Why should I use a Multipart Assignment?


Turnitin Multipart Assignments can be a good idea when:

  • You want to break a larger assignment into more manageable chunks
  • You want to incorporate student drafts in the assignment process

Step-by-step Guide

  • Ensure that you have enabled Edit mode on the relevant module or page. This is located in the top right-hand corner;

    Edit mode taggle highlighted
  • Hover over the section where you wish to add the assignment and click the [+] or + Add an activity or resource button to open the Activity Chooser. Select the Recommended tab and click on the Turnitin Feedback Studio option;
    Image showing activity selector with Turnitin option highlighted

  • A New External Tool dialogue will open.
  • Ensure that you click on the Select content button as the first step – do not complete any other details until you have completed the Select content step;

    External tool popup showing the select content section highlighted
  • When you click the Select content button, a new popup dialogue will appear. Allow 10 to 15 seconds for the details of the dialogue to appear. When details appear, click on Multipart as highlighted below:
    Create assignment dialogue box with Multipart highlighted

  • A box will appear allowing you to create the various parts of a multipart assignment. The initial step requires an overall title and at least one part added. Enter your overall title and click Add Part to continue with assignment setup

    Assignment interface with title element and add part box highlighted

  • During the part creation section, keep in mind that you will not see all options on the screen at once, and the dialogue box is scrollable. Each added assignment part has 4 required elements:
    - Title
    - Start Date
    - Due Date
    - Feedback Release Date
    Image shows an arrow indicating the dialogue is scrollable, along with 4 required parts highlighted

    Start Date    : specify the date and time (24-hours) on which your assignment should open for submissions;

    Due Date    : specify the date and time (24-hours) on which your assignment falls due for submissions. Accepting submissions on or after the due date/time is handled below;

    Feedback release date: this was titled Post Date in the ‘classic’ version. Where your assignment is a major semester summative assessment, this date will normally be set to a date after semester exam boards have met. For formative assessments, you may set this date to the date you anticipate that grading and feedback will be completed for students to access. See Feedback Release Date for more details.

  • Other optional elements available that can be considered are:
    - Uploading a template from a file:
    Template upload button
    This function is useful if you provide a standard template to students for filling their work. By uploading the Template file, all students can access the same file, download it for completion from within the assignment, and use it for submission. Text in the template is excluded from similarity, with only the students’ responses being subjected to similarity reporting. See How do I add a Template File to a Turnitin Feedback Studio assignment? for more details.

    Important: Once an assignment has received submissions, templates may no longer be added or edited!

    - Attaching a rubric
    Attach Rubric button
    This setting allows you to attach rubric details that you wish to associate with your assignment

    An important note on anonymous grading: This controls whether student details on submitted assignments should be anonymised; that is that student names will be hidden from graders. Note that this cannot be reversed once a submission has been received. The feature should be used with caution, and in most cases we recommend you leave this setting disabled.

Submission & Report Settings

While considered optional, we highly recommend that you check both the Submission Settings and Report Settings before posting your assignment
  • Submission Settings
    To access, ensure you click the arrow to expand the options
    Image showing the submission settings box can be expanded
    These options enable the configuration of:
    • Late submissions: (recommended to allow – check) this allows students who may not have been able to submit by the due date to make one submission to the assignment. Late submissions will always be identified as such so that consideration or penalties may be made;
    • Allowing resubmissions until the due date: (recommended to allow – check) this allows students to make repeated resubmissions to your assignment up to the due date. Students may revise or update their work and resubmit it up to three times in each 24 hour period before the due date. Disabling this would require that a student contacts you to request removal of a submission so they can resubmit, thereby increasing workloads all round.
    • Allowing unsupported file types: (not recommended – uncheck) if used, this enables students to submit any file type, including files that are unsupported for generating Similarity Reports. This may negatively impact on the ability of Turnitin to accept the submission or to provide a Similarity Report.
      Submission settings options
  • Report Settings
    To access, ensure you click the arrow to expand the options
    Image showing that the report settings can be expanded

    This image shows our recommended settings. Explanations for each can be found below:Image 1 of 2 showing recommended settingsImage 2 of 2 showing recommended settings

  • Student Access to Report
    Controls whether or not students may see the similarity report for their submitted work. Under normal MIC procedures, this would not be recommended on module assignments as it may lead to increased workload for instructors
  • Generate Similarity Report
    Determines when Similarity Reports are created for student submissions. Reports may be generated:
    • At the time of submission – in other words, immediately, or
    • On the due date (recommended)

  • Store Submissions for Comparison
    This determines where Turnitin will store submissions for Similarity Reporting use. While a recommendation is provided, below, make your choice carefully (choose one only):
    • Private institutional repository – best used where it is preferred that submissions are only stored in an institutional and compared in an institution context;
    • General Turnitin repository (recommended) – appropriate for the broad majority of submissions where storage is in the general Turnitin database;
    • Do not store the submitted papers – while a similarity report is generated, the submission is not saved to any repository. This may be appropriate for tasks like reflections where personal or sensitive information could be exposed.

  • Compare Submissions for Similarity
    This allows you to specify what sources should be used for checking submissions in the processing of Similarity Reports: (choose all appropriate)
    • Student paper repository (recommended) – comparison against previous student submissions to Turnitin across institutions;
    • Institution paper repository (recommended) – compares submissions against others previously submitted from within MIC;
    • Current and archived internet (recommended) – compares against live and archived internet pages, a data source that is perpetually updated;
    • Periodicals, journals and publications (recommended) – compares against third-party periodicals which includes major journals, professional periodicals and business publications.
  • Exclude from Similarity Report
    Configuring the options in this section can have the benefit of excluding certain information from increasing a submission’s similarity score. For further details, review the article [Similarity Reporting Exclusions: Quotes and Bibliographies].
  • Translated Matching
    This function allows your students to submit work in a non-English language and, based on the language provided, will translate the submission to compare and match against the existing Turnitin English language database. This facility is not normally beneficial and so can be left unchecked
  • When you are happy with your settings, click the Create Assignment button at the bottom of the pageImage showing final create assignment button

NOTE: When the assignment is created, you will see a popup that encourages you to open each part separately to ensure their visibility to students. 
Confirmation popup and button

You do this by simply viewing each part as normal on your moodle page
Shows the assignment parts in the relevant section on Moodle

You will receive a final dialogue box to save a return to course. Note that each part of the assignment will be posted separately (i.e "Part 1" and "Part 2" will appear as different assignments, not stuck together as one single assignment.)
Showing final save and return to course button