Add an Assignment

Visit the Assignments tool

Select the Assignments tool from the Tools Menu in your site.

Click the Add option

Click the Add button to add a new assignment.

Give your assignment a title

The title of your assignment should be something descriptive and unique, as this is the title students will see when they go to the Assignments tool to submit their work.

Add assignment instructions

Enter the instructions for the assignment into the Rich Text Editor. You may use the editor to format your assignment description, and add images, links, or other media if desired.

Add Integrity Pledge (Optional)

When the Integrity Pledge option is selected, students must indicate acceptance of the Integrity Pledge before submitting their assignment:

Integrity Pledge: I understand that Studying with Integrity means completing my own work and taking responsibility for demonstrating what I have learned. This includes citing the work and ideas of others appropriately, participating actively in group work situations, asking questions to gain clarification if I am unsure, and managing my time so that I can complete my best work.

Add Attachments (Optional)

You first have to assign points to the assignment before you add attachments or you will receive an error that says Alert: Please specify the maximum points. To assign points jump to Step #18. Grading.

If you would like to attach any additional files to the assignment, such as a grading rubric or peer review rubric, click the Add attachments button to browse for and attach file/s.

Specify Availability

When you create a new assignment, the Open Date will default to the current day, and the Due Date and Accept Until dates will default to one week later. Change the dates using the calendar icon to bring up the date-picker pop-up calendar.

1. The Open Date for your assignment is when it becomes available for students.
2. The Due Date is the deadline to turn in the assignment.
3. The Accept Until date allows you to accept late submissions after the due date. (Late student submissions marked as late.) If you do not accept late submissions, you may leave the Due Date and Accept Until date the same.

Send a reminder email 24 hours before the due date

If you want students to receive an email reminder of the upcoming due date, check the box next to the send a reminder email 24 hours before the due date option.

Hide due date from students (Optional)

If you would prefer for students not to see the assignment due date, check the box next to the Hide due date from students option.

Add due date to Calendar (Optional)

If you would like your assignment due date to be added automatically to the Calendar in your class, check the Add due date to Calendar box.

Add an announcement (Optional)

If you would like an announcement to be automatically posted to the site regarding the open date for your assignment, check the Add an announcement about the open date to Announcements box. If you enable an announcement about the option date, you will also have the option to choose an email notification for the announcement.

Note: The announcement will be posted immediately when you post your assignment, regardless of the actual open date of the assignment itself. This option is best used to announce changes in a due date, or the availability of a newly posted item.

Assign To

You may display your assignment to each individual member of the site (the default), to each individual member of the selected group(s), or to selected group(s) where one group member submits on behalf of the entire group.

Note: You must have existing groups in your site in order for the group options to appear.

Assign to selected groups (Optional)

If you select the Each individual member of the selected group(s) or The selected group(s), as a group assignment (one group member submits on behalf of the entire group) options, the settings will expand to show a list of all existing groups in the site. Select one or more groups to display the assignment to those groups only. If you selected the One group member submits on behalf of the entire group option, you may limit the groups that are allowed to submit here.

Note: If you want the assignment to have a Peer Review component you cannot select The select group(s), as a group assignment (one group member submits on behalf of the entire group) option.

Check for duplicate participants

If you've chosen more than one group to submit a group assignment, a notice will appear offering to scan the groups for duplicate participants (students who appear in both groups). Select the Check Now button.

If there are no duplicate participants, you will receive a Success message confirmation.

If duplicate participants are present, an alert message will be displayed listing participate and group details. You need to resolve all duplicate entries before the assignment can be posted. To learn more about how to manage groups and participants, go to the Create groups article.

Choose submission format

Choose your preferred format from the drop-down menu. There are several submission formats that you may accept:

• Textbox and Attachments: This is the default format and it allows students to either enter content into the rich text editor box, or attach a file, or both.
• Textbox: Student may only submit a response by entering their content into the rich text editor box. The attachment option is not available. This is a good option to choose if you want to be able to grade all of the responses online without having to download or open any files.
• Attachments: This format removes the rich text editor option and leaves only the attachment option available.
• Non-Sakai submission: This format choice is for assignments that you expect students to submit in person, but you want the option to view assignment details and/or grade the assignment in Sakai.
• Single Attachment only: If you want students to submit a file, but you only want a single file, this is the option to choose. (Both the Inline and Attachments and the Attachments only option allow students to upload and submit more than one file at a time.)

Allow resubmission (Optional)

If you select Allow Resubmission, you may specify:

1. The number of resubmissions allowed for the class.
2. The deadline for resubmitting.
3. You may also select to notify students via email when the grade is released and resubmission is available.

Tip: You may also choose to allow resubmissions on an individual basis when you grade student submissions.

Submission notification

The default notification setting is Do not send me notification emails for any student submissions. If you would like to be notified, select either of the following two options:

• Send me a notification email for each student submission: This option will send a separate email for each student immediately upon submission.
• Send me one email per day summarizing notifications for student submissions: This option will send a digest email listing all student submissions for that day.

Choose the radio button for the notification setting you prefer.

Note: The notification email message will be sent to the external email address for your Sakai user account. It does not send the notification to the Sakai Messages tool.

Use Turnitin

If you want to use Turnitin with your assignment see Add a Turnitin Assignment for more information.

Grading

Check the box to have the assignment be graded or leave the box empty to not associate a grade with the assignment.

Choose Grade Scale

Select the assignment's grade scale from the drop-down menu. There are several grade scales to choose from:

Letter grade: You may select this option if you like to grade your assignments by letter grade only.

Points: Allows you to assign points to an assignment for grading. This is the option you should choose if you plan to send the assignment to the gradebook. Note that selecting Points as the grade scale requires entry of a maximum number of points for the assignment.

Pass/Fail: Designates an assignment as pass/fail.

Checkmark: Allows you to mark assignments with a checkmark for completion.

Note: The only grade scale option that can be added to the gradebook automatically is Points.

Options with Points as the Grade Scale

1. Check the box for Do not use a rubric to grade this assignment to not associate with a rubric.
2. Check the box for Use the following rubric to grade this assignment to associate with a rubric and then select the rubric you want associated from the dropdown menu.
3. Check the box for Adjust individual student scores if you would like to be able to change the number of points awarded for individual criteria ratings while grading student submissions on a per-student basis.
4. Check the box for Hide Rubric from student if you do not want students to see the rubric prior to submitting.
5. Check the box for Send grades to the Gradebook option to connect this assignment with the Gradebook tool (see more below).
6. Check the box for Use peer assessment to add a peer review component to the assignment (see more below).

Connecting with Gradebook (Optional)

Select the radio button for the gradebook option you would like to use:

• Create new Gradebook item: This will create a new item in the gradebook with the same name as your assignment title.
• Associate with existing Gradebook item: This option allows you to link your assignment to an existing gradebook item. This is useful if you have already created items in your Gradebook and you want to use one of them, rather than creating a new assignment. You may only link an assignment to a single Gradebook item, and vice versa.

Peer assessment (Optional)

Peer assessment facilitates student peer review of assignments.

If you select the radio button for Use Peer Assessment, the settings will expand to show additional options. You may indicate the following items here:

• The evaluation period end date. (This date must be after the Accept Until date for the assignment.)
• Whether or not reviews are anonymous.
• Whether or not students may see reviews of their own assignments.
• The number of reviews each student must complete.
• Instructions for reviewers.

Note: You must be using a Points grade scale in order to enable peer review.

Released grade notification

The default notification setting is Do not send notification email to student when the grade is released.

If you would like students to be notified, select the radio button for Send notification email to student when the grade is released.

Note: The notification email message will be sent to the external email address for the student's Sakai user account. It does not send the notification to the Sakai Messages tool.

Model answer (Optional)

The model answer can provide an example of the ideal correct answer or solution for a particular assignment.

1. You may enter your model answer in the text box provided.
2. You may also click the Add Attachments button to browse for and select a file containing the model answer and/or solution.
3. Select when you would like the model answer to be displayed: Before student starts assignment, After student submits, After submission is graded and returned, or After accept-until date.
4. Click Save to save your changes.

Private Note (Optional)

If you would like to make any private notes which are not visible to students, you may enter them here.

1. Enter your notes in the space provided.
2. Select who can read and edit the notes from the drop-down menu: Keep private to myself, Allow other instructors to read, or Allow other instructors to read and edit.
3. Click Save to save your changes.

All Purpose Item

You may also create an All Purpose Item which can be displayed based on specific dates or users.

1. Enter a Title for your item.
2. Enter the content of the item in the text box provided.
3. You may also click Add Attachments to browse for and attach file/s.
4. Select when the item should be displayed.
5. Choose which users can see the item.
6. Click Save to save your changes.

Post your assignment

Once you have entered all of your assignment settings, scroll down to the bottom and click Post to save your changes and post the assignment.

More questions about the Assignments tool?

  Add a rubric to an assignment

  Add a Turnitin Assignment

  Add a Video Assignment

  Add an Assignment

  Add assignments to a Lessons page

  Allow Teaching Assistants to Grade Assignments

  Change the Assignments tool permissions

  Create a video using Powerpoint

  Delete an Assignment

  Edit an Assignment

  Enable Group Submission

  Enable Student Peer Assessment

  Grade a Peer Assessment Assignment

  Grade a Video Assignment

  Grade an Assignment

  Grade an assignment using a rubric

  Grade Assignments Offline

  Record an audio clip in the text editor

  Release Assignment Grades

  Resubmit an Assignment

  Send Assignment grades to Gradebook

  Share video from my phone

  Students view of an assessment (i.e. test or quiz) feedback

  Submit a Peer Assessment Assignment

  Submit a Video Assignment

  Submit an Assignment

  Submit an Assignment on Behalf of a Student

  Upload graded Assignment submissions and feedback

  View Assignment Feedback

  View my rubric feedback

  What is the Assignments tool?

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This page is adapted from an equivalent Sakai Community help article.

The original Sakai Community help article, unedited, is available at https://sakai.screenstepslive.com/s/sakai_help