Copy Mastering assignments

You can copy assignments from an active Mastering course created using the same book or a supplemental book like a lab guide, including from different editions.

What are pre-built assignments?

Pre-built assignments feature items based on your textbook that usually include hints, wrong answer feedback, and extra support. Also, these are typically built by instructors with years of teaching with Mastering.

1. Open the course into which you want to copy the assignments.
2. From the Course Home:
   Either select Create your Assignments (Getting Started area) or choose  Create Assignment (Assignments area).

   From the course menu:
   Select Instructor Tools, Assignments and then choose  Create Assignment.
   

3. Choose whether to copy assignments from one of your courses or copy pre-built assignments (if available).

   

4. Do one of the following:
   • If copying from one of your courses: 
     Select the course to copy the assignment(s) from by identifying its course ID.

     Don’t see the course you want to copy the assignment from?
     You may need to be added as a section instructor of that course. You cannot copy assignments from Mastering courses based on textbooks or sources unrelated to the book for your current course.

   • If copying a pre-built assignment:
     Choose the book or source (if applicable) and the assignment type.
5. Select an assignment title to preview the assignment with its correct answers. When finished, close the assignment window.
6. Select the check box for each assignment you want to copy. To select all assignments, choose the Select check box.
7. Select Continue.
8. Reorder the assignments as needed.
   The newly copied assignments appear at the bottom of the Assignments list.
   How to order assignments

   1. Select the # column header to sort by assignment number and to make the assignments moveable.
   2. Locate any new, undated assignment(s) at the bottom of the list.

   3. Drag assignments up or down to reposition them. To select a row, either select a drag handle (left) or point in a white space within the row. (Don't select the assignment title.)

      

   4. Select # when you're done moving assignments.
9. Edit the assignment dates.
   1. Select Edit (top right) to edit the Due Date/Time and Availability to Students dates for the assignments.

      

   2. Save time by selecting the Due Date/Time first, which adds the From and Until availability dates automatically.
      • Automatic availability dates — The automatic From date is one week before the Due Date/Time, and the Until date is the end date of the course.
      • Adjust the automatic availability From date — Change the From date for students to be able to work on the assignment before or after the automatic date, but it’s recommended that you leave the Until date as the end date of the course.
   3. When you finish making your date edits, be sure to select Save.
10. Edit any other assignment information, as needed.
    For pre-built assignments, review all items in the assignments and make any needed adjustments for your course. To edit items, see Simple Editor: Edit or create Mastering items.

You can copy assignments from an available Mastering course created using the same book or a supplemental book like a lab guide, including from different editions.

1. Ask the instructor for the applicable course ID.
2. Add the course to your My Courses list using one of the following methods.
   • Copy the course that contains the assignments you want to copy.
   • Enroll as a section instructor in that course. (No section instructor privileges are required to copy assignments.)
3. Follow the procedure above for copying assignments from one of your other courses, as identified by its course ID. You cannot copy assignments from Mastering courses based on textbooks or other sources unrelated to the book for your current course.
4. Review all items in the assignment from another instructor, and make any needed adjustments for your course. To edit items, see Simple Editor: Edit or create Mastering items.

You can copy one assignment to multiple courses by following the steps below. You can copy assignments to any available Mastering course created using the same book or a supplemental book like a lab guide, including from different editions.

Read more about options, requirements, and best practices for copying to other courses. For example, you can copy an Interactive Lab assignment between courses, but you cannot have two copies of the same lab in a course.

1. Select Copy Assignment to Other Courses from either of these locations.
   • The Assignments page ( List View or Calendar View), on the menu next to the assignment title
   • The assignment's Overview page from the assignment quick links (left)

   

2. Select the courses into which you want to copy the assignment.
3. To help any instructors find this assignment from their courses, add your initials or another marker in the Assignment Title column.
   • This marker also prevents duplicate titles from occurring in the receiving courses, and allows you to complete the copy even if students have begun working an assignment with the same name in a receiving course.
   • The title doesn't need to be the same for all courses.
4. Enter or edit dates for the assignment.
   • The dates can remain blank, in which case instructors for the receiving courses can set the dates themselves.
   • The dates can be different for different courses, to accommodate different class meeting days and times.
5. Select Finish.
   • If you see a confirmation message, the assignment was successfully copied to the courses listed in the message.
   • If you see any error messages, no copies have been completed. You must fix the problems and select Finish again.
6. If you see a message about a date, correct or delete the dates for the affected course.
7. If you see a message about students already having started work on an assignment with the same title for the affected course, either change the title or clear the Select box.
8. When no message appears at the top of the page, you have addressed all the problems and can select Finish again.

1. Open the assignments list.
   • From the Course Home: Select  All Assignments (Assignments area).
   • From the course menu: Select Instructor Tools, Assignments then  List View (top left).
2. Select next to the title of the assignment you want to copy and choose Copy Assignment.

   The copied assignment is added to the bottom of the Assignments list, with "Copy" appended to the title, and with no due date or availability dates.

   You cannot copy an Interactive Lab assignment within the same course. (Interactive Lab assignments are available in select courses.)

3. To edit the copied assignment, select , and choose Edit Assignment.
   1. On the  Settings page, be sure to change the Assignment Title from "... Copy" to something else.
      Assignment name rules

      The title can include upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, spaces, and other keyboard characters. If scores will be transferred to a learning management system gradebook, do not include extended ASCII characters, such as en-dashes, em-dashes, or accents.

   2. Consider making one or more of the following changes.

       Settings: Change the category, grading and presentation settings, or staff notes.

       Items: Assign or unassign items.

       Organization: Add a message, create pools of assignment items, randomize items, and so on.

       Specify Outcomes: Add, remove, or change learning outcomes.

4. When you're ready to assign the new assignment, be sure to specify its due date and availability dates.

Individually copied assignments aren’t available to students in the course until you set the assignment due and availability dates. If you haven’t set the dates yet, see how to edit assignment availability and due dates.

After you copy assignments, you may need to check or be aware of the following.

Copied assignments inherit category settings from the destination course

When you copy an assignment from or to another course, the assignment settings are based on the assignment category settings in the destination course. For example, the late penalty setting may be in effect for all Homework category assignments in the destination course, but turned off in the original course.

• If an assignment category of the same name exists in the destination course, the category’s settings in the receiving course are applied.
• If there’s no match for the copied assignment’s category in the destination course, the assignment inherits its settings from the Homework category in the destination course. (If the Homework category name has been changed to one that falls alphabetically after Quiz, then Quiz category settings will be applied.).
• Specialized assignment categories are always used for copied Adaptive Follow-Ups, Dynamic Study Modules, and Learning Catalytics assignments. However, the assignment settings for these categories may be different in the destination course.

If needed, you can always edit assignment settings, edit category settings, or apply one of your own customized categories to the copied assignments in the destination course.

Copying specialized assignments: Adaptive Follow-Ups, Dynamic Study Modules, and Learning Catalytics

•  Adaptive Follow-Ups — Follow-Up assignments are copied when you copy the Parent assignments into the same course or into a destination course that also provides Adaptive Follow-Ups. (Follow-Ups will not copy if the other course doesn't support Follow-Ups.)
•  Dynamic Study Modules — Can be copied as assignments into another course that supports them. Assigned modules cannot be copied and assigned again in the same course.
•  Learning Catalytics — Modules can be copied in the same Learning Catalytics course or to a different course. This setup is done entirely in Learning Catalytics.

Assignments copied from an older textbook edition

To replace older items with newer ones in a copied assignment, refer to the list of content changes provided in the course based on the newer textbook edition.

To view the list of content changes, when one is available ...

From the Course Home, select either Learn more about Mastering (Getting Started area) or Learn More (Enrich Your Course). Then, select the list of content changes link in the What’s New area. A spreadsheet is downloaded.

• The list of content changes spreadsheet indicates whether assignable items are new, changed, or removed from the new edition.
• If you plan to use Adaptive Follow-Up assignments in your course, it's important to use the latest published version of each item.

Copying assignment items that have been republished or retired

Republished items (same textbook edition) are updated automatically in the new copy of the assignment. The original assignment does not get updated, but you can manually update it. Typically Pearson republishes items when corrections or improvements have been made.

Retired items are not copied to a new assignment. When Pearson retires some of its items, they’re also retired from the Item Library.

Duplicate items in course after copying assignments

Copied assignments may contain items that are already assigned in the course. Mastering allows repeat items in a course.

To avoid item repetition — See how to tell whether and where an item has already been assigned, and then remove the item.