Personal Assignments
Student extensions: Working with students who need an assignment extended.
Inevitably, at some point in the semester, a student will need an extension or have a scheduling issue. It is important to have flexibility within a system to account for issues as they arise. In SIMnet, Instructors can create Personal Assignments for students to account for scheduling problems, personal issues, or technology hiccups. Personal Assignments can be entirely new content but typically they are pre-existing course assignments that are reassigned to individual students with new Start and End Dates and some additional criteria at the instructor's discretion.
🧙 Assigning a Personal Assignment from the Edit/Assign Student page
Personal assignments can be created directly from Course Assignments in the Student's Edit/Assign page. Search for the desired student in the Students section then select Edit/Assign from the drop-down action menu. Navigate to the Student Assignments tab. On the left side of the Student Assignments page are all assignments in courses that student is assigned to. Select the desired Class and Assignment Type. Select the desired course assignments in the left side and then click the Add button to add that assignment as a Personal Assignment for the student. Select the desired Assignment Preferences and click Save the same way that you would when assigning any other learning object. The Transfer student results to: box will automatically be set to the course in the Classes drop-down.
You can also assign other learning objects from this view by selecting the Not In Class View Assignments radio button. All assignments that have currently been created will be available in this view. If the chosen assignment in this view is assigned to the course it will still be set to Transfer student results to: the assigned course by default. Otherwise the assigment will not transfer to a course and the transfer will be None.
All currently assigned Personal Assignments will be displayed on the Right side of the view. You can edit them with using the Edit button to change the assignment settings.
👩🎓 Assigning a Personal Assignment from the Learning Object
Personal assignments are assigned as regular course assignments with one key difference - instead of using the Class Assignments tab to assign content, use the Student Assignments tab.
Select the desired student or students from the Available Students on the left and click the Add button. The Assignment Details window opens just as a typical assignment does. There is one additional option in the Personal Assignment Assignment Details window: the Gradebook Options section.
In the Gradebook Options section, any assignment that is in a course that the students are enrolled in will be displayed in the Transfer student results to drop down list. If that option is set to the students' current course, the Personal Assignment will be linked to the Course grade. The grade that the students receive for their personal assignments will automatically replace the students' grades for that assignment for the Course Assignment.
If the students do not have that assignment in their course the Transfer student results to option will be None. If you would like to assign a Personal Assignment to students without having the result transfer to the gradebook select None from the Transfer student results to drop-down menu.
Linked Personal Assignments, by default, have the same number of attempts that the Course Assignment has. If students have used all of their Course Attempts at an assignment before the creation of the Linked Personal Assignment, they will not be able to add new attempts. To add new attempts, change the number of allowed attempts in the Personal Assignment to the desired total.
🗺️ Viewing a Student's Personal Assignments
To view a list of a student's Personal Assignments, 👉 Search for Students until you find the desired student. Click the Actions menu drop-down and select Edit/Assign. Click the Student Assignments tab. On this tab all Personal Assignments for that student will be displayed.
✔️ Additional Options for Instructors
If using a Personal Assignment is not an effective method there are other options available to instructors. Instructors can:
add additional attempts for all students in a course
move the End Date or Due Date for an assignment
provide additional attempts or time but also password protect the assignment to prevent additional student access
delete previous attempts from the gradebook or student report
manually change the student's grade in the gradebook
offer extra credit assignments for the course
When do Personal Assignments Transfer to Course Assignments
Personal Assignments automatically transfer grades to their linked Course Assignment when the assignment is completed and an eligible Course Assignment attempt is available to receive the transfer.
Project and Exam Assignments
Project and Exam assignment transfers are dependent on the number of attempts available in the Course Assignment.
For a Personal Assignment attempt to transfer to the Course Assignment gradebook, there must be an available attempt remaining in the original Course Assignment. If all Course Assignment attempts have already been used, any additional Personal Assignment attempts will remain as Personal Assignment submissions and will not transfer to the Course Assignment grade.
Example
A Course Assignment allows 2 attempts, and the student has already completed both attempts.
An instructor creates a Personal Assignment and grants the student additional attempts.
Because there are no remaining attempts available in the Course Assignment, the Personal Assignment grade will not transfer to the Course Assignment gradebook. The instructor must manually enter the grade or take one of the actions described below before creating the Personal Assignment.
Allowing Additional Attempts to Transfer
If an instructor wants additional Personal Assignment attempts to transfer automatically, they must first ensure that an attempt is available in the Course Assignment. This can be done by:
Deleting one or more existing student attempts from the Course Assignment. 👉 Deleting Attempts
Increasing the number of attempts allowed on the Course Assignment. 👉 Edit/Assign Projects
Note: Increasing the number of attempts on the Course Assignment affects all students who still have access to that assignment. If the assignment is still available, other students may also be able to complete additional attempts.
Once a Personal Assignment is linked to a Course Assignment that has an available attempt remaining, the student can complete the Personal Assignment as usual. After the attempt is submitted, the grade will automatically transfer to the Course Assignment and appear in the gradebook.
Exam Assignment Note: If no Course Assignment attempts are available, SIMnet will check for unfinished Exam attempts in the Course Assignment. If an unfinished attempt exists, the oldest unfinished attempt may be removed and replaced with the completed Personal Assignment Exam attempt. If all Course Assignment attempts have been completed and no unfinished attempts remain, the Personal Assignment Exam grade will not transfer.
Lesson and SIMbook Assignments
Unlike Project and Exam assignments, Lesson and SIMbook assignments are not dependent on assignment attempts. Students can typically access and work in these assignments as many times as needed while the assignment remains available.
A Personal Assignment for a Lesson or SIMbook transfers progress and grades to the linked Course Assignment in one of the following situations:
Student Completes All Available Work
If the student completes all available tasks, skills, or objectives in the Personal Assignment and earns all available points, the assignment is considered complete. Once this occurs, the Personal Assignment closes and can no longer be accessed by the student. The completed work and grade will automatically transfer to the linked Course Assignment.
Personal Assignment Reaches Its End Date
If the student has not completed all available work, any progress and earned points will transfer to the linked Course Assignment when the Personal Assignment reaches its end date.
Personal Assignment Created After Work Has Already Been Completed
If a Personal Assignment is linked to a Course Assignment after the student has already completed work, and either:
All available tasks have been completed, or
The Course Assignment has already reached its end date,
the Personal Assignment will immediately transfer to the linked Course Assignment.
Note: Lesson and SIMbook transfers are not governed by assignment attempt limits. Unlike Project and Exam assignments, a transfer does not require an available attempt in the Course Assignment.
SIMpaths
SIMpaths combine multiple assignment components, typically including a Pre-test, Lesson, and Post-test. Because these components work together as a single assignment experience, grades are not transferred from the Personal Assignment to the linked Course Assignment until the SIMpath transfer criteria have been met.
A SIMpath Personal Assignment transfers to the linked Course Assignment when one of the following occurs:
The student completes the entire Personal Assignment SIMpath.
The Personal Assignment reaches its end date.
Important
Unlike Project and Exam Personal Assignments, SIMpath grades are not transferred after each individual component is completed. The SIMpath must either be completed in its entirety or reach its end date before any grades are transferred.
As a result, students may need to repeat work they have already completed in the Course Assignment. For example, if a student completed the Pre-test and Lesson in the Course Assignment but did not complete the Post-test, a Personal Assignment SIMpath would require the student to complete the Pre-test, Lesson, and Post-test within the Personal Assignment before the SIMpath can be considered complete and transferred.
Once the transfer criteria have been met, the SIMpath grades will automatically transfer to the linked Course Assignment.
Note: Because SIMpaths transfer as a complete assignment, instructors should expect the transfer to occur only after the SIMpath is completed or the Personal Assignment end date is reached.
Resource Assignments
Resource Assignments require instructor grading before a grade can transfer to the linked Course Assignment.
After a student submits a Resource Assignment, the submission remains pending until it is graded by the instructor. Once the instructor enters a grade, the grade is automatically transferred to the linked Course Assignment and appears in the gradebook.
If a Personal Assignment is linked to a Course Assignment after a student has already submitted the Resource Assignment, the grade will transfer once the submission has been graded.
Note: Resource Assignment grades are transferred when the instructor grades the submission. Submission alone does not trigger a grade transfer.
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