Submitting Assignments in Blackboard

Submitting your work with the Assignment tool in Blackboard allows you to easily upload your homework files to your instructor and receive files back, along with your grade. There is no need for paper or even email.

Assignments Overview (Student)

Assignments are created by your instructor. They can be used for simply submitting homework. Assignments can also be used to participate in a back-and-forth review process of projects and papers. Learn more: https://en-us.help.blackboard.com/Learn/Student/Assignments/Submit_Assignments

I tried to turn in an assignment, but nothing happened when I clicked submit.

If you’ve attached files to submit as part of your assignment, know that those files do not begin uploading to the Blackboard database until you click the ‘Submit’ button. Depending on the size of the attached files and the current upload speed of your internet connection, it may take a little time to complete the upload, especially if you’re submitting videos or other large items by directly attaching the file.

In the event that you’ve attached files, clicked submit, and nothing happens immediately, you may need to simply wait a few minutes — do not click submit more than once.

In some cases, this issue is related to the file name of the attached file. Before submitting, ensure that the name of the attached file is not unusually long and that it doesn’t contain any special characters.

Can I submit to an assignment dropbox more than once?

If you don’t see any indication that you are allowed multiple submissions, it’s best to assume that you only have one opportunity to submit. Do not click the submit button on the assignment submission page until you’ve confirmed that you’ve completed all of the assignment requirements, attached the correct files, and are ready to submit.

Some instructors allow their students to submit more than once to an assignment dropbox, but you will need to check the assignment instructions to be sure. If you are allowed multiple submissions, you will see the ‘Start New’ button on the Submission History page that appears when you click on the assignment link in the course after your initial submission.

Submitting Assignments

Assignments in Blackboard are accessible once they’ve been deployed by your instructor in a Content Area of the course. Your instructor may have an entire area in your course dedicated to all assignments, perhaps even linked on the Course menu, or assignments may be placed along with related lesson material within unit folders in the course.

Once you click on an assignment link you will be brought to the submission page, which is split into three sections:

  • Points and instructions: Check the top of the assignment submission page for instructions and any supporting documentation for your assignment. If your assignment is graded, you will see the points possible for the assignment listed in this section as well.
  • Assignment submission: You have the option to type your submission directly into the Blackboard assignment tool or attach files from your computer or a cloud service like Google Drive. Be sure to check the syllabus and assignment instructions to see if your instructor has provided guidelines for how to attach your work to the assignment tool.
  • Add comments: You can provide text comments to your instructor about your assignment submission, but you should never use the comments section to submit your actual work unless instructed to.

Full documentation at help.blackboard.com: Submit Assignments

Verifying and Viewing Submission Receipts

Each time you successfully submit to an assignment in Blackboard, you’ll be taken to the submission history page, which will show you grade information, a timestamp of your submission, a link to any attached files, and a preview of those files if they were submitted in one of the approved formats. You can return to this page by accessing the assignment link where you submitted your work within the course content and/or by clicking on the title of the assignment in the My Grades tool.

The system also generates a receipt of your submission that is sent to your UA Little Rock email account and stored in the My Grades section of the course. You should confirm that you’ve received a receipt of your submission each time you turn in your work by checking your UA Little Rock email account and/or by navigating to the Submitted tab in the My Grades section of the course.

It’s important to verify that your assignment has been successfully submitted each time you turn in your work. If you are not taken to the submission history page after submitting your work and/or do not receive a receipt of your submission, you should contact the Blackboard Student Support help desk immediately. Do not wait until the assignment due date has passed or until grades are submitted for your course to report an issue with submitting an assignment.

Viewing assignment feedback

Assignments submitted in Blackboard are not scored automatically, but need to be reviewed by your instructor. After reviewing your work, you instructor can use the same Assignment tool to provide you with a grade, written feedback, and additional files. You then can review the information in two ways: through the Assignment itself and through the My Grades area.

To review the assignment results through the Assignment Itself:

  1. Return to the Assignment for which you want to review the results.
  2. Click on the Assignment link to open the Submission History.
  3. At the bottom of your submission will be Instructor Feedback that will have a grade, any comments, and any attached files.

To review the assignment results through the My Grades Area:

  1. Click My Grades link in the Course Menu if it is available. Remember, your instructor can rename the title of this link. You will know you are on the right page because My Grades will be at the top.
  2. Look for the Assignment for which you want to review the results.
  3. Click on the name of the assignment to see instructor feedback, inline comments, or to obtain files that may have returned. Additionally, some comments will appear in the comments column to the right of the grade column.

Full documentation at help.blackboard.com: Assignment Grades

SafeAssign

SafeAssign is a plagiarism prevention tool offered by Blackboard that helps educators detect unoriginal content in student papers. In addition to acting as a plagiarism deterrent, it also has features designed to aid you with learning about plagiarism and the importance of proper attribution of content from other sources and by other people.

Students submit their work to SafeAssign as part of the assignment submission process detailed above. Not all assignments in Blackboard use SafeAssign, but those that do will ask you to agree to submitting your paper to the Global Reference Database when you attach your work for submission.

Once submitted, SafeAssign checks the originality of your work by comparing the text to text on the Internet, within published articles, and to the work of other students at UA Little Rock. The amount of time it takes for SafeAssign to review your work depends upon the demand on the system and the length of your submission.

If your instructor allows it, you can view the SafeAssign originality report on the assignment submission page. You can find more information about accessing and interpreting the SafeAssign originality report on the Blackboard website.