SDSHOWTO:HowTo...ScheduleAMajorAssignment

As part of the SMUS workload guidelines, we would like teachers to indicate when major assignments are due for their students. Traditionally this has been done by pretending that the assignment due date was actually a test, but we would now like to be able to differentiate between these.

Major assignments can be indicated in SDS using the Markbook; however, it is not necessary to use the full markbook in order to access this functionality. If you are already using the mark book, you can flag an assignment as "major" on the Assignments page.

If you are not already using the mark book, you need to complete an abbreviated setup once for each course, as well as a simple procedure for each major assignment.

Markbook setup

• Go to My courses->[course name]->Mark book->Start here.
• Check the box beside Do you want to use a conventional mark book?. Click the Save button. You do not need to check any other boxes here.
• Follow the link to edit assignment types Create one now (if you have been here before this link will appear as Edit them or add more) or use the menu system My courses->[course name]->Mark book->Assignment types.
• Click the Add new button.
• Enter a name in the Mark type column, and click Save.

Assignment setup

For each major assignment, you will need to set up an assignment in the mark book.

• Go to My courses->[course name]->Mark book->Assignments
• Click on the link Enter a new assignment.
• Fill out the Title, Due date and This is a major assignment? fields.
• Click the button titled Save and return to assignments list.
• Back on the Assignments page, you can toggle whether the assignment is 'major' under the Major assignment column.