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Moodle Help Guide

All about Moodle

Gradebook Setup

Adding a Blank Graded Item

Adding Categories to a Gradebook

Changing Aggregation Method

Moodle converts all grades to a percentage value and then aggregates the grade according to the strategy that you select. There are over 8 different aggregation methods.

Aggregation Methods

Method Definition
Mean of Grades The sum of all grades is calculated and then the total is divided by the number of graded items.
Weighted Mean of Grades The sum of all grades is calculated, the specified weight is applied to the grade, and then the total is divided by the sum of all weights.
Simple Weighted Mean of Grades The sum of all grades is calculated ,the Maximum Grade Value for the assignment is applied as the weight, and then the total is divided by the sum of all weights.
Median of Grades

Grades are arranged in ascending order, and then the median value is chosen. If there are even grades, the two middle values will be chosen and then divided by 2.

Natural This will  be the sum of all grade values, scaled by their relative weight. The maximum grade of the category is the sum of all the maximum grades of the aggregated items.

 

 

How do I change Aggregation Methods?

Step 1

Click Edit > Edit Settings on a Course Category.

Click Edit > Edit Settings on any Grade Category.

 

Step 2

In Edit Settings under the Aggregation drop-down, choose the appropriate weight.

Please choose the aggregation method in the aggregation drop-down menu.

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Adding a Blank Graded Item

An instructor might want to add a blank Graded Item for a variety of reasons, such as:

  • An instructor might facilitate an assignment in the classroom in which no evidence of student work is uploaded in Moodle LMS. To assign credit to the assignment, the instructor would create a blank Graded Item.
  • An instructor might record daily participation or course participation using a blank Graded Item.

Step 1

Click Grades on the Course Main Menu.

Click Grades on the Course Main Menu.

 

Step 2

From the Dropdown Menu on the Grader Report Page select Gradebook Setup.

From the Dropdown Menu on the Grader Report Page select Gradebook Setup.

 

Step 3

From the Gradebook Setup window select Add Grade Item button.

Click Add Grade Item Button

 

Step 4

Complete the detailed information on the Graded Item, such as the Grade Type and Maximum Grade.

Choose a Grade Type and a Maximum Grade

 

Step 5

You can choose a Gradebook category for the Graded Item and then click Save Changes.

Note. If you select Weighted Mean of Grades, you will be able to input the weight of each item within the category on the Gradebook Setup page.

Adding Categories to a Gradebook

To add a grade category, you must be on the Gradebook Setup Page (Actions Menu > Gradebook Setup).

What are Grade Categories?

Grades can be organized into grade categories. Each category has its own aggregated grade, which is calculated from its grade items. There is no limit to the level of nesting of categories (a category may belong to another category). However, each grade item may belong to only one category. Also, all grade items and categories belong to at least one permanent category: the course category.

Adding a Grade Category

To add a Grade Category, click on Add Category on the Gradebook Setup page.

 

Grade Category Settings

Aggregation
the drop-down menu will allow you to select an aggregation method for the specific Grade Category.
Exclude Empty Grade

If this option is checked, then the aggregation will ignore all grade items for which there is not a grade.,If this option is unchecked, all non-graded items will receive a grade of 0.

Note. An empty grade is a missing grade book entry. It could mean that the student has not yet submitted an assignment, that the assignment has not been graded, or that the grade has been manually deleted.

Drop the Lowest

This will drop the lowest x number of grades from the report.

Note: When using natural weighting - dropping the lowest is only allowed when:

  • all children of the category have equal weights
  • all children of the category have equal max grade
  • there are no subcategories in the category
  • there are no extra credit items in the category

Grade Category preferences highlighted

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Grade Overrides

From the Single View assignment window you can override a grade and feedback.

Student Single View: displays all assignments for the particular student.

Assignment Single View: displays all student grades for the particular assignment.

Note. You must turn on Editing to enable the Override and the ability to give feedback.

Step 1

 

Step 2

Step 3

Assignment grade view with Override highlighted

 

Step 4

Once you select which grades to override, you will see the Grade and Feedback window open, which you can edit now.

Once you have select the grade override the grade and feedback boxes will open up.

Step 5

Once you have edited student grades and feedback, click the Save button.

Once you have completed your overrides, click the Save button

Adding an Extra Credit Item to Moodle Gradebook

  • Extra credit behaves differently in Moodle, depending on the grade aggregation.  
  • Mean of grades (with extra credits): A value of 0 does nothing. Any other value is used to multiply the grade and add it to the total after the computation of the mean. This grade is not used in the computation of the mean, however, only added afterwards. Additionally, this cannot bring the category total over its maximum grade unless grades over 100% are enabled by the site administrator (since 1.9.5). This grade item is not counted either in the denominator used to compute the category mean. 
  • Natural: Extra credit is a checkbox, not a number. Normally, with Natural, the category's maximum grade is the sum of the maximum grades of all its grade items. If one of them is set as "Extra Credit", however, its maximum grade is not added to the category's maximum grade, but its grades will be. This way it is possible to achieve maximum grade (or grades over maximum if enabled by the site administrator) in the category without getting the maximum grade in all the grade items. 
  • Simple weighted mean of grades: Extra credit is a checkbox, not a number. The "Extra Credit" grades are counted in the numerator used to compute the category mean, but not the denominator. See here for more information. 

For the purposes of this guide, we will assume the aggregation method is Simple weighted mean of grades. 

Step 1:

In Grade book Setup, click Edit>Edit Settings.

Select Edit>Editing Settings

 

Step 2:

Under the Parent Category section check Extra Credit and select Save Changes.

Under the Parent Category section check Extra Credit

Step 3:

The Extra Credit assignment is indicated in Gradebook with a (+-) next to the Max Grade.The Extra Credit assignment is indicated in Gradebook with a (+-) next to the Max Grade.

Rubrics

A rubric might seem more difficult to construct than a marking guide at first. However, it will give your students more feedback than a marking guide. Once you are ready to add your rubric to an activity, use the following steps:

Step 1:

Under Grade options, select Rubric from the Grading Method dropdown menu.

Step 2

Select Save and Display at the bottom of the settings window. This is the Advanced Grading page.

Note. Notice the Advanced grading link on the assignment menu. When you are inside an assignment, you can use this link to go directly to the Advanced Grading options rather than from the Assignment Settings.

Advanced Grading window

Step 3

From here, you will choose to either define new grading from scratch or to create new grading form from a template.

Define the new grading form from scratch.
Step 3A

Once you name and describe the rubric, you will be asked to develop the criterion and performance levels.

adding criteria to a rubric

Step 3B

Scroll below the rubric to review the rubric options. When using a rubric, it is a common best practice to allow students to preview the rubric before the assignment and to display the points for each level.

Review the rubric's options

Create a new grading form from a template
Step 3A

The rubrics you created in past courses on the server are presented here. Additionally, you will find rubrics that have been saved by your curriculum groups.

Include you own Forms when searching

 
Step 3B

Scroll down until you locate your saved rubric.

Note. If you know the name of the Marking Guide You can search the webpage (CRTL>F) for the title.

Click Use this emplate.

Marking Guide

A Marking Guide is similar to a rubric without the performance continuum; it does not provide the level of feedback of a rubric.

Step 1

Under Grade options, select Marking Guide from the Grading Method drop down menu.

Select Marking Guide from Grade drop down

Step 2

Select Save and Display at the bottom of the settings window. This is the Advanced Grading page.

Note. Notice the Advanced grading link on the assignment menu. When you are inside an assignment, you can use this link to go directly to the Advanced Grading options rather than from the Assignment Settings.

Select either DEfine new grading form from scratch or Create new grading form from a template.

 

Define the new grading form from scratch.

Step 3A

Once you name and describe the Marking Guide, you will be asked to edit the criterion name, write a description for students, and define the maximum score for the criterion.

Edit the criterion name, descibe it for students, and give it a maximum score.

Step 3B

When using a Marking Guide, it is a common best practice to show students guide definitions and marks per criterion. Additionally, you can add your most frequently used comments, which you will be able to select when grading.

It is a best practice to show students the guide definitions and marks per criterion. You can also save your most frequently used comments.

 

Create a new grading form from a template

Step 3A:

You can search for a Marking Guide that you are your Curriculum Group has used in the past.

You can search for a Marking Guide that you are your Curriculum Group has used in the past

Step 3B

Scroll down until you come across the saved marking guide. Once you locate the saved Marking Guide, select to Use this template.

Note. If you know the name of the Marking Guide You can search the webpage (CRTL>F) for the title.

Once your scroll to find the saved Marking Guide, select Use this template.

Turnitin

The CIA has campus-wide license to Turnitin for unlimited submissions of student papers for similarity reports which might be a way to determine plagiarism. Turnitin can be used within Moodle. It can be activated through the settings in assignments and discussion forums.

Excluding a Graded Item from a Student

By default, the Moodle Gradebook is set to ignore blank "empty" grades (displayed as a hyphen "-" ). Unless the instructor changes the setting, a blank grade will not be calculated into the Course total for that student.  This is referred to as "excluding" the empty grades.

For example, if three tests have been given, and a student earns 100, 100, and a hyphen (for a test that was not completed), Moodle will give the student an average of 100 instead of 67. It has "excluded" the blank grade. In this scenario, you must add the "0" in place of the hyphen in order to obtain the correct average. 

To set your gradebook to exclude (or include) empty grades in grade calculations:

Step 1

Click Grades

Step 2


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