Assignments and other items on Brightspace can be configured for “conditional release,” which means that they only become available to students after some condition has been met. I’ve been using this in several ways and I thought that it would be useful to show others how it works.

Motivation

I teach a lab course that meets weekly. The day after the class meets my students are given an on-line quiz that involves some of the reasoning they need to analyze their data and to be able to write the lab report. The quiz should only take about 15 minutes to work, but they have 36 hours to submit it, so that they can work it into their schedule of other classes, work, and ADL’s.¹.  They also write a report describing the experiment they performed, the results of their measurements and calculations, and an interpretation of those results.   The report is due before the next class meeting.  I use the conditional release mechanism on Brightspace to require that they complete the quiz before they are able to submit their report.

So I will demonstrate how Conditional Release works by going through how to assign the quiz, and then how to assign the lab report.  And then how I reveal the grading keys after I have graded both.  My hope is that the other instructors teaching our introductory labs will be able to make use of Conditioned Release in the same way, but I will point out that it’s probably a good idea to explain how this works (in general, not the details below) to your students so that they know that they can’t see something until they do something (or you do something, like grade their assignment).

Assigning the Quiz

First, it may be helpful to go through how an assignment is created in Brightspace without conditional release:

1. Navigate to the content “module” in where you wish to put the quiz, and then pull down the menu at the top labeled “Upload/Create” to the line for “New Assignment“.
2. Enter the title, the maximum score in points or marks, and the due date.   Add any special instructions your students should be aware of.  You can now select what happens before the start date, and I prefer to have the assignment hidden, but it does not hurt to have it show up if the start date is imminent.
3. Attach the PDF document for the quiz to the assigment, using the icon at the lower left that looks like a cloud with an arrow pointing up.  I often forget this because the icon is small and easy to overlook, so remember to not forget.  Then remember to check it.
4. Under “Availability & Dates and Conditions” set a start date for the assignment.   I usually do not set an end date, because the assignment disappears then, so that late submissions cannot be made². This is where you can set a release condition, but I will skip that for the quiz.
5. Under “Submission & Completion” set the assignment category (create a new category if you need to), and then set
   • Category: “post-lab quiz” (or whatever is appropriate – create a new one as needed)
   • Submission type: “File Submission”
   • Files Allowed Per Submission: “One file”
   • Allowable File Extension: “PDF only” (a scanned PDF is easier to read and grade than a photo image)
6. You won’t need to make any changes under “Evaluation and Feedback”.
7. When you are done, at the bottom of the page you can unhide the assignment (they are hidden when first created by default) and then press “Save and Close“.

Assigning the Lab Report

The steps for assigning the lab report are almost exactly the same as above, with a couple of differences.  If the lab report is a worksheet then don’t forget to attach that document with the “cloud upload” button.   If it is not a worksheet, then I usually attach the instructions, even though they have already been distributed.

The big difference for the lab report is the Conditional Release.  When this is used, the item for submitting the lab report won’t be visible to a student until after they submit for the quiz has. To make that so:

1. under “Availability Dates & Conditions” pull down “Add Release Condition” to “Create New”.   A pop-over menu lets you first select the Condition Type.  There are lots of different conditions, but we are only concerned with those related to Assignments.
2. Pull down under Assignments to “Submission to folder“.   That means this condition is triggered when the student uploads an assignment.
3. Then pull down under “Assignment Submission Folder” to select the assignment that is to be submitted – the quiz that comes before the report.

You will always create a new release condition, because each quiz and lab report combination is new.

Revealing the Grading Key

I also use Conditional Release to show students the answer key that I used to grade their work.  I only want them to be able to see the key after I’ve graded their assignment.   Again, in the folder or module of your choice, do the following:

1. Pull down the “Upload / Create” menu to “Upload Files,” and upload the file
2.  Pull down the menu by the title of the item (the “v” marker) and select “Edit Properties in Place“.   One thing this lets you do is change the title of the item.  You can also adjust the start date, due date, and end date.
3. Under the title, select “Add Dates and Restrictions…“
4. Under “Release Conditions” press “Create”
5. Under “Condition Type” pull down to select “Receive Feedback on Submission”
6. Under “Assignment Submission Folder” pull down to select the quiz for which this is the grading key.
7. Press the “Create” button.

The condition “Receive Feedback on Submission” means that your students will only be able to view the grading key after you have graded and commented on their submission.³   You can repeat the same process for showing the grading key for the lab report.

Note that when you create a new assignment it is hidden by default, and you have to specifically unhide it.  When you upload a file it is unhidden by default, and you have to specifically hide it, or add a release condition, if you don’t want it to be visible to everyone right away.