Location: Assignments > Collaboration assignments

Collaboration assignments

When you open a collaboration assignment, the assignment details include a list of the other members in your collaboration group. The details window also lets you know if anyone is working on the assignment and whether anyone has finished working on it.

After you click the Begin Working (or Resume Working) button, the MyLab opens the composing space. If the composing space is displaying the Attach File button, your instructor is accepting file attachments for this assignment. See Attach a file to an assignment for more information.

There are different ways your group can work on the assignment:

You can all opt to create the assignment in the composing space without using file attachments.
If the instructor is allowing file attachments, you can all work in the same attached document, one at a time. Another option is to remove the existing document attachment and attach a different one.
You can use both the composing space and an attached document (if the instructor is allowing file attachments). For example, you could each update the document in turn and enter comments about your changes in the composing space.

As each group member enters information, it is available to all group members. However, only one member can work on the assignment at a time; the MyLab locks the draft until the current student exits the composing space.

Tip: Meet with your group and create a work strategy. Because this is a collaborative effort, the MyLab does not identify each member's work. Make a plan to decide who is doing what and to decide how you want to comment on the draft as it progresses.

Important: If you are creating the assignment in a separate document, your team needs to work out a workflow to ensure that you don't overwrite each other's changes accidentally.

As you work on the assignment draft, note the following:

To save your work, select Save or Save and Close from the File menu. (Where is the File menu?)
Click the View Assignment Details button to view the instructor's directions and guidelines for the assignment and to access any attached files or links to Resources.
You can submit a collaboration assignment for review by Pearson Tutor Services, send it for an originality review by SourceCheck, and/or use NoodleBib to create a bibliography.
You can submit a team-writing assignment for an originality review by SourceCheck and/or use NoodleBib to create a bibliography.
When you have completed your work on the assignment, select the I have completed my work on this assignment check box (at the top of the composing space) and click the Submit button.
Have all group members decide when the assignment is finished. Then each member needs to open the assignment and select I have completed my work on this assignment.
When one group member flags his or her work as finished, the MyLab makes the assignment available to the instructor for review and a grade. The instructor can see which members have or have not finished working and can choose to hold off grading the assignment until everyone has finished their work. Once the instructor grades your group's submission, no group members can continue (or start) working on the assignment. Also, the instructor can edit the grades, assigning different grades to different group members.
When you or another member of your group completes work on a collaboration assignment, you can still open the assignment. However, each time you open a completed collaboration assignment, you reactivate it. You must select the I have completed my work on this assignment check box again to resubmit the assignment as completed.