Create a SafeAssignment the same way you would a regular assignment in Blackboard and modify the settings to use SafeAssign. This allows your students’ submissions to be checked for plagiarism and missing citations.
A SafeAssignment can be created in any content area by selecting Assessment and choosing Assignment. You will have to name your assignment and give it points possible. You can also attach files your students may need to use to work on the assignment or add any useful instructions.
To have the Assignment checked for plagiarism:
- Under the heading of GRADING, select the Submission Details
- Select Check submissions for plagiarism using SafeAssign.
- If you would like your students to be able to view their reports, be sure to check the box to allow them to view the originality report.
- To allow students to submit drafts, check the Exclude submissions from the Institutional and Global References Databases box. This is strongly recommended when students will submit a paper multiple times throughout the semester because when a paper is added to the database later version are checked against it – resulting in a 100% match.
- NOTE: If a student saves an assignment as a draft or if the student resubmits an assignment, make sure that the student RENAMES the file. If the student does not, Blackboard may not update the file and you may end up grading the wrong version of the paper. For example, encourage the student to add a number to the end of the file name to change it.
You will need to make the assessment available. Setting availability dates here can limit the time your students will be able to see the assignment.
SafeAssign Assignments can be used for multiple purposes. Because they can be submitted as drafts they can be used as a teaching tool to show students what parts of their papers require citations. They can also be submitted as a completed paper and instructors will be able to see which material was original to the student and where unoriginal material originated. This may help to deter and detect plagiarism.
Important: Keep in mind that while Blackboard Assignments accept every possible file type as an attachment to a submission. SafeAssign will only process and create Originality Reports for attachments with compatible file types. SafeAssign is only able to support file types that are convertible to plain text including the following file types: .docx; .doc; .pdf; .txt; .odt; .rtf; .html; .htm; and .zip (processing files that match any of these file types within the .zip). If you wish to use Blackboard’s Inline Grading feature with SafeAssign some file types may not be supported.
You will view submitted SafeAssign Assignments under the Course Tools area in your Control Panel or you can grade students’ submissions through the Full Grade Center.
