How do I add an assignment?

Instructors will use the Add Assignment form to set delivery dates, provide instructions, and include attachments of readings or related files needed for the assignment.  

In addition, instructors will specify the submission format, inline and/or attachment or non-electronic.  After all options have been selected, the assignment is posted and becomes available to students on the open date.

Go to the Assignments tool.

Select the Assignments tool from the tools menu in your site.  

Click the Add tab.

Click the Add tab 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.

Select the Assign To.  

Select one of the three options for assigning the assignment.

  1. Each individual member of the site - enabled by default, every student in the site will have access to the assignment.
  2. Each individual member of the selected group(s) - if groups have been created in your site, you can indicate that the assignment is only available to the members of a specific group.
  3. The selected group(s), as a group assignment (one group member submits on behalf of the entire group) - use this option for group work where one member of the group submits for everyone in the group.

Group access (Optional)

  1. Select Each individual member of the selected group(s) to indicate that only member(s) of a specific group have access.  
  2. From the drop-down menu, select the group(s) that will have access to the assignment.

Note: You must have existing groups in your site in order for the Display only to selected groups option to appear.  Each roster added to a site comprises a group.

Group submission (Optional)

  1. Select The selected group(s), as a group assigment (one group member submits on behalf of the entire group) to allow any member of a group to submit an assignment on behalf of the group. By default, the same grade is applied to all group members when the item is graded. However, the instructor can also override the group grade for any individual member of the group.
  2. From the drop-down menu, select the group(s) that will have access to the assignment.

WARNING: If an assignment has been released to groups, it is not recommended to change which groups have access to the assignment or the groups' membership after students have submitted the assignment or after they have been graded. Making changes to the groups or their membership may affect access to submissions and the students' grades. For details, see How does a group assignment work?

Specify the availability.

When you create a new assignment, the Open Date will default to the time the assignment is being created.  The Due Date will default to one week later and the accept Accept Until date will default to one week and a day 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 are marked as late.)  If you do not accept late submissions, you may change the Due Date and Accept Until date to be the same.

Tip: Often, faculty like to set the time on the due date to 11:55 PM, as that is the latest time you can select on a given day.  Selecting 12:00 AM will display the date as the next day, and this may confuse students about the actual due date if they assume they have all day to turn in their work.

Send an email reminder (Optional).

Enabled by default, this option will send an email to all students who have not submitted twenty-four hours prior to the due date.

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.

Note: This option will only appear if the Calendar tool has been added to the site.

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.  After selecting this option, you can also elect whether or not to send an email notification.

Note: This option will only appear if the Announcements tool has been added to the site. 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.

Choose the submission format.

There are several submission formats that you may accept.

  • Inline only: Students may only submit a response by entering their content into the rich text editor.  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 only:  This format removes the Rich-Text Editor option and leaves only the attachment option available.
  • Inline and Attachments:  This is the default format and it allows students to either enter content into the Rich-Text Editor inline, or attach a file, or both.
  • Non-electronic: 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 UVACollab.
  • Single Uploaded File 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 options allow students to upload and submit more than one file at a time.)

Choose your preferred format from the Student Submissions drop-down menu.

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.

Grade assignment.

Grade this assignment is enabled by default.  When the assignment will be graded, there are several Grade Scale options to choose from:

  • 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 Gradebook.
  • Letter grade: You may select this option if you like to grade your assignments by letter grade only.
  • Pass/Fail: Designates an assignment as Pass/Fail.
  • Checkmark: Allows you to mark assignments with a checkmark for completion.

Select the assignment's grade scale from the drop-down menu.

Note: The Points Grade Scale option must be selected in order to send the grades for an assignment to be added to the Gradebook.    

Enter maximum points.

If you select Points as the grade scale, you must enter a maximum number of points for the assignment.

Send grades to Gradebook.

The default selection is to not send the assignment's grade to Gradebook. If you would like your assignment added to the Gradebook, select Send grades to the Gradebook. After making that selection,  you may select either of the following options:

  • 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 the 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.

Select the radio button for the Grading option you would like to use.  

Tip: Remember that you must have a Points grade scale in order to add the assignment to the Gradebook!

Use peer assessment.

Peer assessment facilitates student peer review of assignment submissions by other students in the course.  Peer review allows students to review and critique each other’s work within parameters set by the instructor.

When you select the Use peer assessment box, the settings will expand as shown above:

  1. The Evaluation Period Finishes date. This date must occur after the Accept Until date for the assignment.
  2. Whether or not reviews are anonymous.
  3. Whether or not students may see reviews of their own assignments.
  4. The number of reviews each student must complete.
  5. Instructions for reviewers.

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

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 honor pledge. (Optional)

If you would like to add an honor pledge to your assignment, check the Add honor pledge box.  

Student view of honor pledge.

When the honor pledge option is enabled, students are presented with the screen above when accessing the assignments.  They must select the Agree button in order to proceed to the assignment.  

Attachments. (Optional)

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.

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.  

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.

Additional information. (Optional)

This section gives you the option of including additional information, such as a Model Answer, Private Note, or All Purpose Item.  

Click the Add link to add any of these items.

Model answer.

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 from the Show to students drop down options.
  4. Click Save to save your changes.

Private note.

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 Share drop-down menu.
  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 to selected 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.