Q. I would like to delete a previous assignment I submitted, since I just submitted another copy with new edits. Can I do that?
A. It is not possible for a student to delete an assignment that has already been submitted. You’ll need to contact your professor to request to have your first assignment attempt cleared.
Q. I have had my students turn in their papers through Blackboard, and have read and commented on them in MS Word, and then uploaded them back to the students along with their grade. But I am not sure how to direct students to download their papers with my comments on them. And how can I verify that my upload worked?
A. To confirm that your upload worked, follow these steps:
Students can see their graded and commented papers either by going back to where the assignment is posted and clicking on it again to bring up the Review Submission History page, or by going to Tools > My Grades and clicking on the score for that assignment, which should be an active link if you have attached a document. Once a student is on the Review Submission page, s/he can view or download the document.
For instructions for students on how to submit and then review the grade for an assignment, please visit Submitting an Assignment .
Q. My professor makes highlights and notes on papers we submit online to Blackboard, but when he posts the document with his comments, I can’t see anything but his text at the bottom of the screen – his notes in bubbles and his highlights are missing. How can I see his comments?
A. Your professor is using the Track Changes Feature in Microsoft Word. If you have Word on your computer, you will need to download the paper to your computer and open it in Microsoft Word. Then, click on the Review tab, choose Show Markup and make sure there is a checkmark beside the options your professor is using.
Q. I need assistance in setting up a way to alert students when they have an assignment due.
A. If you are using the Assignment Tool to set up your assignments, you only need to enable the To Do module on your course’s homepage (you can read more about the Home Page at Customizing Course Home Page ) . Once you add a due date to your assignment, it should show up for students in the To Do module in the What’s Due box; they should see the number of assignments set up under one of the headings – Today, Tomorrow, This Week, or Future – depending on when it is due. Students will see the dates assignments are due, however the instructor will not see the due dates in the What’s Due module.
Q. When I use the Export option to back up my course, assignments are not exported; is there a simple way for me to export the assignments as well?
A. Yes, you can batch download assignments; you can find instructions for batch downloading at Downloading Assignments .
Q. Is there a way to grade assignments anonymously in Blackboard?
A. You can do this in Blackboard if you use the Assignment Tool to create the assignment. For anonymous grading, each student is assigned a number, such as Student 8, and attempts appear in random order.
Follow these steps to use anonymous grading:
If you choose Save and Exit before you are finished grading all of your students, when you return to complete grading anonymously, the remainder of the students in the class will have been assigned new random numbers.
Q. I am trying to batch download an assignment in my course. The option for batch download comes up correctly in the Grade Center and I select the submissions I want to batch download. The screen shows a zip folder is created, but when I click on the link, I get an error. What should I do?
A. The problem is most likely punctuation marks in the assignment name. Blackboard creates filenames using the assignment name, and punctuation often causes problems in filenames.
You should rename this assignment using only alphanumeric characters. The order in which you do this matters: First rename in the content area where the assignment is posted, then rename with the exact same new name in the column for the assignment in the grade center. If you change the name in the grade center first, or vary the name even a little between the two areas in Blackboard, the link between the assignment and the student submissions in the grade center will be broken.
Q. Sometimes when I have created an assignment using the Assignment Tool, I have not indicated the total possible points for the item, so Blackboard does not include those points in the Total column in the Grade Center for each person. Is there any way I can “retroactively” tell Blackboard the total points possible for a given assignment?
A. You can modify an assignment to add points possible after it has already been graded. Here’s how:
If you have already entered a grade for any student who completed the assignment before you modified points possible, you will need to go back through View Grade Details in the Grade Center to edit that grade.
Now the Total column will include the points you give each student for the assignment.
Q. I have created a Turnitin assignment, but when I go to the content area where I created the assignment and click on the View/Complete link, then on the dropdown list under “author,” I see that many of my students are not listed. However, if I view the student roster in the User Management area of the Control Panel under List/Modify Users, I find a complete and accurate list.
Why would several of my students not be listed as potential authors of a new Turnitin assignment? How can this be corrected, so that all the students may complete the assignment?
A. At first, your Turnitin roster will only show the names of students who have accessed Turnitin assignments. As your other students submit papers, their names and assignments will automatically be added to your Turnitin roster.
If you would like all student names to appear in the list immediately, go to the Control Panel and, in the Course Tools area, click on Turnitin Assignments, then click the View button for the assignment. There is a Roster Sync button in the upper right corner of the Inbox that will import a list of all students enrolled in the course.
This function can also be used later to remove students who are no longer enrolled in the course. All submissions for students removed by a Roster Sync will disappear from all Turnitin assignments in the course.
Warning: Students who are removed by the roster sync function must be re-added to the Blackboard course and the Roster Sync function must be used again to regain access to any submissions for the student.