How to Create an Assignment

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Blackboard Assignments allow students to submit written work and files for their instructor to review. Assignments can be worth course credit or can be used as a file dropbox for non-credit submissions.

Step-by-Step Guide

How to Create an Assignment

On the Course Menu, click the content area to which you want to add an assignment.
Point to Assessments, and then click Assignment.
On the Create Assignment page, in the Name and Color box, type a name for the assignment. You can also choose to make the name a different text color.
In the Instructions area, type instructions for your students, if desired.
Under Assignment Files, attach any files you wish to the assignment (such as a prompt, rubric, or grading information).
Under Due Dates, Add a due date. This feature is optional, but if a due date is not added the assignment will not appear on the students’ course calendar.
Under Grading, type the points possible for the assignment. Then set the options for Submission Details, Grading Options, and Display of Grades.
1. The Submission Details menu includes Assignment Type, Number of attempts, and Plagiarism Tools.
  1. Assignment Type
    1. Individual Submission: The standard; each student submits their own work.
    2. Group Submission: If you'd like students to submit a Group paper, this is the correct option. Selecting Group Submission will bring up a list of groups in your course. Select the Group or Groups that the assignment is for and move those to the column on the right. In the following example, the Assignment will be issued to Group 1.
    3. Portfolio Submission
  2. Number of Attempts
    1. You can choose to allow a Single, Multiple, or Unlimited attempts at an Assignment. When you select Multiple Attempts, enter the Maximum number of attempts and choose which scoring option you'd like to utilize: Last Graded Attempt, Highest Grade, Lowest Grade, First Graded Attempt, or Average of Graded Attempt. The Unlimited option does not require a "Maximum Attempts" value.
  3. Plagiarism Tools
    1. If you'd like to check submissions for plagiarism, turn on the Check submissions for plagiarism using SafeAssign option. You can also choose to allow students to view their SafeAssign reports and exclude submissions from the institutional and Global Reference Databases. Please see the "Exclude Submissions" option (For use with Multiple Drafts of the same assignment) section on the SafeAssign Reference page for more information on using this feature.
2. The Grading Options menu includes options to enable Anonymous Grading and/or assign a delegate to grade this Assignment.
  1. With Enable Anonymous Grading, you're able to set a date at which the grading is no longer anonymous, either by a specific date or after all submissions have been graded.
  2. Using Delegated Grading will allow you to assign the grading of this Assignment to another user in your course. You can also choose to delegate grading to multiple graders. Each grader provides separate grades, feedback and notes to students. Users with the ability to reconcile grades may review all the grades given to a submission and set the official grade for the attempt. By default, instructors have reconciling abilities.
3. Display of Grades allows you to set how the scores are displayed in your Grade Book and to students, if the grade should be included in your total score, if the grade is shown to students, and if you'd like to display statistics (average and median) for this item to students in My Grades.
Under Availability, choose if the assignment will be available and set your availability dates (optional). You can also choose to "Track Number of Views” to track how many students view the assignment.
When you have finished creating your assignment, click Submit.