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Using Assignments in a Course

Assignment Modules are a way for you to grade a student's response to a prompt you provide. You can pose a question or challenge, and your students will write a response or upload a file. You will then be notified of your student's submission, then review their work and assign a grade, as well as accept or reject their submission. 

In this guide, we'll be going through how to create the Assignment Module, as well as the student's experience of the module and how an instructor can view and evaluate a submission. 

In this article


Creating an Assignment Module

Now that you know what an Assignment Module entails, let's build one. 

  1. From the Admin Dashboard, select Courses, then choose Assignments under the Modules header

  2. Click + Create Assignment Module

  3. Enter the Name of the Module

  4. Add a Brief Description: this is where you will put the question, prompt or any instructions that the student might need for the assignment. The text editor allows for content formatting, as well as custom HTML to make it look and feel how you choose.

  5. Set Total Points for the Assignment: You can customize the value of this individual assignment by assigning a maximum point total.

  6. Choose the Submission Option

    1. Student will be provided a text area: text area is provided below your challenge to allow your students to respond.
    2. Student will upload file: they will be prompted to upload a file to complete the module. If this option is selected, you will then choose permitted file types. You can choose between MS Office documents, images, PDFs, ZIP files, or audio as well as select more than one option. Keep in mind that students can only upload one file per Assignment Module
  7. Save Module when you're done

Then, we want to make sure the module is made available in a course.  Once the module has been saved, you can add it to a Course using the steps below.

For more information on viewing, editing or deleting existing Modules, see this article


Adding an Assignment Module to a Course

Now that your module has been created, you can add it to the Course or Courses so that it is accessible to Students:

  1. From the Admin Dashboard, choose Courses, then All Courses

  2. Find the Course you want to add the Module to, and click the three-dot action menu. Select Edit

  3. Click the Step 2: Curriculum tab

  4. Click "Add Module" and then opt to "Select an existing module from the list"

    1. Search the drop-down menu for your Module name, and select it.
    2. Once the Module is added to the bottom of your course list, you have the option of entering the Edit Module page to make changes to its content or removing the module from the course.
  5. Click and drag the modules to rearrange them in the order they should be presented in the course. This involves placing the modules in a suitable order along with the sections if used.

  6. You have the option to:

    1. Lock the Module, which forces a student to complete it before being able to move on to the next module in the course
    2. Set the availability of the Module, which allows you set a date when the module will be available to a student.  This gives an Admin or Instructor the control to make modules available to students over time or to restrict a student from completing the course too quickly.
    3. You can also set a minimum amount time spent in the module that the student must abide by in the Module before being allowed to move on to the next module.
  7. Save your course changes by clicking Update Course in the upper right corner. If you get distracted or navigate to another section of the platform, changes may not be saved if you do not update before leaving a page you have made changes to.

If you're a more visual learner, check out this video that walks you through how to create an Assignment Module: 

Please see this guide for the full details of Creating and Updating a Course.


Student Experience of an Assignment Module

Now let's go through what a student will see when going through an Assignment Module.

Written Response Submission

  1. The student's view of the Assignment Module will include the instructor's Brief Description where the question, prompt or instructions are composed.
  2. Below that is a place for the student to write their response. 
  3. When Submit Assignment is selected, the student will be shown a confirmation message that the response has been sent successfully. 
  4. The student will then wait for an evaluation from the instructor. If the submission is accepted, the Module will update to 100% completed, and the student can move on. 

If the submission is rejected, the student will restart the Module, and submit a new response.

File Upload Submission

  1. As with the written response option, the student's view of the Assignment Module will include the instructor's Brief Description where the question is composed.
  2. Below that is a place for the student to upload their file. The file must be a file type (audio, video, image, document) chosen by the instructor.

There is also a space for an optional message, if you would like your students to submit both a file and write a response to the assignment question.

  1. When Submit Assignment is selected, the student will be shown a confirmation message that the response has been sent successfully.
  2. The student will then wait for an evaluation from the instructor. If the submission is accepted, the Module will update to 100% completed, and the student will move on to the next Module.

If the submission is rejected, the student will restart the Module, and submit a new response.


Instructor Experience of Evaluating Assignments

 Once the student has submitted the Assignment, you can evaluate assignment submissions.

  1. From the Admin Dashboard, select Courses, then All Courses
  2. Find the course you are looking to evaluate assignment submissions for in the table and click the three-dot action menu to select View Submissions. You are then able to see all Pending Submissions for that Course, and are also able to filter by Type (Discussion or Assignment) and search by student name. 
  3. Find the student and submission you want to evaluate and click the Evaluate link.
  4. Read the message from the student and click the Download link to download their submitted file.
  5. Write out a response so the student knows what they did right or what they should improve, decide whether you want to Accept or Reject the submission (enable toggle to Accept), and determine the points they have earned for their submission.
  6. Click the Accept (or Reject) button to complete the evaluation. If you have rejected the Assignment submission, the student will be asked to re-submit an improved version and you can once more evaluate it. If you accept, their module will be completed.

You're also able to view all Pending Submissions right on your Dashboard: