DLE Weekly Update: The Assignments Tool in Brightspace

Posted on Friday, February 19th, 2021

Learners use the Assignments Tool to submit assignments directly in the Brightspace Learning Environment, eliminating the need to email or submit their work via paper submissions to instructors. 

We have put together all the information you need to know on the Assignments Tool in Brightspace, with links to our KB articles.

Common Questions on the Assignments Tool

How do I create an assignment in my course?

Read this KB article for step-by-step instructions on how to create an assignment in a Brightspace course.

Why do I see my Assignments under the Activities menu on the course nav bar, but not under the Content area?

Once in a while we see a bit of confusion about the area where you should make your assignments accessible for your students. Regardless of the way you create your assignments, they will ALWAYS exist under the Activities menu on the course nav bar. There is nothing wrong with directing your students to access the assignments from the Activities menu, but sometimes, depending on how your course is structured, you might also want to make them available under one particular module, under the Content area. This is when you will be using the Existing Activities/Assignments to create a link to the existing assignments.

Note: Removing the link from the Content area and choosing the second option on the confirmation pop-up screen, will delete your assignment from your course.

I need to allow some of my students alternate time restrictions, due dates, etc. How do I do this?

You can use Special Access rules in a Assignment to provide students with alternate time restrictions, alternate attempt limits, or alternate due dates separate from the options set in Properties section of the assignment. To create a Special Access rule on an existing assignment, follow the steps in this KB article.

How do I grade an assignment using a Pass/Fail scheme?

An assignment can be associated only with the numeric or selectbox types of grade columns, allowing you to grade using numeric or letter grades. For a Pass or Fail grade, ensure that you use a selectbox type of grade column at the same time with a Pass/Fail Grade Scheme.

Can I make annotations when grading the student submissions?

Assignment submissions will load with the Annotation Tool bar, within the Evaluation Submission Screen. When you first create an assignment, by default the Make annotation tools available for assessment option is checked off. Watch this video from D2L to learn more on the Annotation Tool.

I have different points possible for the assignment and for the grade column. How do I fix this?

If there are no student submissions for the assignment, you only need to edit the associated column from Grades/Manage Grades and adjust the points to match the points displayed for this particular assignment, in Activities/Assignments.

If you’ve already graded the assignment, once you edit the grade column and change the points, the existing grades won’t get automatically adjusted. You will need to go to Activities/Assignments/View Submissions, select all students and click on the Publish Feedback button.

I deleted an assignment by mistake!

To recover deleted assignments, go to Activities/Assignments/More Actions/Event Log. The deleted assignment will have a Restore button available.

Need to grade assignment files offline?

You have the option to download all the files in a zip file, grade them, save the files, create a new zip file and upload all the graded files as a package file.

Go to Activities/Assignments, locate that particular assignment and choose View Submissions from the contextual menu. Click on the Submissions tab, select all submissions, and then click Download. When you are ready to upload the graded assignments, from the same screen, click on the Add Feedback Files tab and upload the zip file.

How do I check students’ assignments for plagiarism?

Turnitin is an originality checking and plagiarism prevention service that checks your student papers for citation mistakes or inappropriate copying. Through the integration with Brightspace and the use of a Brightspace Assignment, Turnitin allows you to check for plagiarism using the Originality Check tool, and also to provide feedback and in-line comments on student assignments using the GradeMark tool.

Read this KB article on how to create an assignment and enable Turnitin.

How can I check if my students made an attempt to submit an assignment?

Brightspace allows you, the instructor, to view a record of submitted, deleted, restored and started assignments, along with a timestamp. In order to access this log, go to Activities/Assignments, click on the chevron beside the assignment name and choose the Submission Log option.

How can I preview a Brightspace Assignment as a learner? 

The Assignment Preview allows you to view and submit to a Brightspace assignment (Activities/Assignments), as a learner, whenever there is the need to double check assignments’ settings. You can simulate a student uploading a file to an assignment, grade the learner’s submission, and also use a Brightspace rubric, if you have linked one to the assignment.

Read the Assignment Preview in Brightspace KB article for detailed information on how to use this feature.