Student Submissions and Grades
This guide covers how to submit assignments in Blackboard, view grades and feedback, and troubleshot the submission process.
How to Submit Assignments
To start a submission for an assignment, test, discussion, etc, click on the item in the course content area. You can also search for an item using the search icon to the right of course content.
To complete an assignment or test: open the assignment, follow all of the instructions, and when finished, click the "Submit" button in the bottom right corner of the screen.
When submitting files, do not use any special characters
(Bad example: Name#Title-1)
(Good example: Name_Title1)
If there are special characters in the title of the attachment, your instructor may not be able to open the assignment.
Once you have pressed submit, you will see the popup below asking if you are sure you would like to submit. Make sure to press submit again to submit the assignment. Once an assignment has been submitted, a popup with the submission receipt will appear and you will receive an email with the submission receipt.
If the submission receipt does not appear and you do not receive an email confirmation, YOU HAVE NOT SUBMITTED THE ASSIGNMENT!
The Blackboard help team WILL NOT be able to help you recover a lost or missing assignment without the receipt.
Downloading and finding submission receipts
Assignments and tests produce submission receipts when they are submitted. The receipt will pop up when the assignment is submitted and is available to download. The receipt will also be emailed to your Syracuse University email account.
If you have issues with your Blackboard submission and need help through help@syr.edu or the ITS service center, please include a copy of the receipt with your help request. If you do not include the submission receipt, it will take longer and be more difficult to get support with any Blackboard problems.
When you submit an assignment, a popup will appear with the submission receipt. There is a confirmation number on the submission receipt. This number is necessary for getting support promptly with any issues with your submission.
After seeing the popup submission receipt, you will receive an email with a copy of the receipt which includes the confirmation number. This email should be kept as a record of your submission receipt.
Submitting Late Assignments
Instructors decide whether to permit late submissions or not when they create an assignment in Blackboard.
If your instructor allows late assignment submissions, you will see a notification in red when you open the submission screen saying "Past due. New attempts will be marked as late." Click "Start attempt" and then submit the assignment as normal following the steps in the previous section.
If your instructor has disable late submission, you will see an error message when you try to open the assignment indicating that the due date has passed and no new attempts are allowed.
How to Use the Gradebook
Viewing Grades
To view grades, visit the grade book tab in the navigation bar. All grades that have been posted by you instructor will be visible here. If the instructor has not posted the grade or has made the assignment unavailable to students, then the grade will not appear in the grade book.
Automatic Zeros
Some instructors have automatic zeros turned on as a grade book setting. This means that in the grade book a zero will be shown once the assignment is past due. If your instructor allows late work and has this setting turned on, you will continue to see a zero until they have graded the assignment and entered a grade for it. You will see a red exclamation icon next to the grade which indicates that the zero was automatically recorded because the assignment is past the due date.
The Automatic Zero notification for past due assignments will appear the same regardless of whether late submissions are allowed or not by your instructor. This feature is meant as a notification that you have a past due assignment, not an indication of your final grade. Late submission rules and grading policies are up to the instructor - if you have questions about a notification or grade status in Blackboard, ask your instructor first.
Additional Resources
Blackboard has additional information on and