additional attempt are available on the Blackboard website.

Video Guide:

Below is a video guide covering the steps required to create a Panopto Student Video Assignment. You can also find a text version of the instructions on this page below the video.

Instructions: Create a Panopto Student Video Submission Assignment in Blackboard

• Choose a Location:
• Navigate to your Blackboard module, then select a folder in the left-hand menu where you would like to add the Panopto Student Video Submission Assignment (you could create a folder called Assessments and include it there if you do not already have one).
• Set Up the Assignment:
• Go to the menu bar within the folder and select Assessments > Assignment .
• Give the assignment a clear and descriptive name and enter instructions (refer to our Blackboard Assignments page for general advice on creating an assignment and the available options).
• Enable Panopto Submission:
• In the < Instructions > field, click the < + add content > button in the editor bar.
• An < Add Content > pop-up window will appear. Scroll down and select the < Panopto Student Submission> option. Important Note: This will open the Panopto Student Submission window, which creates an assignment subfolder within the module's Panopto folder. Students can use this subfolder to create and edit their video recordings before submitting them. Students cannot see each other's work in this folder. When the student is ready to submit, their recording is moved from the assignment's subfolder to a Student Submissions subfolder for review and marking via the Blackboard grade centre.
• Information for Students for recording: Student Submission
• Students will use the Panopto Student Submission tool to record their videos.
• They can save drafts of their work in their personal " My Folder " location within their Blackboard Panopto account to revisit the video and make edits.
• Once they are happy with their video, students will submit it through the Panopto Student Submission tool, which will move the final version from the interim Assignments subfolder (their own my Panopto folder) to the "Student Submissions" folder. Why not show the interim subfolder? The assignments subfolder may not be visible to students as it's a subfolder of the module's parent Panopto folder, which the lecturer may have hidden as the Panopto parent folder contains the lecturers' lecture recordings, which they may not want students to see. It's recommended that students use their " My Folder " for drafts to avoid confusion.
• Finalize the Assignment Settings:
• Close the Panopto Student Submission window by clicking on the X button to close and the Add Content window.
• Add any additional instructions for students in the instructions field in the assignment window. We advise that you insert the URL link to the Instruction Guide for Students Submitting their Video Assignments.
• Set the due date, point marks (always mark out of 100 if you are using Grades Journey), and <submission details> (allowing one attempt is recommended).
• Decide on your < marking options > and < display of marks > settings.
• Define when the assignment will be available and for how long with the availability settings.
• Click the Submit button to create and save the student video assignment, completing your setup.
• Grading Submitted Videos: Grading
• When students submit their video assignments, they will be stored within the Panopto folder (your Panopto link in the left-hand menu) –> Module Assignments –> Student Submissions Folder.
• Review in Blackboard: The easiest way to review submissions is via the Blackboard grade centre. Clicking on the student's video assignment in the grade centre will open the video player. You click on the student video to play it back and add your points, marks, and comments to record it in the grade centre for that student's attempt. The Blackboard grade centre will be updated with your marks for the student's video assignment.
• When drafting their submission, students create their videos in their My Folder (private to them) and can continue to edit this until they click on Submit. Once they submit their video, the file gets copied into a Student Submissions subfolder within your module's Panopto folder, thus preventing further editing. Important Note: We recommend they instead save their work-in-progress video recording to their own Panopto "My Folder" location until they are finally ready to submit the video assignment. The added advantage is that the student keeps a copy of their video recording in their My Folder Panopto account for future reference.
• Students can only see their own submissions - not each other's by default within the Student Assignment subfolder in your module's Panopto folder. 
• The best way to grade student submissions is using the Grade Centre, as you would with a standard Blackboard assignment.
• Steps for your students are available in the Student Help tab . There is also an  Instructor Guide: How to set up a Student Video Submission Assignment in Blackboard  available to download above to attach to the assignment.
• Please consider the type of content students are asked to create and be mindful of potential risks associated with video assignments. Generally, the Panopto Student Video Submission option allows students to create recorded presentations. Consequently, there can potentially be data protection (GDPR) or privacy-related issues if students are asked to record videos involving themselves or third parties. Students should always be provided clear guidance and instruction before content creation. For example, avoid tasks leading to students creating videos containing sensitive or confidential information. Instructors should give students specific instructions regarding recording confidential data or special categories of personal data. Essentially, this type of data should not be recorded. For further information, please see this page on Special Category Data on the Data Protection website .
• If a student video assignment contains personal data of other individuals (e.g., a visual or audio recording of a person or other identifiable information), the student should obtain permission/consent from relevant individuals before recording. Permission should be obtained in a recordable format and retained on file.
• Caution should always be exercised when recording video assignments, and it may be a good idea to have students run their ideas past you if they are different from a standard presentation. Moreover, staff should review content and delete unnecessary, excessive or inappropriate data if included in a video assignment.
• Further information is available from the College Data Protection Officer - [email protected] or via the College Data Protection website - https://www.tcd.ie/dataprotection/ .
• Not all students will be comfortable creating and editing videos of themselves, so you should consider alternative assessments for those students who may not feel able to create a video.
• The Student Video Submission tool is provided by Panopto as part of their video hosting solution - if College ever changes to another video hosting provider (for example, as part of a tender process approximately every five years), we cannot guarantee that the new video hosting provider will have an equivalent assignment feature - however, staff would be notified well in advance of any change and workarounds may still be possible. 

Terms of Use:

Please refer to our Terms of Use document   for further guidelines and information on the Data Proctection aspects of using the Panaopto Student Video Submission Assignment option.

Below are external links and additional resources to help you get started with Blackboard Assignments.

If you are new to using online assignments we would recommend that you create a standard online assignment as above before using some of these features as options like Delegated Marking can add significant complexity to the marking workflow.

• Official Blackboard Assignments Hub Page
• Rubrics Guide
• Creating Weighted Total Columns
• Anonymous Grading
• Navigating the Grade Centre
• Viewing Grade History
• Creating & Managing Groups
• Delegated Grading

Latest Updates:

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Help & Support

For queries related to the content on these pages please contact the Teaching & Learning IT team via: [email protected]

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Blackboard Ultra: Create and Grade Assignments (Faculty)

Modified on Mon, Aug 12 at 2:38 PM

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Create an Assignment

Assignment settings, access student submissions, grade an assignment submission, create assignments.

Ultra Course View allows you to create Assignments alongside other content in your course. You may grade your assignment and provide feedback to your students. 

For more information, go to the   Create and Edit Assignments support page or watch the Create an Assignment video tutorial .

To create an Assignment, click on the + button anywhere on your Course Content page, within a Learning Module, or within a Folder. Select Create  and then select Assignment .

Give your Assignment a name and enter the instructions. Use the Text/Content Editor to add any relevant links, images, attachments, and videos. 

Click on the Assignment Settings (gear icon) to add a due date and points, set the number of attempts, attach a rubric, add a description (which will appear on the Course Content page), and more.

Details & Information

The Details & Information section allows you to add a due date, select options around late work, and collect assignments offline.

• Due Date : Assign a due date for your Assignment. The due dates will appear on your students' Activity Stream and in their myLesley Calendar. If students submit their assignments after the due date, their Assignment will have a Late  label in the Gradebook. 
• Prohibit Late Submissions : If you prohibit late submissions, any In-progress and saved attempts will be auto-submitted at the due date. Students with accommodations or exceptions will not be affected.
• Prohibit New Attempts After Due Date : Selecting this option will prevent students from beginning a new attempt after the due date. Students with accommodations or exceptions will not be affected.
• Allow Class Conversations : Class Conversations allow students to have a conversation around a specific piece of course content. Refer to the Class Conversations support article for more information.
• Collect Submissions Offline : You may have assignments that do not require students to upload work, such as work collected in class, presentations, and more. Use this option to provide the students with information about the assignment and add grades and feedback via the Gradebook. 

Formative Tools

Use the Formative Assessment option to mark an Assignment as Formative. Refer to the Formative Assessments support article for more information.

Grading & Submissions

The Grading & Submissions area allows you to select grading criteria, including the category, the number of attempts, and more.

• Grade Category : By default, Assignments are given the Assignment category. You may select a different category or create a custom category in the Gradebook. 
• Attempts Allowed : By default, students may submit one attempt. You may change this to allow multiple or unlimited attempts and choose how the grade is calculated.
• Grading Schema : Select your grading schema (letter, points, percentage, or complete/incomplete). 
• Maximum Points . Add the number of points this assignment is worth (a numerical value between 0 and 99,999). If you leave this field blank, the number will default to 100.

Additionally, you may use anonymous grading, select evaluation options such as peer review, and select whether to post the assessment grades automatically as you grade.

• Anonymous Grading : This will hide the students' name from view while you are grading.
• Multiple Graders and Delegated Grading : If there is more than one grader in the course, you may enable parallel grading or delegated grading.
• Peer Review : Peer review allows students to review their peers' work using criteria-based evaluation. Refer to the Peer Review for Qualitative Peer Assessments support article for more information.

Assessment Security and Additional Tools

The Assessment Security and Additional Tools allows you to add additional options for your Assignment.

• Access Code :  You can add an access code to control when students submit an Assignment. Refer to the Assessment Settings: Access Codes support article for more information and examples.
• Time Limit : You can add a time limit to your Assignment. The timer will start once the student opens the Assignment and all attempts are saved and submitted automatically when the time is up.
• Use Grading Rubric : You can create a rubric or associate an existing rubric with your Assignment. For more information, watch the Create Rubrics tutorial video or refer to the Create Rubrics support article for more information.
• Goals & Standards : This feature is only in limited use at the university.
• Assigned Groups : You may create an Assignment to one or more groups. By default, you assign a grade to each group as a whole, but you may change a student's individual grade. Refer to the Create Group Assignments support article for more information.
• Originality Report : You may use SafeAssign to check your students' submissions for plagiarism. Refer to the SafeAssign in Your Course support article for more information.

Description

The description appears with the Assignment on the Course Content page. This provides students with more information about the Assignment before they open it. The description is limited to 750 characters and cannot contain formatting.

Grade Assignments

Blackboard Ultra's flexible grading allows you to easily find and review the status of your grading tasks, provide inline, multimedia feedback directly to students, and easily access grading rubrics and anti-plagiarism checkers as you grade.

For more information, go to the Grade Assignments with Flexible Grading support article or watch the Grading Assignments tutorial video .

You will grade your Assignment from the Assignment's Submissions page. You may access this page from multiple areas.

Base Navigation:  Click on Grades , locate the course, and select the Assignment you want to grade.

Course Gradebook:  Click on the Gradebook  tab in your course and locate your Assignment. You may access it from the Gradable Items view or the Grades view.

Assignment:  From within your Assignment, click on the Submissions  tab.

Once you have arrived on the Submissions  page, select a student's name to begin.

This will open the grading page. The student's submission will appear in the middle of the page with panels on the left and right side of the page.

Expand the Students Panel to view the list of students who are ready to be graded Use the Grading Status filter to display all students or select the Needs Grading filter to focus on the current grading tasks. 

Did your student submit multiple attempts? Refer to the Grade Multiple Attempts support article for more information.

Select a student to begin grading.

Your student's submission appears in the center of the screen. You may collapse the Students Panel and Feedback Panel  in order to maximize your view of the submission.

Use the Bb Annotate options at the top of the submission to highlight text, add comments, zoom in or out, use freehand drawing tools, and more. For more information, go to the Bb Annotate support article or watch the Annotate in Blackboard Learn tutorial video .

Expand the  Feedback Panel to add overall feedback for the assignment.

In addition to written feedback, you can embed an audio or video recording of your feedback. This recording option appears in the feedback editor for most graded items in your course. Students can watch or listen to your feedback alongside any text you include.

To record feedback, click on the Audio/Video Recording icon in the text editor. This will launch the recording interface

For more information and detailed instructions, go to the Record Feedback support article .

If you are grading the attempt using a Grading Rubric, select the grade pill to open the rubric. Select the performance level for each criterion.

Refer to the   Grade with Rubrics support article for more information or watch the Grade Using Rubrics tutorial video .

Click on the Grade Pill at the top of the page to enter your student's score. If you graded the assignment using a rubric, the score will be added to the Grade Pill automatically.

Once your student has been graded, select the next student to grade. Once you have finished, go to the Students Panel and click Post Grades to post your students' grades.

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Blackboard (Faculty) - Assignments: Create a Blackboard Assignment

• www.siue.edu
• ITS Home Page

• Navigate to the course area or folder where you want to create the assignment.

• Type a name and instructions. Optionally, attach a file: In the Assignment Files section, attach a file using the Browse Local Files ,  Browse Content Collection, or Browse Cloud Service buttons.
• On the Due Dates section, enter a date and time that assignment will be due. This will trigger notifications in the Calendar and Global Navigation area. This does not set a release date.
• In the Grading Section, enter the point value for the assignment. This is a numeric number, not a percentage. Optionally, attach rubric: Attach a rubric for this assignment. See Create A Rubric for more information.

• In the Availability Section, set the Display After and Display Until dates and times. This is the dates and times the assignment link is visible to your students.
• Click Submit at the bottom of the page.
• Blackboard (Faculty) - Assignments: About Blackboard Assignments
• Blackboard (Faculty) - Assignments: Download Assignment Files
• Blackboard (Faculty) - Assignments: Grade a Blackboard Assignment
• Blackboard (Faculty) - Assignments: View Students' Blackboard Assignment Submission Receipts

• Live Support Chat (When Available)
• Faculty Training Opportunities

Faculty Guides and Documentation

Here you will find documentation and tutorials for the various software and services supported by UT Online. If you are unable to find the information for which you are looking, please reach out to our help desk using the information on the left side-bar.

• Creating an Assignment in Blackboard

These instructions will show how to create an assignment drop box in Blackboard.  SafeAssign is an optional tool for checking student submissions for

Creating an Assignment

Log into your Blackboard course, and go to the content area you would like to add the assigment to.  At the top of the page, click on the Create Assessment button and choose Assignment.

Setting up Assignment Information

Assignment Information allows you to enter a description for the assignment.

• Name and Color: Enter a name for the assignment here, and use the color selector to change the color of the assignment link.
• Instructions: Enter a description for the assignment using the provided textbox.

Attaching Files to the Assignment

Assignment Files allows you to attach a file to the assignment, for example assignment guidelines or a sample assignment.  To attach a file, click on the Browse Local Files to attach a file from your computer, or click Browse Course Files to attach a file that has already been added to the course content collection. Users can also drag a file from their computer into this area to upload a file.

Setting up the Assignment Due Date

Due Dates allows users to set a due date for the assignment.  To set a due date, check the box and use the date and time pickers to set the due date.  The due date will be recorded in the students' To Do module, and will create a calendar entry for the student.  If students submit an assignment past the due date, the system will mark it as late.

Setting up Grading Information

The Grading section allows you to specify the point value for the assignment.

• Points Possible: Enter the point value for the assignment.  If you are setting up the assignment for extra credit, enter 0.
• Associated Rubrics: If you have created an interactive rubric, click the Add Rubric button to add the rubric to the assignment.
• Submission Details: Click on Submission Details to expand this section to set up parameters related to the submission of the assignment
• Grading Options: Click on Grading Options to enable options related to anonymous grading and delegated grading.
• Display of Grades: Click on Display of Grades to determine how grades will be displayed to students.

Setting up Assignment Submission Details

After clicking on Submission Details, the screen will expand to show the following options:

• Assignment Type : Choose the type of assignment submission ( Individual Submission, Group Submission, or Portfolio Submission )
• Number of Attempts: Select the number of attempts to allow students to make (Single Attempt, Multiple Attempts, Unlimited Attempts).
• Maximum Attempts: If you selected multiple attempts, enter the maximum number of allowed attempts here.
• Score Attempts Using: If you selected multiple or unlimited attempts, select the desired option for reporting graded attempts to students ( Last Graded Attempt, Highest Attempt, Lowest Attempt, First Graded Attempt, or Average of Graded Attempts) .
• Plagiarism tools: Check the box for the option labeled Check Submissions for plagiarism using Safe Assign to check students for plagiarism.
• Allow students to view Safe Assign Originality Report for their attempts : Check this checkbox to make the safe assign report visible to student.
• Exclude Submissions: Check this option to exclude student papers from SafeAssign's databases.

Assigning the Assignment to Groups

To assign the assignment to groups:

• Select the Group Submission option under Assignment Type.
• Items to Select: Select the groups from the left column you wish to assign the assignment to.
• Click the right-facing arrow button to select the groups and move them into the Selected Items column:
• Selected Items : Groups to which the assignment has been assigned will appear here.

Modifying Grading Options

Note regarding the Delegated Grading feature: Users with TA or instructor access to your course can already grade assignments, use delegated grading only if you wish to assign grading responsibilities to multiple other instructors or TAs, and if you wish to approve provisional grades before being posted to the grade center.

To modify grading options, click on the link labeled Grading Options:

• Enable Anonymous Grading: Check this option to hide usernames when grading students' attempts. After checking this option, users will be given the option to disable grading on a specific date, or after all items have been graded.
• Enable Delegated Grading: Check this box to enable delegated grading, which allows instructors to assign users to grade students' attempts.
• Show: Use this dropdown menu to show All Possible Graders, All Assigned Graders, and All Unassigned Graders.
• Grader: A list of all eligible graderes will appear here.
• Submissions to Grade: Use the dropdown menu next to each grader to assign grading responsibilities. Graders can be assigned to All Submissions , a Random Selection of graded attempts, or specific student Groups.
• View Settings: Check the checkbox to allow the grader to view other graders' scores, feedback, and notes.  This option is checked by default for users with a role of Instructor .
• Reconcile Grades: a +/- icon will indicate that the user has permission to reconcile items graded by other users.  Instructor users have this permission by default, while the ability to reconcile grades must be assigned to other users with Grade Center access (e.g. TA's, graders).

For more information on Delegated Grading, please review the following guides:

• Delegated Grading Information
• Reconciling Grades

Modifying Grade Display Options

Clicking on the item labeled Display of Grades allows you to change how the results are displayed to students:

• Display Grade As: Primary: Use the dropdown menu to show how grades are displayed to students and in the Grade Center:  The available options are S core, Percentage, Letter, Text or Complete/Incomplete.
• Display Grade As: Secondary: Use the dropdown menu to show a secondary grade display in the Grade Center.  The secondary display is not shown to students.  The available options are Score, Percentage, Letter, Text, or Complete/Incomplete.
• Include in Grade Center Grading Calculations: Check this box to include assignment scores in the Grade Center calculations.
• Show to Students in My Grades: Check this box to show the results to students. Uncheck this box to hide the results from students.
• Show Statistics (average and median) for this item to Students in My Grades: Check this box to show the average and median grades to students.

Setting up the Assignment Availability

The Availability section allows you to edit the assignment's visibility to students.

• Make the Assignment Available: Check this box to make the assignment visible to students.
• Limit Availability: Check the boxes and use the date and time selectors to limit the availability of the dropbox.
• Track Number of Views : Check this box to enable statistics tracking on the item.
• When finished, click the Submit button to create the assignment.

If you have an assignment setup for your course, you might want to provide the following link that gives students step-by-step instructions on how to make an assignment submission. http://utlv.screenstepslive.com/s/student/m/23191/l/237264-submitting-an-assignment

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• What is Blackboard Learn?
• Logging into Blackboard
• Accessing your Blackboard Courses
• Blackboard Template (Original Course View)
• Navigating your Blackboard Course
• Modifying the Course Settings
• Uploading a Profile Picture to Blackboard
• What is a Merged Course?
• Using the Student Preview
• How to Show/Hide the Course Menu and Dynamic Web Page Information
• Clearing a Web Browser's Cookies, History, and Cache
• Modifying Notification Settings
• Logging into Blackboard with non-UTAD/SSO credentials
• What is Blackboard Ultra Base Navigation (UBN)
• Institution Page
• Activity Stream
• Selecting a Course Structure
• Adding or Editing Items in the Main Course Menu: Video Tutorial
• Creating a Content Area
• Adding a Tool Link
• Reordering the Course Menu Links
• Adding a Web Link to the Course Menu
• Hiding and Showing Course Menu Links
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• Adding the Course News Page (Adding a Module Page)
• Deleting a Link from the Course Menu
• Changing the Course Menu Appearance
• Adding the My Grades Tool
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• Adding A Custom Page Banner to the Course News Page
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• About the To Do Module
• Customizing the Course News Page
• Adding a Blank Page to the Course Menu
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• Adding A Course Link to The Course Menu
• Adding Content to Your Blackboard Course: Video Demonstration
• The New Blackboard Content Editor
• Adding a File and Echo360 Video
• Adding a Start Here Document
• Adding a Syllabus Document
• Adding a Schedule File
• Creating a Content Item
• Adding a Content File
• Adding an Image to a Content Area
• Adding an Image Into the Text Box
• Adding Video in Blackboard
• Adding A YouTube Video to Blackboard
• Embedding a YouTube Video
• Creating a Link to an External Site in Blackboard
• Creating a Content Folder
• Creating a Learning Module
• Moving an Item or Folder
• Copying an Item or Folder
• Organizing Content Items on a Page
• Removing Content from Content Areas
• Adding an About the Instructor Item
• Adding Images in the Content Editor
• Editing an Assignment in Blackboard
• Creating a SafeAssign Assignment in Blackboard
• Using DirectSubmit to check submitted papers for plagiarism
• Downloading Safe Assign Reports
• Adding Assignments to Modules and a Link in Course Menu
• Downloading Reports from Direct Submit
• Creating an Interactive Rubric in Blackboard
• Adding an Interactive Rubric to a Grade Column
• Grading a Blackboard Assignment Using a Rubric
• Adding a Rubric to an Assignment
• Exporting a Rubric
• Importing a Rubric
• About Tests
• Creating a Test from a Content Area
• Creating a Test with Essay Questions from a Content Area
• Reusing Individual Questions in a New Test
• Creating a Test With Question Sets
• Create Random Block in Tests
• Editing Test Questions
• Changing the Point Value of a Question
• Deploying a Test
• Deploying a Survey
• Editing the Test Settings
• Setting up Test Availability Exceptions
• Making Tests Available to Specific Students
• Copying a Test
• Editing the Test Header Information
• Exporting a Test, Survey or Pool
• Importing a Test, Survey or Pool
• Creating a Survey from a Content Area
• Creating a Pool
• Editing Survey Options
• Question Types Available in Blackboard Learn
• Creating a Calculated Formula Question
• Creating a Calculated Numeric Question
• Creating an Either/Or Question
• Creating an Essay Question
• Creating a File Response Question
• Creating a Fill in Multiple Blanks Question
• Creating a Fill in the Blank Question
• Creating a Hot Spot Question
• Creating a Jumbled Sentence Question
• Creating a Matching Question
• Creating a Multiple Answer Question
• Creating a Multiple Choice Question
• Creating an Opinion Scale/Likert Question
• Creating an Ordering Question
• Creating a Quiz Bowl Question
• Creating a Short Answer Question
• Creating a True/False Question
• Modifying Question Settings
• What is Adaptive Release?
• Setting Up and Editing Simple Adaptive Release Rules
• Setting Up Advanced Adaptive Release Rules
• Editing Advanced Adaptive Release Rules
• Using Adaptive Release to Release an Item Based on a Previous Grade
• Removing Adaptive Release Rules
• Setting Up Review Status
• Checking User Progress and Content Visibility
• Creating a Self and Peer Assessment
• Editing a Self and Peer Assessment
• Adding Questions to a Self and Peer Assessment
• Editing Evaluation Questions
• Adding Question Criteria
• Editing Question Criteria
• Exporting a Self and Peer Assessment
• Importing a Self and Peer Assessment
• Sending Student Scores to Grade Center
• What Are Achievements?
• Creating a Link to Course Achievements
• Creating Achievements
• Deleting Achievements
• Viewing Achievements and Recipients
• Accessing and Viewing the Blackboard Calendar
• Creating a Calendar Event
• Modifying or Deleting a Calendar Event
• Sending an Announcement
• Changing Announcement Display Preferences
• Editing an Announcement
• Deleting an Announcement
• Discussion Board Introduction
• Navigating the Discussion Board
• Adding a Course Discussion Board Link
• Creating a Discussion Board Forum
• Editing Discussion Forum Settings
• Creating a Discussion Board Thread
• Navigating Between Discussion Threads
• Replying to a Discussion Board Post
• Enabling Discussion Board Grading
• Grading Discussion Forum Posts
• Collecting Discussion Forum Posts
• Creating Group Discussion Forums
• Copying Group Discussion Forums
• Changing Users' Roles in a Discussion Forum
• Setting Author of Anonymous Posts
• Deleting Discussion Threads
• Accessing Discussion Grading Information
• Course Messages and Email
• Adding the Email Tool
• Sending an Email in Blackboard
• Adding the Messages Tool
• Viewing and Sending Messages
• Enabling Course Message Notifications
• Introduction about Blogs
• Adding a Blog Link
• Creating a New Blog
• Editing Blog Settings
• Creating a Blog Entry
• Editing a Blog Entry
• Commenting on a Blog
• Grading a Blog
• Activity Stream: Blogs
• Journals Introduction
• Adding a Journal Link
• Creating a New Journal
• Editing Journal Settings
• Creating a Journal Entry
• Commenting on a Journal Entry
• Grading a Journal
• Activity Stream Settings: Journals
• Wiki Introduction
• Adding a Wiki link
• Creating a Course Wiki
• Creating and Editing Wiki Content
• Editing Wiki Settings
• Evaluating and Grading Students' Wiki Participation
• Activity Stream: Wikis
• Accessing Tasks
• Create or Edit Tasks
• Edit or Delete Tasks
• View Task Progress
• Adding Users to your Blackboard Learn Course
• Changing a User's Course Role
• Changing a User's Course Availability
• Changing a Course Site's Duration and Availability
• Allowing Guest and Observer Access
• Adding a Link to Course Groups
• Creating Self-Enrolled Group Sets
• Creating Group Sets with Manual Enrollments
• Creating Group Sets with Random Enrollments
• Editing the Membership of a Single Group
• Viewing Users' Group Enrollments at a Glance
• Creating a Single Self-Enrolled Group
• Creating a Single Manual-Enrolled Group
• Accessing Group Homepages and Tools
• Editing Group Set Options
• Editing Individual Group Options
• Editing Group Set Memberships
• Changing Course-wide Group Settings
• Exporting Groups
• Importing Groups
• Creating a Smart View for a Group
• Deleting Groups
• Enabling Statistics Tracking on an Item
• Running Statistics Reports on an Item
• Creating Course Reports
• Enabling Review Status
• Viewing Student Progress
• Viewing the Performance Dashboard
• Accessing the Retention Center
• Creating Retention Center Rules
• Enterprise Survey Information for Instructors
• Accessing Enterprise Survey Results for Instructors
• View and Print Survey Results to PDF
• Downloading Raw Data from BB9.1 to Excel
• Sort and Filter Data Using Excel
• Download SPSS via myUT and Install it on your computer
• Produce Descriptive Statistics Using SPSS
• What is the Blackboard Grade Center?
• Accessing the Full Grade Center
• Overview of the Full Grade Center Function Buttons and Features
• Changing Scroll Bar Settings on Mac to View Scroll Bars
• Creating a Grade Column
• Creating a Calculated Column
• Editing Grade Column Information
• Organizing/Rearranging and "Freezing" Grade Center Columns
• Hiding/Showing a Column in the Grade Center
• Hiding/Showing a Grade Center Column from Students
• Hiding/Showing Students in the Grade Center
• Creating and Managing Grade Center Smart Views
• Creating Smart Views for Merged Sections
• Deleting a Column from the Grade Center
• Creating and Assigning Grade Center Categories
• Creating or Modifying a Grading Schema and Applying it to a Grade Column
• Managing Grade Center Color Codes
• Hiding Grade Center Color Codes
• Manually Adding or Modifying Grades in a Grade Column
• Grading Items Anonymously
• Viewing a Student's Grade Details
• Clearing All Student Submissions
• Using the Needs Grading Link
• Sending Reminders
• Filtering Grade Center Displays
• Downloading All Assignment Files
• Viewing and Grading a Single Student's Submission
• Viewing and Grading a SafeAssign Submission
• Viewing and Grading a Group Submission
• Clearing, Ignoring or Allowing an Additional Assignment Attempt
• Reconciling Grades for Items with Delegated Grading Enabled
• Using the BB Annotate Tool
• Download Assignment with Annotations and Comments
• About Feedback recording
• How to record a feedback
• Editing and posting the feedback recording
• What do students see for the feedback recording?
• Viewing and Grading a Student's Test Attempt
• Ignoring a Student's Test Attempt
• Clearing a Student's Test Attempt
• Viewing Test Access Logs
• Grading by Question in Blackboard
• Grading by Question on Tests with Question Sets
• Viewing Attempts Statistics for Tests/Surveys
• Viewing Item Statistics
• Running Item Analysis
• Downloading Test and Survey Results
• Regrading a Test Question
• Overriding the Total Point Values for a Test
• Working Offline - Downloading Grade Center Data
• Working Offline - Uploading Grade Center Data
• Creating Grade Center Reports
• Viewing Grade History
• Viewing Submission Receipts
• Course Activity Stream Related to Grades
• Enabling Third Party Building Blocks
• Enabling TurningPoint in Your Course
• Adding TurningPoint Access in Your Course
• Adding the UTMOST: Curriculum Builder Tool to Your Course
• Adding the MyLabsPlus Single Sign On Tool
• Enabling the Content Market to Access Publisher Content
• Integrating Pearson REVEL with your Blackboard Course
• Linking Your Course to Your TurningPoint Account
• Barnes and Noble College Textbook Research and Selection Tool Blackboard Integration
• Barnes and Noble College Textbook Purchase Tool
• Linking to McGraw Hill Connect LTI Advantage
• Linking to McGraw Hill SimNet LTI Advantage
• What is the Content Collection?
• Adding Files to the Content Collection
• Uploading a .zip Package
• Creating Folders
• Moving Items
• Copying Items
• Editing Item Settings
• Modifying Items In Blackboard
• Deleting Items
• Overwriting Files
• Moving Items Between Courses
• Copying Items Between Courses
• Exporting Files
• Managing Course File Permissions
• Creating and Downloading a Course Archive
• Creating a Course Export File
• Copying a Course
• Date Management
• Importing an Archive Package
• Importing/Installing a Course Cartridge
• What To Do After a Course Copy
• Importing Content to a Blackboard Organization
• Bulk Delete Course Content
• Adding Goals to Your Course
• Aligning Goals to Content
• Using the Goals Dashboard
• About the Attendance Tool
• Accessing the Attendance Tool
• Creating an Attendance Session
• Taking Attendance
• Modifying Attendance Settings
• Modifying Attendance Gradebook Settings (including Points)
• Exporting Attendance Data
• Setting up Microsoft Teams Meeting Original Course View
• Join Teams Meeting for Instructors

Last Updated

Feb 02, 2024

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If this isn't the first item you've added to the Assignments area of your course (or to whatever area you chose for the Assignment), you can change the order in which the Assignment appears by clicking on the down arrow next to the number (marked "a" in the figure above) and choosing a different number. If you selected "Yes" on the option of tracking views, you can click on the "Manage" button (marked "b" in the figure above) to find a link for Statistics Tracking on the item. You can also use the Modify or Remove buttons to make changes to or delete the Assignment you created.

The students will click on the "View/Complete Assignment" link (marked "c" in the figure above) to view the details of the assignment, to find any related file(s) you attached, and eventually to submit their completed version to you.

See the related tutorial on Downloading Completed Assignments to learn how to download submitted assignments to your hard drive.

Last revised March 21, 2006.  Please send questions or comments to [email protected] .

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Create Group Assignments

You are viewing Original Course View content

Your institution controls which tools are available in the Original Course View . Assignments are always available to instructors in the Ultra Course View .

Before assigning group work

You don't want students to see group activities as busy work. If group work doesn't enhance your learning objectives and provide value, consider alternative teaching techniques. Only use group work for projects an individual student can't do as well alone and finish in the intended amount of time.

Research shows that students work harder when others rely on them. To encourage this interdependence, create group assignments that require the students to divide the work to meet the goal, question and challenge each other's ideas, and share feedback and encouragement.

Before incorporating group work into your course, consider these questions:

• Will the group work further my course objectives?
• What introductory material or group resource information can I provide to help students succeed?
• How will the groups be formed?
• Will students be involved in planning the groups?
• How will I assess students' learning and maintain individual accountability? Will I require a group deliverable?
• How will I handle concerns and problems?

Source: "44 Benefits of Collaborative Learning." gdrc.org n.d. Web. 3 Jan. 2020.

Create group assignments

To be sure students do collaborate and interact, you can use the groups tool and group assignments to foster an interactive online environment.

More on creating groups

You can create a group assignment and release it to one or more groups within your course. Each group submits one collaborative assignment and all members receive the same grade. You can create a single assignment and assign it to all groups, or create several unique assignments and assign them to individual groups. Only you and the members of a group have access to the assignment.

Before you begin

• A course group must exist before you create group assignments for it.
• Students who are enrolled in more than one group that receives the same assignment will be able to submit more than one attempt for this assignment. You may need to provide these students with an overall grade for the assignment.
• Students who aren't enrolled at the time that a group assignment has been submitted don't have access to that submission. These students only see that the submission occurred.
• Students who you remove from a group can't see the group assignments. They can access their submissions from My Grades .
• If you edit the assignment between creation and the due date, the entire group may lose any work already in progress.
• If you delete a group from the assignment after students have started an attempt but before submission, they'll lose access to the assignment and lose their work.

You create a group assignment in the same way you create an assignment for students to complete individually. When you create a group assignment, a Grade Center item is created automatically. You can create group assignments in content areas, learning modules, lesson plans, and folders. The group assignment appears in the course area where you create it and on the group homepage.

On the Create Assignment page, expand the Submission Details section to deliver an assignment to groups.

• Select Group Submission .
• In the Items to Select box, select the group or groups to receive this assignment. Select the right-pointing arrow to move the selection into the Selected Items box. To select multiple groups at once on a Windows computer, press and hold the Shift key and select each group. To select groups out of sequence, press the Ctrl key and select each group. For Macs, press the Command key instead of the Ctrl key. Use the Select All function if you want to include all groups.
• Select the number of attempts. You can allow more than one attempt on a group assignment.

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