Assignment due date and availability

The welcome message at the top of the Mastering Course Home page shows due date information for select assignments.

• Due today — Assignments due today include the time the assignment is due.
• Coming up next — Assignments with this label tell you in how many days the assignment is due.

Select  Calendar View from the Assignments area of the Mastering Course Home to check assignment due dates on a monthly calendar. The calendar shows the kind of assignments due, like Homework .

The meaning of assignment symbols

Homework ()
Scheduled Reading ()
Quiz ()
Test ()
Adaptive Follow-Up ( )
Dynamic Study Module ()
Interactive Lab () — Best to complete these on a laptop, not a tablet or phone
Instructor custom category ()
Offline assignment () — Assignments you complete outside of Mastering

To open any available assignment from the calendar —
Select a date that contains an assignment symbol then select the assignment name from the daily agenda (to the right of or below) the calendar. For details about availability, see “Assignment availability dates” below.

Assignment details shown in Calendar View

Calendar view details shown on the daily agenda include the kind of assignment, time an assignment is due, assignment title, number of items with estimated completion time, the number of available attempts (for multiple attempt assignments), any prerequisite assignment (for an Adaptive Follow-Up), and your score.

• If you don’t select a date on the calendar —
  Today's assignment status appears next to the calendar.
• If multiple assignments are listed —
  They’re shown in the order of time due.

The due date and time for each assignment appears in the  List View of the Mastering Course Home Assignments area.

Open any available assignment by selecting its name. (Assignments are grouped in the sections Past Due Assignments, Upcoming Assignments, and Completed Assignments.)

For details about availability, see “Assignment availability dates” below.

Info shown for each listed assignment

 List view shows the assignment name and type (like Homework ), its due date and time, the number of its items and estimated completion time, the number of available attempts (for multiple attempt assignments), any prerequisite assignment (for an Adaptive Follow Up), and completion status.

The meaning of assignment symbols

Homework ()
Scheduled Reading ()
Quiz ()
Test ()
Adaptive Follow-Up ( )
Dynamic Study Module ()
Interactive Lab () — Best to complete these on a laptop, not a tablet or phone
Instructor custom category ()
Offline assignment () — Assignments you complete outside of Mastering

When you open an assignment — Its due date and time always appears above the list of items it contains on the assignment summary page. This is true whether the assignment is incomplete, complete, or past due.

When working on an assignment item — To look back at the assignment due date and time on most assignments, select the assignment name link (top left) to return to its assignment summary page. The due date and time are near the top left. To return to the item where you were working, check for incomplete items.

For timed assignments, the time remaining appears at the top as you work on its items.

Sign in to the course on your mobile device to view assignment due dates on the Course Home.

You can switch between the default  List View (past due, upcoming, and completed) and  Calendar View. In Calendar View, the daily agenda appears below the monthly calendar.

• The provided time to complete is an estimate. Your time may be different.
  Estimates for standard Mastering assignments are based on historical completion data from all students. If you consistently need more time or less time, adjust the provided estimates for yourself accordingly.
  
• You could lose time if your Internet service goes down for reasons beyond your control. If this happens, all answers you have submitted are always saved. Stopping and restarting work on Dynamic Study Modules

• Time zone — The due date/time and availability schedule of assignments are based on the time zone for the course. If you are a student located in a different time zone, your instructor will let you know which time zone applies to the course.
• 12:00 AM vs. 12:00 PM — 12:00 AM is midnight and 12:00 PM is noon.
• The time due is exact. An 11:00 PM due time means 11:00:00, not 11:00:01.
• Assignments with a time limit — The due date and time takes precedence over the time limit on a timed assignment.

To avoid losing credit, it's best to let your instructor know BEFORE the assignment due date. Your instructor may choose to give you an extension or exempt you from the assignment. This can avoid a low score or any applicable late penalty.

• Open the assignment to view its contents, grading policy, and answer item questions.
• Return to complete any unanswered questions in the assignment.
• For an assignment that allows multiple attempts, you can select if you’ve completed the assignment at least once and have remaining attempts.
• After you finish working on the assignment, you may be able to return to it for practice or review. For example, you may be able to review your answers and hints or to rework the items for practice, provided your instructor allows this kind of practice or review. How to refresh an assigned Dynamic Study Module for practice

You can't easily tell when an assignment might become unavailable to you. Below are some basic guidelines.

• Introduction to Mastering assignment availability — This assignment usually remains available for you to practice answering different kinds of Mastering questions until the end of the course.
• Homework, tutorial, or lab assignment availability  — These kinds of assignments usually remain available after their due date, especially if your instructor gives credit for late item submissions. Some of these assignments may remain available until the end of the course.
• Quiz or test assignment availability — These kinds of assignments may become temporarily or permanently unavailable once you complete them (especially to avoid possible answer sharing before the due date). You may be able to access quizzes or tests after their due date for practice or review, provided your instructor allows this.
• Adaptive Follow-Up assignment availability — An Adaptive Follow-Up assignment becomes available for you to work on after you complete its associated prerequisite "parent" assignment. Once they become available, Follow-Up assignments remain available until the end of the course. (Not all courses provide this kind of assignment.)
• Dynamic Study Module assignment availability — Any Dynamic Study Module assignment is always available through the You cannot gain any additional credit for work you complete on an assigned module after the assignment due date. (Not all courses provide Dynamic Study Module assignments.)

Your instructor controls the duration that an assignment is available to you on the Course Home. Assignments that have been removed (hidden) from the Course Home by your instructor are considered unavailable. The assignments still exist, but you can no longer work on or review them.

• Only your current attempt is available when working a multiple attempt assignment. You can’t look back at your earlier work until you’ve completed the assignment or until after the assignment due date
• Some assignments, like quizzes or tests, may become temporarily unavailable from the time you complete them until their due date and time. Check the Completed Assignments area of the Course Home to look for the “Available <date>” to find out when you can view an assignment again. Until then, the assignment link is disabled (grayed out).
• If you can't complete an assignment before it becomes unavailable: Contact your instructor to ask for an extension to the assignment due date.
• You can still review your score for an unavailable assignment whose due date has passed, provided your instructor allows you to see its score. When an assignment is unavailable, its title on the Scores for <Student Name> page is NOT a link.