How do I create assignments in Brightspace?

The Assignments feature in Brightspace enables you to create a space for learners to submit their work as files, text, video, etc. while providing instructors with a convenient way to score and provide feedback to learners. 

Create an Assignment

1. From the course navigation bar, click Course Tools and select Assignments from the drop-down.
   
2. Click New Assignment.
   
   
3. Enter a name for the assignment.
   
   
4. If the assignment will be graded, click within the Grade Out Of text box and enter the point value of the assignment. An In Gradebook field will then appear, indicating a grade item will be created for this assignment in the gradebook.
   
5. Optionally, click the In Gradebook drop-down and select:
   
   • Edit or link to existing to create a new grade item and select the grade category to which it belongs, or to link the assignment to an existing grade item.
   • Not in Gradebook to create an assignment with a point value, but that will not be included in the gradebook.
   • Reset to Ungraded to remove all scoring.
     
     
6. Click within the Due Date field to establish a due date for the assignment.
   
7. Add any instructions and/or attach any supplemental files.
   
   
8. From the Availability Dates & Conditions tab, a Start Date and End Date for the assignment can be set.
   
   PLEASE NOTE:  Students are able to submit after the established Due Date.  The submission will be marked late.  The End Date serves as the date and time after which a student can no longer submit.
   
   
9. From the Submission & Completion tab, you can set whether the assignment:
   
   • Is an individual or group assignment
   • Should belong to an assignment category
     • PLEASE NOTE:  This setting is unrelated to the grade
   • Is a File Submission, Text Submission, an On Paper Submission, or an Observed in Person assignment
   • Should be limited to one file or unlimited files per submission
   • Should restrict student submissions to only specific file formats
   • Should keep all submissions, keep only one submission, keep only the most recent submission
   • Should send a notification email each time a student submits
     
10. From the Evaluation & Feedback tab, you can add a rubric by creating a new rubric or selecting an existing one. You can also determine whether you would like the annotation tools to be available to you when reviewing learner submissions, whether you would like learners to be anonymous to you while grading, and whether this assignment should utilize Turnitin.
    
    

Assignment Visibility

1. If you would not yet like the assignment to be visible to learners, click the Visibility option to make the assignment hidden.
   
   PLEASE NOTE:  The difference between this visibility setting and the availability dates is that with availability dates, learners will see the assignment exists, but they will not be able to click on it.  With the visibility setting, the assignment is hidden from learners until you return and change it to be visible.  An assignment must be visible for the availability dates to take effect.
   
   
2. Click Save and Close when you have finished creating the assignment.

Add The Assignment To A Course Module

The Assignments area under Course Tools lists all of the assignments in the course.  You can insert them into any Content module to list them with related content.

1. From the course navigation bar, click Content and navigate to the module location where the assignment should reside.
   
   
2. Click Existing Activities and select Assignments from the drop-down.
   
3. Locate and click the assignment you would like to insert.
   

Last Updated: 1/8/2022