Create assignments

Create assignments in the Gradebook to track student scores for particular tasks. When you enter scores for assignments on the Scores page, Aspen updates students’ term averages.

• Let students and family members see them (if your school uses the Student and Family portals).
• Let students upload completed assignments using the Student portal. These completed assignments are then available in your Gradebook.
• Set a recurring schedule – daily, weekly or monthly – when you create an assignment. For example, you might create the assignment Spelling Quiz and have it recur every Friday for a term (Aspen names it Quiz – 1, Quiz – 2, Quiz – 3, etc.).
• Add an assignment to one or more of your linked class sections. For example, you might want to create an assignment for three of your five linked sections of General Psychology. You can also delete assignments from one or more linked class sections.
• Copy assignments to quickly create duplicates.
• Import assignments from another of your class sections or from previous years.
• Create assignments for different assignment categories at the same time.
• Delete an assignment, when needed.

Notes:  You must define categories and set your Gradebook preferences before you can create actual assignments. When you link similar class sections, you can create an assignment once and Aspen will automatically apply it to the linked section(s).

To create assignments:

1. Log on to the Staff view.
2. Do one of the following:
• Click the Gradebook tab. Select the class you want to create an assignment for, and then click the Assignments side-tab. Click Add Assignment on the Options menu; or select an existing assignment, and then click Save and New.
• Click the Gradebook tab, and select a class. Click the Scores side-tab, and then click Add Assignment.
• Click the Planner tab, Events view, and then select a class. Click in the date you want the assignment to be due.

1. No matter where you like to create assignments, the New Assignment page, General sub-tab appears.

2. 

3. Use the following table to enter information in the fields:

   Field	Description
   Classes	This field displays one of the following: No data. In the Gradebook, the section(s) this assignment is created for appear after you click Save. The name of the section this assignment is created for (in the Planner). No data and (in the Planner, if you did not already select a class). To select a class: Click , and the Select Sections pop-up displays your linked and unlinked class sections. Select: One or more class sections that are linked together in the same group, or An unlinked section. Click OK. The selected section(s) appear. Important: In the Select Sections pop-up, you cannot select: Both linked and unlinked sections. From more than one linked section group.
   Category	Click to select the category for this assignment. If you defined default values for assignments in this category, those values appear in the appropriate fields.
   GB Column Name	Type the name that you will use to identify this assignment on your Scores page. Note: Type a short code with no spaces.
   Assignment Name	Type a detailed assignment description for the assignment. This description appears when you hover your cursor over the assignment name in the column header on the Scores page.
   Date assigned	This field defaults to today's date. To change the date, click , or type t+3 (insert number of choice; t + 3 would enter the date three days from today). Note: You can move assignment dates forward or backward for a course section. This is helpful if a day of school is canceled because of weather, or a last-minute assembly is scheduled for an upcoming school day. If you change an assignment’s 'date assigned' so that it is ahead of the date due, the date due automatically updates to match the new date assigned.
   Date due	This field defaults to today's date. To change the date, click .
   Total points	This field appears only if you calculate averages by Total points. Type the number of possible points a student can earn. You determine how you calculate averages when you set your Gradebook preferences.
   Weight	This field appears only if you calculate averages and adjust the weights by term . This read-only field displays the weight, as defined on the class details page, for the selected Category and Grade Term for the assignment. You determine how you calculate averages when you set your Gradebook preferences.
   Online submission	If you want students to be able to submit files for this assignment online using the Student portal, enable Allow online submission below. Note: You must set up your Gradebook and class Pages to receive assignments from students online. You receive these files on the Scores page.
   Allow online submission	Select this checkbox for students to submit this assignment using the Student portal. Once you enable this field, you can enter an Open date and a Close date for the assignment. You can also specify a Start time for the Open date, and an End time for the Close date. Students can only access the assignment in the portal and submit it to you during the specified date and time range.
   Open date	Appears if Allow online submission is enabled. Defaults to the Date assigned. Enter the date when students can access and submit the assignment in the Student portal.
   Start time	Defaults to 12:00 a.m., but you can edit it. This is the earliest time that students can access and submit the assignment on the Open date specified.
   Close date	Defaults to the Date due. Enter the last date that students can submit the assignment in the Student portal. Note: Students can submit online assignments when the Close date is after the Date due. When a student submits an assignment after the Date due, appears on your Scores page to indicate a late submission. Click in the Single Assignment or Single Student view to see the submission's timestamp.
   End time	Defaults to 11:59 p.m., but you can edit it. After this time, students can no longer access the assignment in the Student portal. If an assignment is not submitted by this time on the Close date, it is marked as "Missing" in the Student portal.
   Options
   Active Assignment	This field appears if enabled by your school's Grade preferences. It relates to continuing courses that do not start or end during the established grade terms. This field sets an active date – the start of the course for each student in the section. The Active Date column appears on your Scores page. Do one of the following. If you: Select this checkbox for one assignment, a student's active date is when you enter that assignment's score on your Scores page. Select this checkbox for several assignments, a student's active date is when you enter scores for all of those assignments. Do not select this checkbox, the active date is when you enter a score for any assignment.
   Extra credit-whole assignment	Select this checkbox to treat this entire assignment as extra credit. Note: If you select this checkbox, do not enter a value in the Extra credit points field. Do only one of the following: Select the Extra credit-whole assignment checkbox to treat the entire assignment as extra credit; or Enter a value in the Extra credit points field to allow students to earn extra points, in addition to their earned points, for this assignment. Note: If average scores appear too high on your Scores page, check that regular assignments do not have this field selected.
   Extra credit points	Enter the number of extra credit points a student can earn for this assignment. A student can earn these points only; students are not penalized for extra credit points. Note: If you enter a value in this field, do not select the Extra credit checkbox. Do only one of the following: Select the Extra credit-whole assignment checkbox to treat the entire assignment as extra credit; or Enter a value in the Extra credit points field to allow students to earn extra points, in addition to their earned points, for this assignment.
   Sequence number	If you select to order your Gradebook column headers on the Scores page by sequence number in your user preferences, type the number that determines the order in which this Gradebook column appears.
   Score not droppable	Select this checkbox if you drop scores for this course section, and you do not want the system to drop this score if it meets the requirements you set.
   Visibility type	This value comes from the Visibility type you defined for the assignment category. Change the value, if needed. If your students and their families use the Student and Family portals, the value you select determines what they can see for assignments in this category. Select one of the following: Private: Assignments do not appear in the Student or Family portals. Public: Assignments and grades appear in the portals. Public– no grades: Assignments appear in the portals, but grades do not. Note: When you create an assignment, you could set the Visibility type to Public - no grades so parents know an assignment was given. Then, when you grade it, change the Visibility type to Public so parents can view the score.
   Entry mode	Click this drop-down to select Both, Numeric Only, or Letter Only to determine the grade values you can enter for this assignment.
   Grade Scale	The grade scale you associate with the category you select at the Category Code field appears. If you want to use a different grade scale for this assignment, begin typing the value and select the one you want, or click to select from a pick list.
   Grade Term	The system enters the grade term based on the date you enter at the Date due field. You can change this value. Note: If a grade term is locked, you cannot enter it here or select it from the Grade Term pick list.
   Exclude from averages	Select this checkbox to exclude grades for this assignment from the averages shown on your Gradebook scores grid, and in the Student and Family portals. Example: You assign a pre-test to check student knowledge about a subject, but don't want the score to affect their averages. On your Scores page, the column header for this assignment appears gray, with a line through the assignment name, indicating that the score is not included in the Average score at the bottom. In the Student and Family portals, a message indicates that this assignment is excluded from the student's average.
   Recurring options	If you want to create a recurring schedule for this assignment, select one of the following options: Click Daily to define a daily schedule. A pop-up appears. Define the start and end dates of the recurring schedule. In the Frequency field, type the number that determines how often the assignment recurs on schedule days. For example, if the assignment recurs every other day the class meets, type 2 in the Frequency field. Click OK. Click Weekly to define a weekly schedule. A pop-up appears. Define the start and end dates of the recurring schedule. Type a value in the Recur every {how many} weeks field. Then, click the day of the week the assignment recurs on. Click Monthly to define a monthly schedule. A pop-up appears. Define the start and end dates of the recurring schedule. In the Frequency fields, type the number day of the every {number} of months to recur the assignment. Click OK. Note: If this section is linked to other classes, you can also recur this assignment for the linked classes. To recur this assignment, you must define the schedule before you click Save for a new assignment.
   Linked or All drop-down	If you are creating an assignment for a class that is not linked with other sections, this drop-down defaults to All. If you want to associate this assignment with other classes, select their checkboxes under the Also add this assignment to classes section. If you are creating an assignment for a linked class section, this drop-down defaults to Linked. If the Add to all linked classes by default Gradebook preference is enabled, the checkboxes next to all linked classes are selected. You can deselect/select the checkboxes next to the class sections this assignment applies to. The Add Assignment? checkbox toggles on and off, deselecting and selecting the checkboxes for the linked sections.

   

   Field	Description
   Also add this assignment to classes Add Assignment?	This section appears in the Gradebook if the class section is linked to other class sections. Note: This section does not appear in the Planner. In the Planner, use the Classes field to select linked class section(s). If this class section is linked to more than one section, Add Assignment appears. Add Assignment is selected by default to add the assignment to all of the linked sections. If you do not want this assignment to apply to a linked section, deselect the checkbox next to its name. If you do not want to add the assignment to any of the linked sections, deselect Add Assignment. If this section is only linked to one other section, Add Assignment does not appear. A check appears in the checkbox next to the linked section to add this assignment to it. Deselect the checkbox if you do not want to add this assignment to the linked section. Note: A Gradebook preference determines whether the checkboxes are automatically selected next to the linked class sections. Note: When you create an assignment for linked sections and then open the assignment's details page, the field Update changes to linked assignments is enabled. When this field is enabled, any edits you make to the assignment are copied to the other linked sections.
   Resources Provided by the Teacher	Click Add File, Select Google Doc or Add Weblink to attach a file or weblink to this assignment. Aspen automatically adds the file or weblink to your Uploads folder in My Resources. To add a resource from your personal course materials to the assignment, click Drag and Drop from My Resources. The My Resources pop-up appears. Find the resource you want to add, drag it to the drop area in the Resources Provided by the Teacher section, and drop it. Note: If your district uses Aspen IMS, you can also click  Create Online Quiz.

4. If the assignment is available in the Student and Family portals, click the Portal Description sub-tab to enter that information. The description can contain weblinks, tables, and all of the Aspen text editor features.
5. To prevent a student from receiving this assignment, click the Students sub-tab. Then, select the student's name, and click Exclude. Use the Exclude, Exclude All, Include, and Include All buttons as needed, so that only the students who should receive the assignment appear in the Included Students column.

6. Notes: When you exclude a student from receiving an assignment: The student will not see the assignment in the To Do widget or on the assignments list (Academics > Assignments) in the Student portal. The excluded assignment does not affect the student's average. It does not exist for the student. On your Scores page, the grading cell for the assignment is grayed out for that student, and you cannot enter a value for it.

6. If you or your district have defined reporting standards for this class, you can align this assignment to reporting standards by clicking the Standards sub-tab.
7. Do one of the following:
• Click Save to save the information you entered without closing the assignment.
• If creating the assignment on the Gradebook tab, Assignments side-tab or your Scores page, click Save and New to create another assignment.
• If editing an existing assignment on the class Page > Submit Assignments widget, click the assignment name, and then click Save and New to create another assignment.

You can now enter grades or scores for the assignment on the Scores side-tab.

Note: An administrator can merge your class sections if they occur during the same class period. You manage assignments from the "primary" course section (Gradebook > Assignments). If your course sections are merged, a message appears with a link directing you to the "primary" class section.

Additional video resources: Copying and Importing Assignments in the Gradebook Creating Assignment Categories