Create an assignment from the Module view

1. Click the Modules link in the navigation panel,
2. Then from the module, click the add button, which is a button with a plus sign.
3. Then select Assignment from the drop down list.
4. Select the [New Assignment] option (if you’re creating a new assignment).
5. Add a descriptive title in the Assignment Name box
6. Click Add Item.

Adding an assignment through the Assignments View.

1. You can create an assignment by clicking the Assignments link in the navigation panel
2. Then clicking the +Assignment button
3. A new Assignment will appear.

Creating a New Assignment

When you first create an assignment you will see the assignment editor. The assignment editor is composed of three sections: title, instructions, and settings. For the title, simply add a descriptive title that will be identifiable within the Gradebook.

 

Instructions (rich content editor)

You can use the rich content editor in the following ways:

Type your instructions into the rich text editor
If your instructions include math equations, you can use the Math Editor to insert them into the page. The following example shows how to use LaTeX in the advance mode. For more information, see How to use the Rich Content Editor in bCourses to display mathematical equations and formulas

Upload a document (PDF, DOC, or Excel file).
This might be a better option if you are used to creating your assignments in another application. See How do I upload a document in the rich content editor?

Once you’ve placed your instructions in the rich content editor, then you’ll set the parameters of the assignment in the settings section.

Settings

You can adjust the settings to meet the specific needs of your assignment by adjusting the following:

Points

Add the points for the assignment.

Assignment Group

This is helpful if you have multiple types of assignments and would like to organize your Assignment view. Students will not see this so it’s not as important.

Display grade as

Here you have options to display the grade in the following ways

• Percentage
• Complete/Incomplete
• Points
• Letter Grade
• GPA Scale
• Not Graded

Submission type

You have options for how students will submit their assignments:

• No submission
• Online
• On paper
• External tool

FOR ONLINE COURSES, the only submission type you should choose is ONLINE. Within this option you will have four sub-options: Text entry, URL, Media Recordings, File Uploads.

FOR ASSIGNMENTS THAT REQUIRE EQUATIONS, you should select TEXT ENTRY or FILE UPLOADS.

The Text Entry option provides students with the same rich content editor that was described above. Students can use the Math Editor to demonstrate their understanding of the problem by directly inputting their equations into the Rich Text Editor. The Math Editor has an advanced feature that allows users to input LaTex script which translate into advanced mathematical equations.

A NOTE OF PREPARATION: If students are going to use LaTeX to complete their assignments, you should provide them with practice exam sessions so that they can get used to the technology and have developed facility with it prior to the exam date. This will hopefully mitigate anxiety of learning a new technology and will allow students to focus on the problem sets.

Group Assignment & Peer Reviews

These two settings are useful for collaborative learning projects and not relevant if exams are to be completed individually by students.

Assign

The Assign section includes Assign to, Due date, and Available From and Until boxes.

1. Leave the Assign to box at the default which will be Everyone.
2. In the Due Date box, add the due date by clicking the Calendar icon and selecting the date. You’ll notice that the box will populate with a date AND a time. The default time for a due date will be 11:59pm on that day. You can change this manually by clicking in the box and adjusting the time.
3. The Available From box is helpful in that you can specify when the exam (or assignment) will be available to students. You can make the assignment available for however long you like, be it a week, a day, or a few hours.

Using the Quiz tool may be preferable to the Assignment option if you will be using a series of problems to compose your exam. Similar to the Assignment tool, you can set parameters around points and how long the exam or quiz will be available. The main difference here is that you’ll be able to assign multiple problems with individual points.

Adding a Quiz to your bCourse site

1. Click the Quiz link in the navigation panel.
2. Click the +Quiz button to add a new quiz. The quiz editor will appear.

The Quiz Editor is composed of two sections: Details and Questions.

Details

In the Details section you will see the instructions box or the rich content editor as well as settings. As mentioned previously, you can use the rich content editor in a number of ways.

Settings

In the Settings section, you will set the parameters for taking the quiz.

Quiz type
For you Quiz type you will have four options: Practice Quiz, Graded Quiz, Graded Survey, and Ungraded Survey. For credit, choose Graded Quiz.

Assignment Group
See above.

Options
The Options section has a variety of settings to focus how students will take the exam. The options are:

• Shuffle answers
• Time limit
• Allow multiple attempts
• Let students see their responses
• Show one question at a time

You can use these options to reduce the possibility of cheating.

Shuffle answers will present possible answers (multiple choice or multiple selection) randomly. You can also shuffle your questions by creating a question group.

• Time limit will limit the amount of time a student will have to complete the exam.
• Show one question at a time can be selected to streamline the experience of taking the test. This can be useful if you want to restrict students from revisiting previous questions.

If, however, you’d like to give students the opportunity to refine their answers, you can select the following options:

• Allow multiple attempts can be selected to give students the option to revise their answers.
• Let students see their responses will show their responses at the end of the quiz in relation to the correct answers. If you allow multiple attempts they will be able to refine their initial answers based on the feedback you provide.

Assign Section

The Assign section is the same as was described above. Use this section to set parameters around quiz availability and due dates.

For more information on Quiz details see, What Options Can I set in a Quiz?

Questions

The Questions area is where you will create questions for your quiz or exam. There are three ways of adding questions to our quiz: adding a new question, adding a new question group, or finding questions. Here we will focus on adding new questions.

When creating a new question, you will have several options:

• Multiple Choice
• True/False
• Fill-in-the-Blank
• >Fill-in-Multiple-Blanks
• Multiple Answers
• Multiple Drop-down (can be used for Likert scale)
• Matching
• Numerical Answer
• Formula (simple formula and single variable)
• Essay (RECOMMENDED FOR USE WITH MATH EDITOR AND LATEX)
• File Upload

Questions that can be answered using the Math Editor in the Rich Content Editor is the Essay. The Essay option allows students to use the Math Editor to demonstrate their understanding of the content. We do not recommend using Fill-in-the-Blank or Fill-in-Multiple-Blanks unless the answers are precise such as numbers.

Here are some guides that show how to work with math equations in bCourses:

• How to create a Quiz question with a simple formula
• How to create a Quiz question with a complex equation (with at least one variable)

Creating an Essay Question (Math Editor) within a Quiz

1. Click the Question tab in the Quiz Editor.
2. Replace the word Question in the name box. You’ll want something specific so that you’ll know what the content is if you have to edit your question later. It isn’t apparent when you’re done adding your questions.
3. Add a point value.
4. In the Rich Content Editor, you can add the content you like as was discussed above.
5. When you are done, click Update Question. This will bring you back to the Question tab where you add more questions to the quiz.

For more information see How do I create an Essay Quiz Question and How do I create a quiz with individual questions?