Blackboard assignments can be leveraged for a wide range of activities, such as essays, research papers, presentations, group projects, and more. The Blackboard feature allows instructors to distribute assignments, collect student submissions, and provide feedback and grades. The assignment is created within the Blackboard LMS by providing assignment instructions, due dates, and any additional resources or materials needed for completion. Various submission methods are available for students, such as uploading files, typing directly into a text editor, or submitting multimedia content. 

Create Assignment

1. Login to the course where you would like to add an assignment.
2. In the middle of the page, select the + icon where you'd like to add the assignment.
3. Select Create.
4. On the right hand side, under the Assessments heading, select Assignment.
5. In the top left corner, enter the name for the assignment.
6. In the middle of the page, select the + icon.
   • If you have the instructions available in a file that is saved to your computer, select add local file from the menu. 
   • If you are typing your instructions on the screen, select add text and proceed to enter the instructions.
   • If you have the instructions available in a file that is saved to your OneDrive, select add file from Cloud Storage and select OneDrive.
7. On the right-hand side, select the gear in the top right corner to open all settings associated with the assignment.

Due Date Settings

• Enter the due date and time for the assignment.
• Prohibit late submissions will prevent students from submitting work after the due date has passed. If this setting is enabled, all drafts will be automatically submitted at the due date and time.
• Prohibit new attempts after due date will prevent students from starting new attempts once the due date and time has passed.
• Allow class conversations provides the students with the ability to discuss the assignment.
• Collect submissions offline gives the instructors the ability to proctor an assignment in the classroom, and provide a grade and feedback in the grade center.

Presentation Settings

• Display one question at a time displays one test question at a time to students. Note, you must add questions to enable this feature.
• Prohibit backtracking prevents students from going back to change an answer for a previously submitted question based on information that may have been provided in another question.
• Randomize questions provides the questions to students in a random order. This means student A and student B will receive different exams.
• Randomize answers provides the answers to students in a random order. This means student A and student B will have different options for A-D for a multiple choice question.
• Randomize pages displays the pages in a random order to students providing students with different exams. 

Grading & Submission Settings

• Grade category is the category the assignment will be weighed in when using the overall grade column in the grade book. 
• Attempts allowed is the number of attempts the students can use to complete the assignment
• Grade using can be set to points, percentage or a letter grade. 
• Hide Student Names will remove the student names for anonymous grading.

Assessment Result Settings

• Submission view customizes when the submission content is available to students. Options available are after submission, after individual grade is posted, after due date, after all grades are posted or on a specific date. If you do not want to allow students to view their submission at all, simply uncheck the checkbox next to the setting.
• Automated question feedback customizes when the automated question feedback is available to students. Options available are after submission, after due date, after all grades are posted or on a specific date. If you do not want the automated question feedback available at all, simply uncheck the checkbox next to the setting.
• Show question scores customizes the ability to view question scores. Options available are after submission, after due date, after all grades are posted or on a specific date. If you do not want students to view the question scores, simply uncheck the checkbox next to the setting.
• Show correct answers allows students to view the correct answers, select the check box next to show correct answers. If you do not want the students to view the correct answers, simply leave the check box unchecked.

Additional Tools 

• Access Code can be turned on if you want students to enter a code to access the assignment. This is helpful if you only want one or two students to access the assignment, or if you would like students to access the assignment earlier or later than other students in the course.
• Time Limit sets the allotted time allowed for the assignment. 
• Use Grading Rubric can be enabled to guide the grading process with a rubric. The rubric can be built within the setting, or prior to creating the assignment. 
• Assign to Groups will assign the assignment to a specific group of students. You will need to take create the groups first before assigning the assignment to them.
• SafeAssign allows you to receive safe assign reports for student submissions.

Visibility Options

• Visible to Students: the content will be available to all students in the course.
• Hidden from Students: the content will be available to the instructor to continue to edit, but will not be available for students to view. 
• Release Conditions: the content will be visible based on the criteria set.
  • Select Members:  You can make the content visible to all members (default) or specific members or groups. 
  • Date/Time: You can make the content visible based on a specific date/time. This is helpful when releasing content on a consistent schedule. 
  • Performance: You can make the content visible based on a student's performance on an assessment. This is helpful when you want to provide additional resources to students that may be struggling.