Location: Assignments

Assignments

You have the option of creating writing assignments in your course. An assignment is typically an exchange of information between you and a student or group of students. For example, you could create a composition assignment, the students would submit their work to you in the MyLab, and you could then review, comment on, and grade the submissions all in the MyLab.

The types of assignments you can create are listed below.

Composition: Each student creates his or her own submission for a composition assignment. When a student completes and submits a draft, you open the draft in the MyLab, review the draft, and insert comments. You then submit the reviewed draft to the student with a grade. For those assignments where you want students to revise their work and submit revisions, you can specify the number of required drafts. (You can also grade each draft.) Also see Create a composition assignment.
Collaboration: A collaboration assignment requires that two or more students work together to create a document. As with a composition assignment, you define the topic and number of drafts you want to exchange with the students. You also define the groups of students who collaborate on the assignment. When students submit drafts, you review and comment on them and return the drafts with a grade. By default, all students in a group receive the same grade, but you can change each student's grade. Also see Create a collaboration assignment.
Peer review: A peer-review assignment is one in which students review each other's work. The first component is a completed composition assignment—the "base" assignment that all students have already completed. This base assignment is the draft that everyone reviews. After peer reviewers enter their comments, the reviewed drafts are submitted to you for your comments. You then comment on and assign a grade to each reviewer's work. Also see Best practices for creating a peer-review assignment and Create a peer-review assignment.
Portfolio: A portfolio assignment gives students an opportunity to create a portfolio and submit it to you for a grade. You specify the portfolio requirements when you create the assignment. For example, you may want students to select certain types of documents, or you may want them to design on their portfolio by responding to certain questions. As with other assignments, students submit their completed assignment to you for review and comments. Also see Create a portfolio assignment.
Skill Building: A skill-building assignment is like a built-in quiz generator. Students do not have access to skill-building assignment exercises until they are created and assigned by you. To ensure that your skill-building assignments have unique exercises, the MyLab gives you exercises that are not in the students' Resources. The MyLab logs the results of a skill-building assignment in the gradebook's Student Results Summary. Also see Create a skill-building assignment.
Diagnostic: A diagnostic assignment is an alternative to having students take the self-assessment diagnostics on their own. For a diagnostic assignment, you select the exercises that you want students to complete. The MyLab logs the students' results in the Gradebook's Student Results Summary and, based on a student's results, adds required Resource topics to each student's Study Plan. You also have the option of letting students retake the assignment's exercises. Also see Create a diagnostic assignment.