Assignment FAQ

How can I find assignments which have not yet been graded?

To find ungraded submissions for a particular assignment, click on the assignment, then beneath the Grading Summary table, click the View/grade all submissions link. A table that includes a Grade column is displayed. Sort the table rows by clicking on the column title, in this case Grade. Assignment submissions will then be ordered according to their given grade, with ungraded submissions displayed at the top of the column.

Why can't I edit grades for assignment submissions?

If you edit assignment grades directly in the gradebook, an "overridden" flag is set, meaning that the grade can no longer be edited from the Grading summary page.

If required, the flag can be removed by turning editing on in the grader report, then clicking the edit grade icon, unchecking the overridden box and saving the changes.

How can a selected outcome be removed from an assignment?

To remove previously selected outcomes (which appear greyed out on the update assignment page):

Follow the Grades link from the Settings block in the course.
On the Grader report page, select the Categories and items tab.
Locate the assignment for which the outcome is to be removed. The outcome is listed directly below it.
Click the delete icon opposite the outcome.

Can students receive confirmation of submission via email?

Moodle allows the sending of a notification to the student when a student submits an assignment. This feature provides reassurance to the students that they have correctly submitted their assignments, especially when using features like draft submissions and file uploads.

Students can also return to the relevant Assignment and see confirmation in the Assignment's Submission status page.

How can I stop receiving notifications for some submitted assignments?

If you want ALL teachers to stop receiving notifications for a particular assignment then simply set 'Notify graders about submissions' to 'No' in the assignment settings.

By default, teachers and non-editing teachers have the capability Capabilities/mod/assign:receivegradernotifications. If you don't want either teachers or non-editing teachers to receive notifications for a particular assignment, then from the Permissions link in the Administration block of that assignment, set this capability to "prevent" for the role in question.

Can I download all submitted assignments at once?

Users with the required permissions (e.g. those with a Teacher role) can click on the assignment and from the Administration block on the Grading summary page, access the 'Download all Submissions' link under 'Assignment administration'.

Can a teacher delete a student's assignment?

Sometimes it is useful for a teacher to be able to edit or delete a student's assignment submission. Admins can give teachers the capability Capabilities/mod/assign:editothersubmission which will allow them to do this.

How can I export the rubric levels and criteria along with students' submissions?

There is a tracker entry for this if you'd like to vote! MDL-32089

Why do I not see the submit button when I switch my role to student to test out the assignment I made?

This feature is intended for teachers so that they can see how their course appears for students. It isn't a reliable view however, as some features do not display correctly when viewed by a teacher who has switched their role to a student. For that reason it is always preferable where possible to have a "test" student log in to use.

What happens if I restore a backup containing an assignment from Moodle 2.2 and older?

The assignment activity module was completely rewritten in Moodle 2.3. Thus, assignments from Moodle 2.2 and older (e.g. from Moodle 1.9) need to be upgraded. See the section 'Restoring course backups from Moodle 2.2 and older' in Assignment upgrade tool for details of what to do.

What's the point of the "Due date"?

Your use of the Allow submissions from and Due date settings will probably be dependent on the overall structure of your course. If you are facilitating an open ended course or a course with rolling enrolment, then you might find it easier to not apply the Allow submissions from and Due date settings. This arrangement will allow the learners to access the assignment according to their own schedule and progress within the course.

Alternatively, if you are working within a more structured format or adhering to a time line, the Allow submissions from and Due date settings are useful for keeping learners on schedule. Using the Allow submissions from setting will make it possible for learners to preview upcoming activities, while at the same time, prevent them from finishing the course in the first week and not returning for additional activities or information. Likewise, the Due dates help keep the learners from lagging too far behind and decrease the likelihood that the learner will become overwhelmed by having to complete several weeks worth of work at once.

How can I have different dates for different groups in the same assignment?

This is possible with Conditional activities. See MDL-16808 for an example but bear in mind that hiding an assignment after its due date will cause problems for students wishing to view their grade.

I can't access assignment submission comments from the grading screen

Do you have javascript disabled? You should be able to access comments from each individual user's grading page. See MDL-37770

What's the difference between 'Revert submission to draft' and 'Allow another attempt'?

'Revert submission to draft' is basically an 'undo' for students who have incorrectly submitted an assignment - it allows them to go back and change the files before submitting again.

'Allow another attempt' saves the submission and the feedback into the submission history and allows them to create a new submission (optionally based on their original submission), which will have its own feedback associated with it.

I see "Submissions closed" even though the submission and cut-off dates are in the future

This message will appear if you are trying an assignment as an administrator without actually being enrolled in the course, even thought the dates might look correct. Try with a student account of someone enrolled in the course.

Documentation