How do I add an assignment?

Go to the Assignment tool.

Select the Assignments tool from the Tools Menu in your site.  

Click Add.

Enter a title.  

Enter a title in the Title field. The title of your assignment should be something descriptive and unique, as this is the title students will see when they go to the Assignments tool to submit their work.

Add assignment instructions.

Using the Rich Text Editor, add instructions to the Assignment Instructions field. You can use the editor to format the text of your description, and add images, links, or other media if desired.

Add honor pledge. (Optional)

If you would like to add an honor pledge to your assignment, check the Add honor pledge box.  

Site participant's view of Honor Pledge

When you activate the honor pledge, students must agree to the statement pictured above which reads "I have not given, received, or used any unauthorized assistance on this assignment" in order to submit their assignment.

Add attachments. (Optional)

If you would like to attach any additional files to the assignment, such as a grading rubric or peer review rubric, click the Add attachments button to browse for and attach file/s.

Specify the availability.

  1. Specify a dates by first clicking its associated calendar icon to prompt the date-picker.
  2. Use the date-picker to select a date and time.
  • The Open Date for your assignment is when it becomes available for site participants.  
  • The Due Date is the deadline to turn in the assignment.
  • The Accept Until date allows you to accept late submissions after the due date (late student submissions marked as late). If you do not accept late submissions, set the Due Date and Accept Until dates to occur at the same time.

Tip: Set the Due Date to 11:55 or 11:59 PM, as that is the latest time that you can select on a given day. Selecting 12:00 AM will display the date as occurring on the next day and may mislead site participants.

Send a reminder email. (Optional)

Activate Send a reminder email 24 hours before the due date to send a reminder message the participants.

Hide due date from students. (Optional)

Activate Hide due date from students to prevent students from seeing the due date of the assignment.

Add due date to Calendar. (Optional)

If the Calendar tool is enabled in the site, activate Add due date to calendar to automatically create a calendar item for the assignment.

Add an announcement. (Optional)

If the Announcements tool is enabled in the site, activate Add an announcement about the open date to Announcements to automatically post an announcement about the open date for your assignment.

Note: The announcement will be posted immediately when you post your assignment, regardless of the open date of the assignment itself. This option is best used to announce changes in a due date, or the availability of a newly-posted assignment.

Choose the submission format.

There are several submission formats that you can accept from site participants:

  • Inline only: site participants can only submit a response by entering their content into the Rich Text Editor. The attachment option is not available. This is a good option to choose if you want to be able to grade all of the responses online without having to download or open any files.
  • Attachments only: this format removes the Rich Text Editor option and leaves only the attachment option available.
  • Inline and Attachments: this is the default format and it allows site participants to either enter content into the Rich Text Editor inline, or attach a file, or both.
  • Non-electronic: this format choice is for assignments that you expect site participants to submit in person, but you want the option to view assignment details and/or grade the assignment in Sakai.
  • Single Uploaded File only: site participants can only attach a single file.
  • External Tool (LTI): collect submissions from students using a third party tool that's integrated with Sakai via LTI. See the What is the External Tool (LTI)? for more information about LTI tools.
  • Video Submission: collect submissions in video format.

Choose your preferred format from the drop-down menu.

Choose how to Assign the assignment.

Display the assignment to all site participants in the site (the default), or to selected groups.

Note: You must first create groups in your site in order to select Each individual member of the selected group(s) or The selected group(s), as a group assignment (one group member submits on behalf of the entire group).

Assign to each individual member of the selected group(s). (Optional)

Select Each individual member of the selected group(s) to select from a list of all existing groups in the site. Select one or more groups to display the assignment to those groups only.

Assign to the selected group(s), as a group assignment (one group member submits on behalf of the entire group).

If you want site participants to submit one assignment per group, Select The selected group(s), as a group assignment (one group member submits on behalf of the entire group) to create an assignment for which one group member will submit on behalf of the rest of the group. Select one or more groups to display the assignment to those groups only.

If you've chosen more than one group to submit a group assignment, a notice will appear offering to scan the groups for duplicate participants (students who appear in both groups). Click Check Now.

If there are no duplicate participants in the selected groups, you will receive a Success message confirmation.

If duplicate participants are detected, an alert message will be shown to you that lists participant and group details. Resolve all duplicate group member in the Manage Groups area of Site Info.

Allow Resubmission. (Optional)

Optionally select Allow Resubmission. You can specify:

  1. The number of resubmissions allowed for the class
  2. The deadline for resubmitting
  3. Whether to notify students via email when the grade is released and resubmission is available

Tip: You can also choose to allow resubmissions on an individual basis when you grade student submissions.

Submission notification.

By default, Do not send me notification emails for any student submissions is selected. If you would like to be notified via email about submissions, select either of the following two options:

  • Send me a notification email for each student submission: This option will send a separate email for each student immediately upon submission.
  • Send me one email per day summarizing notifications for student submissions: This option will send a digest email listing all student submissions for that day.

Choose Grading details.

  • Activate Hide submitters' identities to hide site participant identities when you grade their submissions.
  • Activate Grade this assignment to implement grading for each submission (as opposed to non-credit submissions).

Choose grade scale.

Select a grading type from the Grade Scale menu:

  • Points: assign numeric points to an assignment for grading. This is the option you should choose if you plan to send the assignment to the Gradebook.
  • Letter grade: grade assignments by letter grade only.
  • Pass/Fail: grade assignments as pass/fail.
  • Checkmark: grade assignments with a checkmark for completion.

Note: The only grade scale option that can be added to the gradebook automatically is Points.

Enter maximum points.

If you selected Points as the grade scale, enter a maximum number of points for the assignment in the Max Points field.

Use grading rubric. (Optional)

  1. Activate Use the following rubric to grade this assignment to connect a rubric. Note that you must first create a rubric.
  2. Choose a rubric from the rubric selector.
  3. (Optional) Check Adjust individual student scores if you would like to be able to change the number of points awarded for individual criteria ratings while grading submissions on a per-participant basis.
  4. (Optional) Check Hide Rubric from student if you do not want site participants to see the rubric prior to submitting.

Send grades to the Gradebook. (Optional)

If you've selected the Points Grade Scale, optionally send results to the Gradebook tool.

  • Create new Gradebook item: Create a new item in the Gradebook with the same name as your assignment title.
  • Associate with existing Gradebook item: Link results of this assignment to an existing Gradebook item. This is useful if you have already created items in your Gradebook and you join them with this assignment.

Tip: Remember that you must have a Points grade scale in order to add the assignment to the Gradebook.

Use peer assessment. (Optional)

  1. Check Use peer assessment.
  2. The Evaluation Period Finishes section notes the date when the last peer reviews can be submitted. (This date must be after the Accept Until date for the assignment.)
  3. Anonymous evaluation allows students to submit their reviews without their names appearing to those they are evaluating.
  4. Allow students to see reviews of their submissions enables students the ability to view evaluations from their peers of their submitted assignment.
  5. The Number of submissions students must review is the total number of peer evaluations required.
  6. The Instructions for reviewers text box allows instructors to outline specific instructions to students regarding peer assessments..

Note: You must be using a Points grade scale in order to enable peer review.

Released grade notification.

The default notification setting is Do not send notification email to student when the grade is released.  

If you would like students to be notified, select the radio button for Send notification email to student when the grade is released.

Note: The notification email message will be sent to the external email address for the student's Sakai user account. It does not send the notification to the Sakai Messages tool.

Include Additional information. (Optional)

This section gives you the option of including additional information, such as a Model Answer, Private Note, or All Purpose Item.  

Click the Add link to add any of these items.

Add Model Answer.

Add a model answer to provide an example of the ideal correct answer or solution for a particular assignment.  

  1. Enter a model answer in the text box provided.
  2. Click Add Attachments to browse for and select a file containing a model answer from your device.
  3. Use the Show to students to select when you would like the model answer to be displayed: Before student starts assignment, After student submits, After submission is graded and returned, or After accept-until date.
  4. Click Save.

Add Private Note.

Make private textual notes, which are not visible to students, in the Private Note area.

  1. Enter notes in the note text field.
  2. Use the Share menu to select who can read and edit the notes.
  3. Click Save.

Add All Purpose Item.

Create an All Purpose Item that can be displayed based on specific dates or users.  

  1. Enter a title in the Title field.
  2. Enter the content of the item in the all purpose text field.
  3. Click Add Attachments to browse for and select a file from your device.
  4. Use Show this item to select when the item should be displayed.
  5. Use Show to to choose which users can see the item.
  6. Click Save.

Click Post.