MoodleDocs - Contribucions de l'usuari [ca]

Grades FAQ

2013-09-30T12:20:48Z

Joshuarbholden: /* Why can't I enter a grade higher than the maximum? */

{{Grades}}
== General ==

===How can I change how grades are displayed?===

Grades may be displayed as as actual grades, as percentages (in reference to the minimum and maximum grades) or as letters.

The default grade display type for the site is set by an administrator in ''Administration > Grades > [[Grade item settings]]''. However, this may be changed at course level.

To change how grades are displayed for particular [[Grade items|grade items]], or category and course summaries (called aggregations):

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# Click the edit icon for the grade item, category total or course total.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively, to change how grades are displayed for the whole course:

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Course settings" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button.

===How can I hide entered grades until a specified date?===

To set a "Hidden until" date:

#Access the course gradebook via the grades link in the course administration block.
#Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
#Click on the edit icon opposite the activity for which a "Hidden until" date is to be set.
#On the edit grade item page, ensure that advanced settings are displayed. (Click the "Show advanced" button if not.)
#Enable the "Hidden until" setting by unchecking the disable checkbox, then set a date.
#Click the "Save changes" button.

=== Is it possible to show the teachers/administrators' grades in the grader report? ===
Yes, at the site level you can define which roles will appear in the grader report. This can be found in [[General_grade_settings#Graded_Roles|Administration > Grades > General settings]]. Also read [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92612 this discussion] for some more ideas.

===Why can't I change a grade within an assignment after changing it in the gradebook?===

When you edit a grade directly in the gradebook, an "overridden" flag is set, meaning that the grade can no longer be changed from within the assignment.

However, the flag can be removed by turning editing on in the [[Grader report|grader report]], then clicking the [[Grade editing|edit grade]] icon, unchecking the overridden box and saving the changes.

===How do I get groups to show up in the grader report?===

For groups to show up in the grader report, group mode should be set to visible or separate groups in the [[Course settings|course settings]]. This will result in a groups dropdown menu being displayed, enabling a teacher to view the grades of all participants, or only the grades for a selected group.

===The quiz grades keep disappearing from the student view, even after I un-hide them!===

Check your quiz settings. Under the '''Review options''' heading, in the '''Later, while the quiz is still open''' and/or the '''After the quiz is closed''' columns, you probably have Scores un-checked. Each time a student completes a quiz, these settings are consulted and the scores will be hidden from ''all'' students. If your students don't all take the quiz at the same time, it can look like quiz scores reset themselves to 'hidden' randomly, even after you un-hide them.

===How can I make the gradebook simpler for teachers?===

See [[Simplifying the gradebook by changing permissions]].

==Grades and user removals==

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is unenrolled from a course?===
On re-enrolling, you can recover their grades from before: see [https://docs.moodle.org/24/en/Grade_settings#Recover_grades_default Recover grades on re-enrol]

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is deleted from the Moodle site?===

==Advanced grading==

===Why can't I see the advanced grading option??===
To see the option for Advanced grading, you first have to create an assignment and choose Advanced grading/Rubric from the gGading method dropdown. Advanced grading will then appear in ''Settings>Assignment administration.''
===How can I allow teachers to save rubrics as templates for others?===
Create a new role and assign it in the system context. Give this role the capability ''moodle/grade:sharegradingforms'' (for sharing as a template) and if desired ''moodle/grade:managesharedforms'' (for editing or deleting templates created by others) Assign this role to those teachers you wish to have this ability.

===How do students see the Marking guide?===
Assuming the teacher has allowed this in the [[Marking guide]] settings, the student may click "submissions grading" under the assignment name in their navigation block:

[[File:submissionsgrading.png]]

== Reports ==
=== How do I create my own custom gradebook reports? ===
Here is a [[Development:Gradebook_Report_Tutorial|tutorial]] explaining all the main steps involved.
===How can I sort or change the order of column headings?===
Go to Grades link, then select one of the "Category & items" actions from the pulldown on the top left. Use the move icon to change the position of the graded item. And/or you could create categories for the items and move them into a category so they will be grouped that way first.

===How can I remove user ID numbers and/or email addresses from the grader report===

Go to ''Settings > Site administration > Users > Permissions > [[Roles settings|User policies]]'' and untick the 'ID number' and/or 'email address' checkboxes for 'Show user identity'.

Note that this will result in ID numbers and/or email addresses not being shown when searching for users and displaying lists of users. See the section 'Show user identity' in [[Roles settings]] for a list of locations where user identity fields are shown.

== Aggregation ==
=== I can't find where to change the aggregation type for my gradebook categories! ===
Each category has an aggregation type, which can be changed through that category's "edit" page. To access that page, you must use one of 2 ways:

1. In the grader report, turn "Editing" on, then click the little "hand" icon next to the category whose aggregation you want to change
2. In the "Edit categories and Items" page (accessible through the "choose an action" menu, top left), you see a tree view of the categories and items in your gradebook. The top category is the course category. Each category also has a "hand" icon, which leads to the category edit page

=== How can I grade some of my activities without the results affecting my students' course total? ===
#Go to Grades and choose the "Category and items" tab.
#Add two [[Grade categories]], one for your "Graded activities" and one for your "Not graded activities". In the "Not graded activities" category choose "None" in grading type.
#Ensure that "Aggregate including subcategories" (an option visible only in "full view") is unchecked for your top level course grade category.
#If you want to completely hide the "Not graded activities" category from your students tick the "Hidden" icon too.
#Save your changes.
#Move all your normally graded activities into the "Graded activities" category.
#Move all your excluded from grading activities into "Not graded activities" category.

'''Note''': Following the above steps the not graded activities will be completely hidden from your students. So...

*'''IF''' you want the activity grades of the "Not graded activities" category, to remain visible to your student without their grades affecting their course total, simply click the eye to show the "Not graded activities" category.

*'''IF''' you want students to be able to see the activity grades and the category total of the "Not graded activities", then you have to let the category visible and also choose a grading type between value, scale or text, by editing the category.

In this case you can exclude the "Not graded activities" from course total using the "Weighted mean of grades" aggregation method in Course category and assigning 100 weight to the "Graded activities" and 0 weight to the "Not graded activities".

*'''IF''' you don't want to use grade categories, you can also exclude the grades of a specific activity by changing the "Multiplicator" (visible only in "full view") from 1.0 into 0.0.

*Last, '''IF''' you want to exclude the grade of an activity only to one or some specific students, then follow these steps:
#From the grader report "Turn editing on"
#Click the "Edit grade" icon of the activity of the student you want to exclude.
#In the Edit grade page, check the tick box next to the "Excluded" option and "Save changes".

=== My student completed only one activity out of 5, but his course total shows 100%. How do I show a more "progressive" course total? ===

==== Step-by-Step Explanation ====
# From the view menu in the gradeboook, select "Categories and items"
# At the top line there is a folder icon and an edit icon on the right, click the edit icon
# You'll then see the title "Grade category," the 3rd item is "Aggregate only non-empty grades."
# Uncheck this.
# Save.

==== Another Explanation ====
By default, only non-empty grades are aggregated, the others are ignored. However, you can change this setting as well as others that affect the course total, by turning "Editing" on in the grader report, and clicking the "Edit" icon next to the course category (the very top row of the grader report).

You can untick the box "Aggregate only non-empty grades" if you want to show a more "progressive" score for each student. Their empty grades will count as a 0 and will be counted in the course mean/total.

If you prefer to show a sum of points, rather than a percentage, you can change the course category's aggregation method to "Sum of grades".

=== How can I display the average grade for my course categories (not grade categories)? ===
In Moodle 1.9 there is no way to aggregate course totals within each category. The gradebook is course-centered, and there is currently no User Interface for showing grades within an entire course category at once.

=== How can I setup weighted assignments? ===
See [[Using "Weighted Mean of Grades" to weight categories containing assignments]].

=== Why is the Category Total blank for one of my categories? ===
One possibility is that you accidentally entered some grades into the Category Total column and then erased them. When you do that, an override flag gets set and then the totals won't calculate. Here's how to check, and fix it:

# Go to the [[Grader report]] view of the gradebook.
# Click the "Turn editing on" button for the gradebook. (There's a separate one for the gradebook from the one on the main page.)
# Find the box for the problem category and the first student affected.
# Click on the hand with the pencil *in that box*.
# See if the box marked "[[Grade_editing#Overridden|Overridden]]" (third line down) is checked. If it is, uncheck it.
# Repeat (4) and (5) for each student affected.

== Categories ==
=== How many depths of categories/subcategories can I create? ===
There is no programmatic limit, but there are practical limits. Very deeply nested structures are difficult to manage. 3 levels of categories should be sufficient for most situations. Note that there is always at least one level of categories, since the Course category always encompasses all other categories and grade items, can cannot be deleted.

=== I can't find setting X in the grade category edit page! Where is it? ===
If a setting documented on the [[Grade categories]] page does not appear on your edit page, it may mean that it is set globally in your site. See [[Grade_category_settings#Forcing_settings|Forcing settings]] for more information.

== Outcomes ==
=== I want to set up an outcome item for my course. What are the steps required? ===
#The site administrator needs to have enabled outcomes via ''Settings>Site Aaministration > Advanced Features >Enable Outcomes''
#In your course, go to ''Settings>Course administration>Grades>Scales'' and create the scale you need.
#[[Scales#Creating_a_new_scale|Create a scale]]
#In Settings>Course administration>Outcomes, create a course outcome assigning it to the scale you just created.
#Read the [[Outcomes| outcomes documentation]] for instructions).
#You can now give your students a rating on the outcome dimension you just created. If you created a standard outcome, you will be able to use it in other courses and follow your students' performance across these courses.

===How can I remove an outcome from an activity?===

An outcome can be removed from an activity by deleting it on the gradebook edit categories and items page. This results in the outcomes being deselected on the update activity page.

== Modules ==
=== The activity module (Module name) doesn't support grading. How can I give my students a grade anyway? ===
You can create a [[Grade_items#Manual_grade_items|grade item]] manually in the gradebook. You will have to grade your students through the [[Grader report]] interface (in editing mode).

=== I just graded some of my students using the (Module name) interface, but the results aren't showing up in the grader report. What's going on? ===
Here are some of the possible reasons:
#The site settings>Grades>General settings may not have the correct graded roles checked off to appear in grade book. If you see no students in the Gradebook but do see columns for the graded activities, then check the graded role settings.
#The corresponding [[Grade items|grade item]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_items|locked]], or its parent [[Grade categories|category]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_categories|locked]].
#The module code is not using the [[Development:Grades#API_for_communication_with_modules.2Fblocks|gradebook API]] correctly

=== I just created a new assignment with the "Grade" setting set to "No grade", but it still appears in the gradebook ===
The reason is that the gradebook is now the place where both numerical and textual types of feedback are recorded for all activity modules. The word "Grading" in assignment relates only to numerical grades, but the ability to give text feedback remains, and must be recorded in the gradebook. This is why a grade item is created for it. You can hide the grade item if you do not want it to appear in the user reports.

==Weights and extra credits==

===How do weighted grades influence the category or course total?===
A weight (also called coefficient) only has meaning in reference to other weights. If you only have one grade item, changing its weight will not have any effect. However, if you have two grade items, each with a different weight, the "heavier" item will have more influence on the total grade than the "lighter" one.

You can set the weights to any positive numerical value you choose. Usually, at least one of the weights will be 1 and serve as the baseline for other weights. If another item has a weight of 2, its grades will be multiplied by 2 compared with the grades of the first grade item, before being averaged. The denominator used for averaging is the sum of all the weights.

An example follows:
item 1 weight: 1
item 2 weight: 3
item 3 weight: 0.5

item 1 grade: 40/100
item 2 grade: 60/100
item 3 grade: 20/100

Calculation:
total = ((40 * 1) + (60 * 3) + (20 * 0.5)) / (1 + 3 + 0.5)
= (40 + 180 + 10) / (4.5)
= 230 / 4.5
= 51.11

The total for this category will then be 51.11 out of 100

===Do I have to put a value in each "weight" input box?===
No. If you do not put a value, it will default to 1. If all items are set to 1 then they all have equal weight. If you set a weight to 0, the item's grades will not count at all in the category or course average.

===Do all the weights have to add up to 100 or some similar value?===
No, the numbers you put as weights are completely arbitrary. They must be positive numbers, and can add up to anything you want. Note however that the following four sets of weights are identical in value:

(1 1.75 3)
(4 7 12)
(8 14 24)
(400 700 1200)

===What is the difference between Weight and Extra Credit?===
Weight is only available with "Weighted mean of grades". For the "Simple weighted mean of grades", the weight is taken from the grade item's maximum grade. A weight is used to give a grade item more or less importance in the computation of the category total or average, compared with the other items of the same category.

Extra credit replaces grade item weight if the aggregation method is "Mean of grades (with extra credits)", "Sum of grades", or "Simple weighted mean of grades". The effect of extra credit is different in each case, hence some confusion:

*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.

*Sum of grades: Extra credit is a checkbox, not a number. Normally, with Sum of Grades, 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 [[Category_aggregation#Simple_weighted_mean|here]] for more information.

===How do I create an assignment for which students can receive a grade higher than the maximum?===

In Moodle 1.9.5 onwards, a new [[Grade_settings#Unlimited_grades|unlimited grades]] setting in ''Administration > Grades > General settings'' enables administrators to allow teachers to enter grades over 100% directly in the gradebook.

===Why can't I enter a grade higher than the maximum?===

First, check with your administrators to make sure the [[Grade_settings#Unlimited_grades|unlimited grades]] setting is turned on. If that is not the problem, you might be using [[Gradebook_report_settings#Quick_grading_and_quick_feedback|quick grading]]. If that is the problem, you can still enter grades higher than the maximum this way:

# Go to the Moodle gradebook "Grader Report" page.
# Use the button in the upper right to "Turn editing on" if it is not already on.
# In the upper right corner of each box for entering the grade, there should be an icon of a gear. Click on that.
# On the "Edit grade" screen that comes up, there's a box for "Final grade". You should be able to enter any number of points into that, even if it's more than the maximum.

If you expect a lot of students to get extra credit, it's probably better to make it a separate grade item and mark it as extra credit instead, or else [[Grade_import|import]] the grades from a spreadsheet.

==Formulas==

===How do I give a fixed score for a successful quiz attempt===

Suppose you want to give 5 points for a passing grade (say, 70) in a certain quiz. Possible scenario ([http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=148576]): extra credit points to every student that gets a "passing grade" in a "practice test" at the end of each chapter covered in the course, to encourage them to practice after the homework quizzes and to get familiar with a "test type" situation before the actual test.

The following formula should do the trick:

=round((||quiz||/70)-0.49,0)*5

The formula may be added to a designated grade item or category.

Sample calculations:
Score 70:
=round((70/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(1-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.51,0)*5
=1*5
=5

Score 69:
=round((69/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.98-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.49,0)*5
=0*5
=0

==See also==

*Gradebook Scenarios/Use Cases [https://docs.moodle.org/en/experimental:_gb_tutoring]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=2122 Gradebook forum]

Using Moodle forum discussions:
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=123143 Excluding practice quizzes from gradebook]
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=193705 Course total not sum of max grade column?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=167596 Why do only certain items have multiplicator & offset boxes?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=235640 Extra credit]

[[Category:FAQ]]

[[ca:PMF de les qualificacions]]
[[fr:FAQ des notes]]
[[ja:評定FAQ]]
[[de:Bewertungen FAQ]]

Grades FAQ

2013-09-15T22:29:10Z

Joshuarbholden: /* Why can't I enter a grade higher than the maximum? */ Added "or else import the grades from a spreadsheet"

{{Grades}}
== General ==

===How can I change how grades are displayed?===

Grades may be displayed as as actual grades, as percentages (in reference to the minimum and maximum grades) or as letters.

The default grade display type for the site is set by an administrator in ''Administration > Grades > [[Grade item settings]]''. However, this may be changed at course level.

To change how grades are displayed for particular [[Grade items|grade items]], or category and course summaries (called aggregations):

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# Click the edit icon for the grade item, category total or course total.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively, to change how grades are displayed for the whole course:

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Course settings" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button.

===How can I hide entered grades until a specified date?===

To set a "Hidden until" date:

#Access the course gradebook via the grades link in the course administration block.
#Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
#Click on the edit icon opposite the activity for which a "Hidden until" date is to be set.
#On the edit grade item page, ensure that advanced settings are displayed. (Click the "Show advanced" button if not.)
#Enable the "Hidden until" setting by unchecking the disable checkbox, then set a date.
#Click the "Save changes" button.

=== Is it possible to show the teachers/administrators' grades in the grader report? ===
Yes, at the site level you can define which roles will appear in the grader report. This can be found in [[General_grade_settings#Graded_Roles|Administration > Grades > General settings]]. Also read [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92612 this discussion] for some more ideas.

===Why can't I change a grade within an assignment after changing it in the gradebook?===

When you edit a grade directly in the gradebook, an "overridden" flag is set, meaning that the grade can no longer be changed from within the assignment.

However, the flag can be removed by turning editing on in the [[Grader report|grader report]], then clicking the [[Grade editing|edit grade]] icon, unchecking the overridden box and saving the changes.

===How do I get groups to show up in the grader report?===

For groups to show up in the grader report, group mode should be set to visible or separate groups in the [[Course settings|course settings]]. This will result in a groups dropdown menu being displayed, enabling a teacher to view the grades of all participants, or only the grades for a selected group.

===The quiz grades keep disappearing from the student view, even after I un-hide them!===

Check your quiz settings. Under the '''Review options''' heading, in the '''Later, while the quiz is still open''' and/or the '''After the quiz is closed''' columns, you probably have Scores un-checked. Each time a student completes a quiz, these settings are consulted and the scores will be hidden from ''all'' students. If your students don't all take the quiz at the same time, it can look like quiz scores reset themselves to 'hidden' randomly, even after you un-hide them.

===How can I make the gradebook simpler for teachers?===

See [[Simplifying the gradebook by changing permissions]].

==Grades and user removals==

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is unenrolled from a course?===
On re-enrolling, you can recover their grades from before: see [https://docs.moodle.org/24/en/Grade_settings#Recover_grades_default Recover grades on re-enrol]

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is deleted from the Moodle site?===

==Advanced grading==

===Why can't I see the advanced grading option??===
To see the option for Advanced grading, you first have to create an assignment and choose Advanced grading/Rubric from the gGading method dropdown. Advanced grading will then appear in ''Settings>Assignment administration.''
===How can I allow teachers to save rubrics as templates for others?===
Create a new role and assign it in the system context. Give this role the capability ''moodle/grade:sharegradingforms'' (for sharing as a template) and if desired ''moodle/grade:managesharedforms'' (for editing or deleting templates created by others) Assign this role to those teachers you wish to have this ability.

===How do students see the Marking guide?===
Assuming the teacher has allowed this in the [[Marking guide]] settings, the student may click "submissions grading" under the assignment name in their navigation block:

[[File:submissionsgrading.png]]

== Reports ==
=== How do I create my own custom gradebook reports? ===
Here is a [[Development:Gradebook_Report_Tutorial|tutorial]] explaining all the main steps involved.
===How can I sort or change the order of column headings?===
Go to Grades link, then select one of the "Category & items" actions from the pulldown on the top left. Use the move icon to change the position of the graded item. And/or you could create categories for the items and move them into a category so they will be grouped that way first.

===How can I remove user ID numbers and/or email addresses from the grader report===

Go to ''Settings > Site administration > Users > Permissions > [[Roles settings|User policies]]'' and untick the 'ID number' and/or 'email address' checkboxes for 'Show user identity'.

Note that this will result in ID numbers and/or email addresses not being shown when searching for users and displaying lists of users. See the section 'Show user identity' in [[Roles settings]] for a list of locations where user identity fields are shown.

== Aggregation ==
=== I can't find where to change the aggregation type for my gradebook categories! ===
Each category has an aggregation type, which can be changed through that category's "edit" page. To access that page, you must use one of 2 ways:

1. In the grader report, turn "Editing" on, then click the little "hand" icon next to the category whose aggregation you want to change
2. In the "Edit categories and Items" page (accessible through the "choose an action" menu, top left), you see a tree view of the categories and items in your gradebook. The top category is the course category. Each category also has a "hand" icon, which leads to the category edit page

=== How can I grade some of my activities without the results affecting my students' course total? ===
#Go to Grades and choose the "Category and items" tab.
#Add two [[Grade categories]], one for your "Graded activities" and one for your "Not graded activities". In the "Not graded activities" category choose "None" in grading type.
#Ensure that "Aggregate including subcategories" (an option visible only in "full view") is unchecked for your top level course grade category.
#If you want to completely hide the "Not graded activities" category from your students tick the "Hidden" icon too.
#Save your changes.
#Move all your normally graded activities into the "Graded activities" category.
#Move all your excluded from grading activities into "Not graded activities" category.

'''Note''': Following the above steps the not graded activities will be completely hidden from your students. So...

*'''IF''' you want the activity grades of the "Not graded activities" category, to remain visible to your student without their grades affecting their course total, simply click the eye to show the "Not graded activities" category.

*'''IF''' you want students to be able to see the activity grades and the category total of the "Not graded activities", then you have to let the category visible and also choose a grading type between value, scale or text, by editing the category.

In this case you can exclude the "Not graded activities" from course total using the "Weighted mean of grades" aggregation method in Course category and assigning 100 weight to the "Graded activities" and 0 weight to the "Not graded activities".

*'''IF''' you don't want to use grade categories, you can also exclude the grades of a specific activity by changing the "Multiplicator" (visible only in "full view") from 1.0 into 0.0.

*Last, '''IF''' you want to exclude the grade of an activity only to one or some specific students, then follow these steps:
#From the grader report "Turn editing on"
#Click the "Edit grade" icon of the activity of the student you want to exclude.
#In the Edit grade page, check the tick box next to the "Excluded" option and "Save changes".

=== My student completed only one activity out of 5, but his course total shows 100%. How do I show a more "progressive" course total? ===

==== Step-by-Step Explanation ====
# From the view menu in the gradeboook, select "Categories and items"
# At the top line there is a folder icon and an edit icon on the right, click the edit icon
# You'll then see the title "Grade category," the 3rd item is "Aggregate only non-empty grades."
# Uncheck this.
# Save.

==== Another Explanation ====
By default, only non-empty grades are aggregated, the others are ignored. However, you can change this setting as well as others that affect the course total, by turning "Editing" on in the grader report, and clicking the "Edit" icon next to the course category (the very top row of the grader report).

You can untick the box "Aggregate only non-empty grades" if you want to show a more "progressive" score for each student. Their empty grades will count as a 0 and will be counted in the course mean/total.

If you prefer to show a sum of points, rather than a percentage, you can change the course category's aggregation method to "Sum of grades".

=== How can I display the average grade for my course categories (not grade categories)? ===
In Moodle 1.9 there is no way to aggregate course totals within each category. The gradebook is course-centered, and there is currently no User Interface for showing grades within an entire course category at once.

=== How can I setup weighted assignments? ===
See [[Using "Weighted Mean of Grades" to weight categories containing assignments]].

=== Why is the Category Total blank for one of my categories? ===
One possibility is that you accidentally entered some grades into the Category Total column and then erased them. When you do that, an override flag gets set and then the totals won't calculate. Here's how to check, and fix it:

# Go to the [[Grader report]] view of the gradebook.
# Click the "Turn editing on" button for the gradebook. (There's a separate one for the gradebook from the one on the main page.)
# Find the box for the problem category and the first student affected.
# Click on the hand with the pencil *in that box*.
# See if the box marked "[[Grade_editing#Overridden|Overridden]]" (third line down) is checked. If it is, uncheck it.
# Repeat (4) and (5) for each student affected.

== Categories ==
=== How many depths of categories/subcategories can I create? ===
There is no programmatic limit, but there are practical limits. Very deeply nested structures are difficult to manage. 3 levels of categories should be sufficient for most situations. Note that there is always at least one level of categories, since the Course category always encompasses all other categories and grade items, can cannot be deleted.

=== I can't find setting X in the grade category edit page! Where is it? ===
If a setting documented on the [[Grade categories]] page does not appear on your edit page, it may mean that it is set globally in your site. See [[Grade_category_settings#Forcing_settings|Forcing settings]] for more information.

== Outcomes ==
=== I want to set up an outcome item for my course. What are the steps required? ===
#The site administrator needs to have enabled outcomes via ''Settings>Site Aaministration > Advanced Features >Enable Outcomes''
#In your course, go to ''Settings>Course administration>Grades>Scales'' and create the scale you need.
#[[Scales#Creating_a_new_scale|Create a scale]]
#In Settings>Course administration>Outcomes, create a course outcome assigning it to the scale you just created.
#Read the [[Outcomes| outcomes documentation]] for instructions).
#You can now give your students a rating on the outcome dimension you just created. If you created a standard outcome, you will be able to use it in other courses and follow your students' performance across these courses.

===How can I remove an outcome from an activity?===

An outcome can be removed from an activity by deleting it on the gradebook edit categories and items page. This results in the outcomes being deselected on the update activity page.

== Modules ==
=== The activity module (Module name) doesn't support grading. How can I give my students a grade anyway? ===
You can create a [[Grade_items#Manual_grade_items|grade item]] manually in the gradebook. You will have to grade your students through the [[Grader report]] interface (in editing mode).

=== I just graded some of my students using the (Module name) interface, but the results aren't showing up in the grader report. What's going on? ===
Here are some of the possible reasons:
#The site settings>Grades>General settings may not have the correct graded roles checked off to appear in grade book. If you see no students in the Gradebook but do see columns for the graded activities, then check the graded role settings.
#The corresponding [[Grade items|grade item]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_items|locked]], or its parent [[Grade categories|category]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_categories|locked]].
#The module code is not using the [[Development:Grades#API_for_communication_with_modules.2Fblocks|gradebook API]] correctly

=== I just created a new assignment with the "Grade" setting set to "No grade", but it still appears in the gradebook ===
The reason is that the gradebook is now the place where both numerical and textual types of feedback are recorded for all activity modules. The word "Grading" in assignment relates only to numerical grades, but the ability to give text feedback remains, and must be recorded in the gradebook. This is why a grade item is created for it. You can hide the grade item if you do not want it to appear in the user reports.

==Weights and extra credits==

===How do weighted grades influence the category or course total?===
A weight (also called coefficient) only has meaning in reference to other weights. If you only have one grade item, changing its weight will not have any effect. However, if you have two grade items, each with a different weight, the "heavier" item will have more influence on the total grade than the "lighter" one.

You can set the weights to any positive numerical value you choose. Usually, at least one of the weights will be 1 and serve as the baseline for other weights. If another item has a weight of 2, its grades will be multiplied by 2 compared with the grades of the first grade item, before being averaged. The denominator used for averaging is the sum of all the weights.

An example follows:
item 1 weight: 1
item 2 weight: 3
item 3 weight: 0.5

item 1 grade: 40/100
item 2 grade: 60/100
item 3 grade: 20/100

Calculation:
total = ((40 * 1) + (60 * 3) + (20 * 0.5)) / (1 + 3 + 0.5)
= (40 + 180 + 10) / (4.5)
= 230 / 4.5
= 51.11

The total for this category will then be 51.11 out of 100

===Do I have to put a value in each "weight" input box?===
No. If you do not put a value, it will default to 1. If all items are set to 1 then they all have equal weight. If you set a weight to 0, the item's grades will not count at all in the category or course average.

===Do all the weights have to add up to 100 or some similar value?===
No, the numbers you put as weights are completely arbitrary. They must be positive numbers, and can add up to anything you want. Note however that the following four sets of weights are identical in value:

(1 1.75 3)
(4 7 12)
(8 14 24)
(400 700 1200)

===What is the difference between Weight and Extra Credit?===
Weight is only available with "Weighted mean of grades". For the "Simple weighted mean of grades", the weight is taken from the grade item's maximum grade. A weight is used to give a grade item more or less importance in the computation of the category total or average, compared with the other items of the same category.

Extra credit replaces grade item weight if the aggregation method is "Mean of grades (with extra credits)", "Sum of grades", or "Simple weighted mean of grades". The effect of extra credit is different in each case, hence some confusion:

*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.

*Sum of grades: Extra credit is a checkbox, not a number. Normally, with Sum of Grades, 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 [[Category_aggregation#Simple_weighted_mean|here]] for more information.

===How do I create an assignment for which students can receive a grade higher than the maximum?===

In Moodle 1.9.5 onwards, a new [[Grade_settings#Unlimited_grades|unlimited grades]] setting in ''Administration > Grades > General settings'' enables administrators to allow teachers to enter grades over 100% directly in the gradebook.

===Why can't I enter a grade higher than the maximum?===

First, check with your administrators to make sure the [[Grade_settings#Unlimited_grades|unlimited grades]] setting is turned on. If that is not the problem, you might be using [[Gradebook_report_settings#Quick_grading_and_quick_feedback|quick grading]]. If that is the problem, you can still enter grades higher than the maximum this way:

# Go to the Moodle gradebook "Grader Report" page.
# Use the button in the upper right to "Turn editing on" if it is not already on.
# In the upper right corner of each box for entering the grade, there should be a hand holding a pencil. Click on that.
# On the "Edit grade" screen that comes up, there's a box for "Final grade". You should be able to enter any number of points into that, even if it's more than the maximum

If you expect a lot of students to get extra credit, it's probably better to make it a separate grade item and mark it as extra credit instead, or else [[Grade_import|import]] the grades from a spreadsheet.

==Formulas==

===How do I give a fixed score for a successful quiz attempt===

Suppose you want to give 5 points for a passing grade (say, 70) in a certain quiz. Possible scenario ([http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=148576]): extra credit points to every student that gets a "passing grade" in a "practice test" at the end of each chapter covered in the course, to encourage them to practice after the homework quizzes and to get familiar with a "test type" situation before the actual test.

The following formula should do the trick:

=round((||quiz||/70)-0.49,0)*5

The formula may be added to a designated grade item or category.

Sample calculations:
Score 70:
=round((70/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(1-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.51,0)*5
=1*5
=5

Score 69:
=round((69/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.98-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.49,0)*5
=0*5
=0

==See also==

*Gradebook Scenarios/Use Cases [https://docs.moodle.org/en/experimental:_gb_tutoring]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=2122 Gradebook forum]

Using Moodle forum discussions:
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=123143 Excluding practice quizzes from gradebook]
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=193705 Course total not sum of max grade column?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=167596 Why do only certain items have multiplicator & offset boxes?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=235640 Extra credit]

[[Category:FAQ]]

[[ca:PMF de les qualificacions]]
[[fr:FAQ des notes]]
[[ja:評定FAQ]]
[[de:Bewertungen FAQ]]

Grades FAQ

2013-09-15T22:19:14Z

Joshuarbholden: /* Why can't I enter a grade higher than the maximum? */ Added "If you expect a lot of students to get extra credit..."

{{Grades}}
== General ==

===How can I change how grades are displayed?===

Grades may be displayed as as actual grades, as percentages (in reference to the minimum and maximum grades) or as letters.

The default grade display type for the site is set by an administrator in ''Administration > Grades > [[Grade item settings]]''. However, this may be changed at course level.

To change how grades are displayed for particular [[Grade items|grade items]], or category and course summaries (called aggregations):

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# Click the edit icon for the grade item, category total or course total.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively, to change how grades are displayed for the whole course:

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Course settings" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button.

===How can I hide entered grades until a specified date?===

To set a "Hidden until" date:

#Access the course gradebook via the grades link in the course administration block.
#Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
#Click on the edit icon opposite the activity for which a "Hidden until" date is to be set.
#On the edit grade item page, ensure that advanced settings are displayed. (Click the "Show advanced" button if not.)
#Enable the "Hidden until" setting by unchecking the disable checkbox, then set a date.
#Click the "Save changes" button.

=== Is it possible to show the teachers/administrators' grades in the grader report? ===
Yes, at the site level you can define which roles will appear in the grader report. This can be found in [[General_grade_settings#Graded_Roles|Administration > Grades > General settings]]. Also read [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92612 this discussion] for some more ideas.

===Why can't I change a grade within an assignment after changing it in the gradebook?===

When you edit a grade directly in the gradebook, an "overridden" flag is set, meaning that the grade can no longer be changed from within the assignment.

However, the flag can be removed by turning editing on in the [[Grader report|grader report]], then clicking the [[Grade editing|edit grade]] icon, unchecking the overridden box and saving the changes.

===How do I get groups to show up in the grader report?===

For groups to show up in the grader report, group mode should be set to visible or separate groups in the [[Course settings|course settings]]. This will result in a groups dropdown menu being displayed, enabling a teacher to view the grades of all participants, or only the grades for a selected group.

===The quiz grades keep disappearing from the student view, even after I un-hide them!===

Check your quiz settings. Under the '''Review options''' heading, in the '''Later, while the quiz is still open''' and/or the '''After the quiz is closed''' columns, you probably have Scores un-checked. Each time a student completes a quiz, these settings are consulted and the scores will be hidden from ''all'' students. If your students don't all take the quiz at the same time, it can look like quiz scores reset themselves to 'hidden' randomly, even after you un-hide them.

===How can I make the gradebook simpler for teachers?===

See [[Simplifying the gradebook by changing permissions]].

==Grades and user removals==

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is unenrolled from a course?===
On re-enrolling, you can recover their grades from before: see [https://docs.moodle.org/24/en/Grade_settings#Recover_grades_default Recover grades on re-enrol]

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is deleted from the Moodle site?===

==Advanced grading==

===Why can't I see the advanced grading option??===
To see the option for Advanced grading, you first have to create an assignment and choose Advanced grading/Rubric from the gGading method dropdown. Advanced grading will then appear in ''Settings>Assignment administration.''
===How can I allow teachers to save rubrics as templates for others?===
Create a new role and assign it in the system context. Give this role the capability ''moodle/grade:sharegradingforms'' (for sharing as a template) and if desired ''moodle/grade:managesharedforms'' (for editing or deleting templates created by others) Assign this role to those teachers you wish to have this ability.

===How do students see the Marking guide?===
Assuming the teacher has allowed this in the [[Marking guide]] settings, the student may click "submissions grading" under the assignment name in their navigation block:

[[File:submissionsgrading.png]]

== Reports ==
=== How do I create my own custom gradebook reports? ===
Here is a [[Development:Gradebook_Report_Tutorial|tutorial]] explaining all the main steps involved.
===How can I sort or change the order of column headings?===
Go to Grades link, then select one of the "Category & items" actions from the pulldown on the top left. Use the move icon to change the position of the graded item. And/or you could create categories for the items and move them into a category so they will be grouped that way first.

===How can I remove user ID numbers and/or email addresses from the grader report===

Go to ''Settings > Site administration > Users > Permissions > [[Roles settings|User policies]]'' and untick the 'ID number' and/or 'email address' checkboxes for 'Show user identity'.

Note that this will result in ID numbers and/or email addresses not being shown when searching for users and displaying lists of users. See the section 'Show user identity' in [[Roles settings]] for a list of locations where user identity fields are shown.

== Aggregation ==
=== I can't find where to change the aggregation type for my gradebook categories! ===
Each category has an aggregation type, which can be changed through that category's "edit" page. To access that page, you must use one of 2 ways:

1. In the grader report, turn "Editing" on, then click the little "hand" icon next to the category whose aggregation you want to change
2. In the "Edit categories and Items" page (accessible through the "choose an action" menu, top left), you see a tree view of the categories and items in your gradebook. The top category is the course category. Each category also has a "hand" icon, which leads to the category edit page

=== How can I grade some of my activities without the results affecting my students' course total? ===
#Go to Grades and choose the "Category and items" tab.
#Add two [[Grade categories]], one for your "Graded activities" and one for your "Not graded activities". In the "Not graded activities" category choose "None" in grading type.
#Ensure that "Aggregate including subcategories" (an option visible only in "full view") is unchecked for your top level course grade category.
#If you want to completely hide the "Not graded activities" category from your students tick the "Hidden" icon too.
#Save your changes.
#Move all your normally graded activities into the "Graded activities" category.
#Move all your excluded from grading activities into "Not graded activities" category.

'''Note''': Following the above steps the not graded activities will be completely hidden from your students. So...

*'''IF''' you want the activity grades of the "Not graded activities" category, to remain visible to your student without their grades affecting their course total, simply click the eye to show the "Not graded activities" category.

*'''IF''' you want students to be able to see the activity grades and the category total of the "Not graded activities", then you have to let the category visible and also choose a grading type between value, scale or text, by editing the category.

In this case you can exclude the "Not graded activities" from course total using the "Weighted mean of grades" aggregation method in Course category and assigning 100 weight to the "Graded activities" and 0 weight to the "Not graded activities".

*'''IF''' you don't want to use grade categories, you can also exclude the grades of a specific activity by changing the "Multiplicator" (visible only in "full view") from 1.0 into 0.0.

*Last, '''IF''' you want to exclude the grade of an activity only to one or some specific students, then follow these steps:
#From the grader report "Turn editing on"
#Click the "Edit grade" icon of the activity of the student you want to exclude.
#In the Edit grade page, check the tick box next to the "Excluded" option and "Save changes".

=== My student completed only one activity out of 5, but his course total shows 100%. How do I show a more "progressive" course total? ===

==== Step-by-Step Explanation ====
# From the view menu in the gradeboook, select "Categories and items"
# At the top line there is a folder icon and an edit icon on the right, click the edit icon
# You'll then see the title "Grade category," the 3rd item is "Aggregate only non-empty grades."
# Uncheck this.
# Save.

==== Another Explanation ====
By default, only non-empty grades are aggregated, the others are ignored. However, you can change this setting as well as others that affect the course total, by turning "Editing" on in the grader report, and clicking the "Edit" icon next to the course category (the very top row of the grader report).

You can untick the box "Aggregate only non-empty grades" if you want to show a more "progressive" score for each student. Their empty grades will count as a 0 and will be counted in the course mean/total.

If you prefer to show a sum of points, rather than a percentage, you can change the course category's aggregation method to "Sum of grades".

=== How can I display the average grade for my course categories (not grade categories)? ===
In Moodle 1.9 there is no way to aggregate course totals within each category. The gradebook is course-centered, and there is currently no User Interface for showing grades within an entire course category at once.

=== How can I setup weighted assignments? ===
See [[Using "Weighted Mean of Grades" to weight categories containing assignments]].

=== Why is the Category Total blank for one of my categories? ===
One possibility is that you accidentally entered some grades into the Category Total column and then erased them. When you do that, an override flag gets set and then the totals won't calculate. Here's how to check, and fix it:

# Go to the [[Grader report]] view of the gradebook.
# Click the "Turn editing on" button for the gradebook. (There's a separate one for the gradebook from the one on the main page.)
# Find the box for the problem category and the first student affected.
# Click on the hand with the pencil *in that box*.
# See if the box marked "[[Grade_editing#Overridden|Overridden]]" (third line down) is checked. If it is, uncheck it.
# Repeat (4) and (5) for each student affected.

== Categories ==
=== How many depths of categories/subcategories can I create? ===
There is no programmatic limit, but there are practical limits. Very deeply nested structures are difficult to manage. 3 levels of categories should be sufficient for most situations. Note that there is always at least one level of categories, since the Course category always encompasses all other categories and grade items, can cannot be deleted.

=== I can't find setting X in the grade category edit page! Where is it? ===
If a setting documented on the [[Grade categories]] page does not appear on your edit page, it may mean that it is set globally in your site. See [[Grade_category_settings#Forcing_settings|Forcing settings]] for more information.

== Outcomes ==
=== I want to set up an outcome item for my course. What are the steps required? ===
#The site administrator needs to have enabled outcomes via ''Settings>Site Aaministration > Advanced Features >Enable Outcomes''
#In your course, go to ''Settings>Course administration>Grades>Scales'' and create the scale you need.
#[[Scales#Creating_a_new_scale|Create a scale]]
#In Settings>Course administration>Outcomes, create a course outcome assigning it to the scale you just created.
#Read the [[Outcomes| outcomes documentation]] for instructions).
#You can now give your students a rating on the outcome dimension you just created. If you created a standard outcome, you will be able to use it in other courses and follow your students' performance across these courses.

===How can I remove an outcome from an activity?===

An outcome can be removed from an activity by deleting it on the gradebook edit categories and items page. This results in the outcomes being deselected on the update activity page.

== Modules ==
=== The activity module (Module name) doesn't support grading. How can I give my students a grade anyway? ===
You can create a [[Grade_items#Manual_grade_items|grade item]] manually in the gradebook. You will have to grade your students through the [[Grader report]] interface (in editing mode).

=== I just graded some of my students using the (Module name) interface, but the results aren't showing up in the grader report. What's going on? ===
Here are some of the possible reasons:
#The site settings>Grades>General settings may not have the correct graded roles checked off to appear in grade book. If you see no students in the Gradebook but do see columns for the graded activities, then check the graded role settings.
#The corresponding [[Grade items|grade item]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_items|locked]], or its parent [[Grade categories|category]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_categories|locked]].
#The module code is not using the [[Development:Grades#API_for_communication_with_modules.2Fblocks|gradebook API]] correctly

=== I just created a new assignment with the "Grade" setting set to "No grade", but it still appears in the gradebook ===
The reason is that the gradebook is now the place where both numerical and textual types of feedback are recorded for all activity modules. The word "Grading" in assignment relates only to numerical grades, but the ability to give text feedback remains, and must be recorded in the gradebook. This is why a grade item is created for it. You can hide the grade item if you do not want it to appear in the user reports.

==Weights and extra credits==

===How do weighted grades influence the category or course total?===
A weight (also called coefficient) only has meaning in reference to other weights. If you only have one grade item, changing its weight will not have any effect. However, if you have two grade items, each with a different weight, the "heavier" item will have more influence on the total grade than the "lighter" one.

You can set the weights to any positive numerical value you choose. Usually, at least one of the weights will be 1 and serve as the baseline for other weights. If another item has a weight of 2, its grades will be multiplied by 2 compared with the grades of the first grade item, before being averaged. The denominator used for averaging is the sum of all the weights.

An example follows:
item 1 weight: 1
item 2 weight: 3
item 3 weight: 0.5

item 1 grade: 40/100
item 2 grade: 60/100
item 3 grade: 20/100

Calculation:
total = ((40 * 1) + (60 * 3) + (20 * 0.5)) / (1 + 3 + 0.5)
= (40 + 180 + 10) / (4.5)
= 230 / 4.5
= 51.11

The total for this category will then be 51.11 out of 100

===Do I have to put a value in each "weight" input box?===
No. If you do not put a value, it will default to 1. If all items are set to 1 then they all have equal weight. If you set a weight to 0, the item's grades will not count at all in the category or course average.

===Do all the weights have to add up to 100 or some similar value?===
No, the numbers you put as weights are completely arbitrary. They must be positive numbers, and can add up to anything you want. Note however that the following four sets of weights are identical in value:

(1 1.75 3)
(4 7 12)
(8 14 24)
(400 700 1200)

===What is the difference between Weight and Extra Credit?===
Weight is only available with "Weighted mean of grades". For the "Simple weighted mean of grades", the weight is taken from the grade item's maximum grade. A weight is used to give a grade item more or less importance in the computation of the category total or average, compared with the other items of the same category.

Extra credit replaces grade item weight if the aggregation method is "Mean of grades (with extra credits)", "Sum of grades", or "Simple weighted mean of grades". The effect of extra credit is different in each case, hence some confusion:

*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.

*Sum of grades: Extra credit is a checkbox, not a number. Normally, with Sum of Grades, 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 [[Category_aggregation#Simple_weighted_mean|here]] for more information.

===How do I create an assignment for which students can receive a grade higher than the maximum?===

In Moodle 1.9.5 onwards, a new [[Grade_settings#Unlimited_grades|unlimited grades]] setting in ''Administration > Grades > General settings'' enables administrators to allow teachers to enter grades over 100% directly in the gradebook.

===Why can't I enter a grade higher than the maximum?===

First, check with your administrators to make sure the [[Grade_settings#Unlimited_grades|unlimited grades]] setting is turned on. If that is not the problem, you might be using [[Gradebook_report_settings#Quick_grading_and_quick_feedback|quick grading]]. If that is the problem, you can still enter grades higher than the maximum this way:

# Go to the Moodle gradebook "Grader Report" page.
# Use the button in the upper right to "Turn editing on" if it is not already on.
# In the upper right corner of each box for entering the grade, there should be a hand holding a pencil. Click on that.
# On the "Edit grade" screen that comes up, there's a box for "Final grade". You should be able to enter any number of points into that, even if it's more than the maximum

If you expect a lot of students to get extra credit, it's probably better to make it a separate grade item and mark it as extra credit instead.

==Formulas==

===How do I give a fixed score for a successful quiz attempt===

Suppose you want to give 5 points for a passing grade (say, 70) in a certain quiz. Possible scenario ([http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=148576]): extra credit points to every student that gets a "passing grade" in a "practice test" at the end of each chapter covered in the course, to encourage them to practice after the homework quizzes and to get familiar with a "test type" situation before the actual test.

The following formula should do the trick:

=round((||quiz||/70)-0.49,0)*5

The formula may be added to a designated grade item or category.

Sample calculations:
Score 70:
=round((70/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(1-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.51,0)*5
=1*5
=5

Score 69:
=round((69/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.98-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.49,0)*5
=0*5
=0

==See also==

*Gradebook Scenarios/Use Cases [https://docs.moodle.org/en/experimental:_gb_tutoring]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=2122 Gradebook forum]

Using Moodle forum discussions:
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=123143 Excluding practice quizzes from gradebook]
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=193705 Course total not sum of max grade column?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=167596 Why do only certain items have multiplicator & offset boxes?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=235640 Extra credit]

[[Category:FAQ]]

[[ca:PMF de les qualificacions]]
[[fr:FAQ des notes]]
[[ja:評定FAQ]]
[[de:Bewertungen FAQ]]

Category aggregation

2013-09-15T21:59:38Z

Joshuarbholden: /* Simple weighted mean */ Added extra credit example

{{Grades}}
The aggregation dropdown menu lets you choose the aggregation strategy that will be used to calculate each participant's overall grade for a [[Grade categories|grade category]]. The different options are explained below.

The grades are first converted to percentage values (interval from 0 to 1), then aggregated using one of the strategies below and finally converted to the associated category item's range (between Minimum grade and Maximum grade).

Important: An empty grade is simply a missing gradebook entry, and could mean different things. For example, it could be a participant who hasn't yet submitted an assignment, an assignment submission not yet graded by the teacher, or a grade that has been manually deleted by the gradebook administrator. Caution in interpreting these "empty grades" is thus advised.

== Mean of grades ==
The sum of all grades divided by the total number of grades.
A1 70/100, A2 20/80, A3 10/10, category max 100:
(0.7 + 0.25 + 1.0)/3 = 0.65 --> 65/100

== Weighted mean ==
Each grade item can be given a weight, which is then used in the arithmetic mean aggregation to influence the importance of each item in the overall mean. In simple terms, the category "total" will be equal to the sum of the scores in each grade item, these scores being multiplied by the grade items' weights, and that sum being finally divided by the sum of the weights, as shown in this example.
A1 70/100 weight 10, A2 20/80 weight 5, A3 10/10 weight 3, category max 100:
(0.7*10 + 0.25*5 + 1.0*3)/18 = 0.625 --> 62.5/100

== Simple weighted mean ==
The difference from Weighted mean is that weight is calculated as Maximum grade - Minimum grade for each item. 100 point assignment has weight 100, 10 point assignment has weight 10.
A1 70/100, A2 20/80, A3 10/10, category max 100:
(0.7*100 + 0.25*80 + 1.0*10)/190 = 0.526 --> 52.6/100

When the "Simple weighted mean" aggregation strategy is used, a grade item can act as Extra credit for the category. This means that the grade item's maximum grade will not be added to the category total's maximum grade, but the item's grade will. For example, if A3 is marked as extra credit in the above calculation:
A1 70/100, A2 20/80, A3 (extra credit) 10/10, category max 100:
(0.7*100 + 0.25*80 + 1.0*10)/180 = 0.556 --> 55.6/100

== Mean of grades (with extra credits) ==
Arithmetic mean with a twist. An old, now unsupported aggregation strategy provided here only for backward compatibility with old activities.

A value greater than 0 treats a grade item's grades as extra credit during aggregation. The number is a factor by which the grade value will be multiplied before it is added to the sum of all grades, but the item itself will not be counted in the division. For example:

* Item 1 is graded 0-100 and its "Extra credit" value is set to 2
* Item 2 is graded 0-100 and its "Extra credit" value is left at 0.0000
* Item 3 is graded 0-100 and its "Extra credit" value is left at 0.0000
* All 3 items belong to Category 1, which has "Mean of grades (with extra credits)" as its aggregation strategy
* A student gets graded 20 on Item 1, 40 on Item 2 and 70 on Item 3
* The student's total for Category 1 will be 95/100 since 20*2 + (40 + 70)/2 = 95

== Median of grades ==
The middle grade (or the mean of the two middle grades) when grades are arranged in order of size. The advantage over the mean is that it is not affected by outliers (grades which are uncommonly far from the mean).
A1 70/100, A2 20/80, A3 10/10, category max 100:
0.7 + 0.25 + 1.0 --> 0.70 --> 70/100

== Smallest grade ==
The result is the smallest grade after normalisation. It is usually used in combination with Aggregate only non-empty grades.
A1 70/100, A2 20/80, A3 10/10, category max 100:
min(0.7 + 0.25 + 1.0) = 0.25 --> 25/100

== Highest grade ==
The result is the highest grade after normalisation.
A1 70/100, A2 20/80, A3 10/10, category max 100:
max(0.7 + 0.25 + 1.0) = 1.0 --> 100/100

== Mode of grades ==
The mode is the grade that occurs the most frequently. It is more often used for non-numerical grades. The advantage over the mean is that it is not affected by outliers (grades which are uncommonly far from the mean). However it loses its meaning once there is more than one most frequently occurring grade (only one is kept), or when all the grades are different from each other.
A1 70/100, A2 35/50, A3 20/80, A4 10/10, A5 7/10 category max 100:
mode(0.7; 0.7; 0.25; 1.0; 0.7) = 0.7 --> 70/100

== Sum of grades ==
The sum of all grade values. Scale grades are ignored. This is the only type that does not convert the grades to percentages internally. The Maximum grade of associated category item is calculated automatically as a sum of maximums from all aggregated items.
A1 70/100, A2 20/80, A3 10/10:
70 + 20 + 10 = 100/190

When the "Sum of grades" aggregation strategy is used, a grade item can act as Extra credit for the category. This means that the grade item's maximum grade will not be added to the category total's maximum grade, but the item's grade will. Following is an example:

* Item 1 is graded 0-100
* Item 2 is graded 0-75
* Item 1 has the "Act as extra credit" checkbox ticked, Item 2 doesn't.
* Both items belong to Category 1, which has "Sum of grades" as its aggregation strategy
* Category 1's total will be graded 0-75
* A student gets graded 20 on Item 1 and 70 on Item 2
* The student's total for Category 1 will be 75/75 (20+70 = 90 but Item 1 only acts as extra credit, so it brings the total to its maximum)

==Available aggregation types==
[[Image:Available agg types.png|thumb|Available aggregation types setting]]
In Moodle 1.9.5 onwards, a new available aggregation types setting in ''Administration > Grades > [[Grade category settings]]'' enables administrators to reduce the number of aggregation types.

Note that reducing the number of aggregation types simply results in disabled aggregation types not appearing in the aggregation type dropdown menu. All existing grade category calculations remain the same, regardless of whether the aggregation type is later disabled by an administrator.

[[ca:Agregació de les categories]]
[[fr:Tendance centrale de la catégorie]]

Grades FAQ

2013-09-15T21:53:42Z

Joshuarbholden: /* What is the difference between Weight and Extra Credit? */ Added "Simple weighted mean of grades"

{{Grades}}
== General ==

===How can I change how grades are displayed?===

Grades may be displayed as as actual grades, as percentages (in reference to the minimum and maximum grades) or as letters.

The default grade display type for the site is set by an administrator in ''Administration > Grades > [[Grade item settings]]''. However, this may be changed at course level.

To change how grades are displayed for particular [[Grade items|grade items]], or category and course summaries (called aggregations):

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# Click the edit icon for the grade item, category total or course total.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively, to change how grades are displayed for the whole course:

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Course settings" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button.

===How can I hide entered grades until a specified date?===

To set a "Hidden until" date:

#Access the course gradebook via the grades link in the course administration block.
#Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
#Click on the edit icon opposite the activity for which a "Hidden until" date is to be set.
#On the edit grade item page, ensure that advanced settings are displayed. (Click the "Show advanced" button if not.)
#Enable the "Hidden until" setting by unchecking the disable checkbox, then set a date.
#Click the "Save changes" button.

=== Is it possible to show the teachers/administrators' grades in the grader report? ===
Yes, at the site level you can define which roles will appear in the grader report. This can be found in [[General_grade_settings#Graded_Roles|Administration > Grades > General settings]]. Also read [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92612 this discussion] for some more ideas.

===Why can't I change a grade within an assignment after changing it in the gradebook?===

When you edit a grade directly in the gradebook, an "overridden" flag is set, meaning that the grade can no longer be changed from within the assignment.

However, the flag can be removed by turning editing on in the [[Grader report|grader report]], then clicking the [[Grade editing|edit grade]] icon, unchecking the overridden box and saving the changes.

===How do I get groups to show up in the grader report?===

For groups to show up in the grader report, group mode should be set to visible or separate groups in the [[Course settings|course settings]]. This will result in a groups dropdown menu being displayed, enabling a teacher to view the grades of all participants, or only the grades for a selected group.

===The quiz grades keep disappearing from the student view, even after I un-hide them!===

Check your quiz settings. Under the '''Review options''' heading, in the '''Later, while the quiz is still open''' and/or the '''After the quiz is closed''' columns, you probably have Scores un-checked. Each time a student completes a quiz, these settings are consulted and the scores will be hidden from ''all'' students. If your students don't all take the quiz at the same time, it can look like quiz scores reset themselves to 'hidden' randomly, even after you un-hide them.

===How can I make the gradebook simpler for teachers?===

See [[Simplifying the gradebook by changing permissions]].

==Grades and user removals==

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is unenrolled from a course?===
On re-enrolling, you can recover their grades from before: see [https://docs.moodle.org/24/en/Grade_settings#Recover_grades_default Recover grades on re-enrol]

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is deleted from the Moodle site?===

==Advanced grading==

===Why can't I see the advanced grading option??===
To see the option for Advanced grading, you first have to create an assignment and choose Advanced grading/Rubric from the gGading method dropdown. Advanced grading will then appear in ''Settings>Assignment administration.''
===How can I allow teachers to save rubrics as templates for others?===
Create a new role and assign it in the system context. Give this role the capability ''moodle/grade:sharegradingforms'' (for sharing as a template) and if desired ''moodle/grade:managesharedforms'' (for editing or deleting templates created by others) Assign this role to those teachers you wish to have this ability.

===How do students see the Marking guide?===
Assuming the teacher has allowed this in the [[Marking guide]] settings, the student may click "submissions grading" under the assignment name in their navigation block:

[[File:submissionsgrading.png]]

== Reports ==
=== How do I create my own custom gradebook reports? ===
Here is a [[Development:Gradebook_Report_Tutorial|tutorial]] explaining all the main steps involved.
===How can I sort or change the order of column headings?===
Go to Grades link, then select one of the "Category & items" actions from the pulldown on the top left. Use the move icon to change the position of the graded item. And/or you could create categories for the items and move them into a category so they will be grouped that way first.

===How can I remove user ID numbers and/or email addresses from the grader report===

Go to ''Settings > Site administration > Users > Permissions > [[Roles settings|User policies]]'' and untick the 'ID number' and/or 'email address' checkboxes for 'Show user identity'.

Note that this will result in ID numbers and/or email addresses not being shown when searching for users and displaying lists of users. See the section 'Show user identity' in [[Roles settings]] for a list of locations where user identity fields are shown.

== Aggregation ==
=== I can't find where to change the aggregation type for my gradebook categories! ===
Each category has an aggregation type, which can be changed through that category's "edit" page. To access that page, you must use one of 2 ways:

1. In the grader report, turn "Editing" on, then click the little "hand" icon next to the category whose aggregation you want to change
2. In the "Edit categories and Items" page (accessible through the "choose an action" menu, top left), you see a tree view of the categories and items in your gradebook. The top category is the course category. Each category also has a "hand" icon, which leads to the category edit page

=== How can I grade some of my activities without the results affecting my students' course total? ===
#Go to Grades and choose the "Category and items" tab.
#Add two [[Grade categories]], one for your "Graded activities" and one for your "Not graded activities". In the "Not graded activities" category choose "None" in grading type.
#Ensure that "Aggregate including subcategories" (an option visible only in "full view") is unchecked for your top level course grade category.
#If you want to completely hide the "Not graded activities" category from your students tick the "Hidden" icon too.
#Save your changes.
#Move all your normally graded activities into the "Graded activities" category.
#Move all your excluded from grading activities into "Not graded activities" category.

'''Note''': Following the above steps the not graded activities will be completely hidden from your students. So...

*'''IF''' you want the activity grades of the "Not graded activities" category, to remain visible to your student without their grades affecting their course total, simply click the eye to show the "Not graded activities" category.

*'''IF''' you want students to be able to see the activity grades and the category total of the "Not graded activities", then you have to let the category visible and also choose a grading type between value, scale or text, by editing the category.

In this case you can exclude the "Not graded activities" from course total using the "Weighted mean of grades" aggregation method in Course category and assigning 100 weight to the "Graded activities" and 0 weight to the "Not graded activities".

*'''IF''' you don't want to use grade categories, you can also exclude the grades of a specific activity by changing the "Multiplicator" (visible only in "full view") from 1.0 into 0.0.

*Last, '''IF''' you want to exclude the grade of an activity only to one or some specific students, then follow these steps:
#From the grader report "Turn editing on"
#Click the "Edit grade" icon of the activity of the student you want to exclude.
#In the Edit grade page, check the tick box next to the "Excluded" option and "Save changes".

=== My student completed only one activity out of 5, but his course total shows 100%. How do I show a more "progressive" course total? ===

==== Step-by-Step Explanation ====
# From the view menu in the gradeboook, select "Categories and items"
# At the top line there is a folder icon and an edit icon on the right, click the edit icon
# You'll then see the title "Grade category," the 3rd item is "Aggregate only non-empty grades."
# Uncheck this.
# Save.

==== Another Explanation ====
By default, only non-empty grades are aggregated, the others are ignored. However, you can change this setting as well as others that affect the course total, by turning "Editing" on in the grader report, and clicking the "Edit" icon next to the course category (the very top row of the grader report).

You can untick the box "Aggregate only non-empty grades" if you want to show a more "progressive" score for each student. Their empty grades will count as a 0 and will be counted in the course mean/total.

If you prefer to show a sum of points, rather than a percentage, you can change the course category's aggregation method to "Sum of grades".

=== How can I display the average grade for my course categories (not grade categories)? ===
In Moodle 1.9 there is no way to aggregate course totals within each category. The gradebook is course-centered, and there is currently no User Interface for showing grades within an entire course category at once.

=== How can I setup weighted assignments? ===
See [[Using "Weighted Mean of Grades" to weight categories containing assignments]].

=== Why is the Category Total blank for one of my categories? ===
One possibility is that you accidentally entered some grades into the Category Total column and then erased them. When you do that, an override flag gets set and then the totals won't calculate. Here's how to check, and fix it:

# Go to the [[Grader report]] view of the gradebook.
# Click the "Turn editing on" button for the gradebook. (There's a separate one for the gradebook from the one on the main page.)
# Find the box for the problem category and the first student affected.
# Click on the hand with the pencil *in that box*.
# See if the box marked "[[Grade_editing#Overridden|Overridden]]" (third line down) is checked. If it is, uncheck it.
# Repeat (4) and (5) for each student affected.

== Categories ==
=== How many depths of categories/subcategories can I create? ===
There is no programmatic limit, but there are practical limits. Very deeply nested structures are difficult to manage. 3 levels of categories should be sufficient for most situations. Note that there is always at least one level of categories, since the Course category always encompasses all other categories and grade items, can cannot be deleted.

=== I can't find setting X in the grade category edit page! Where is it? ===
If a setting documented on the [[Grade categories]] page does not appear on your edit page, it may mean that it is set globally in your site. See [[Grade_category_settings#Forcing_settings|Forcing settings]] for more information.

== Outcomes ==
=== I want to set up an outcome item for my course. What are the steps required? ===
#The site administrator needs to have enabled outcomes via ''Settings>Site Aaministration > Advanced Features >Enable Outcomes''
#In your course, go to ''Settings>Course administration>Grades>Scales'' and create the scale you need.
#[[Scales#Creating_a_new_scale|Create a scale]]
#In Settings>Course administration>Outcomes, create a course outcome assigning it to the scale you just created.
#Read the [[Outcomes| outcomes documentation]] for instructions).
#You can now give your students a rating on the outcome dimension you just created. If you created a standard outcome, you will be able to use it in other courses and follow your students' performance across these courses.

===How can I remove an outcome from an activity?===

An outcome can be removed from an activity by deleting it on the gradebook edit categories and items page. This results in the outcomes being deselected on the update activity page.

== Modules ==
=== The activity module (Module name) doesn't support grading. How can I give my students a grade anyway? ===
You can create a [[Grade_items#Manual_grade_items|grade item]] manually in the gradebook. You will have to grade your students through the [[Grader report]] interface (in editing mode).

=== I just graded some of my students using the (Module name) interface, but the results aren't showing up in the grader report. What's going on? ===
Here are some of the possible reasons:
#The site settings>Grades>General settings may not have the correct graded roles checked off to appear in grade book. If you see no students in the Gradebook but do see columns for the graded activities, then check the graded role settings.
#The corresponding [[Grade items|grade item]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_items|locked]], or its parent [[Grade categories|category]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_categories|locked]].
#The module code is not using the [[Development:Grades#API_for_communication_with_modules.2Fblocks|gradebook API]] correctly

=== I just created a new assignment with the "Grade" setting set to "No grade", but it still appears in the gradebook ===
The reason is that the gradebook is now the place where both numerical and textual types of feedback are recorded for all activity modules. The word "Grading" in assignment relates only to numerical grades, but the ability to give text feedback remains, and must be recorded in the gradebook. This is why a grade item is created for it. You can hide the grade item if you do not want it to appear in the user reports.

==Weights and extra credits==

===How do weighted grades influence the category or course total?===
A weight (also called coefficient) only has meaning in reference to other weights. If you only have one grade item, changing its weight will not have any effect. However, if you have two grade items, each with a different weight, the "heavier" item will have more influence on the total grade than the "lighter" one.

You can set the weights to any positive numerical value you choose. Usually, at least one of the weights will be 1 and serve as the baseline for other weights. If another item has a weight of 2, its grades will be multiplied by 2 compared with the grades of the first grade item, before being averaged. The denominator used for averaging is the sum of all the weights.

An example follows:
item 1 weight: 1
item 2 weight: 3
item 3 weight: 0.5

item 1 grade: 40/100
item 2 grade: 60/100
item 3 grade: 20/100

Calculation:
total = ((40 * 1) + (60 * 3) + (20 * 0.5)) / (1 + 3 + 0.5)
= (40 + 180 + 10) / (4.5)
= 230 / 4.5
= 51.11

The total for this category will then be 51.11 out of 100

===Do I have to put a value in each "weight" input box?===
No. If you do not put a value, it will default to 1. If all items are set to 1 then they all have equal weight. If you set a weight to 0, the item's grades will not count at all in the category or course average.

===Do all the weights have to add up to 100 or some similar value?===
No, the numbers you put as weights are completely arbitrary. They must be positive numbers, and can add up to anything you want. Note however that the following four sets of weights are identical in value:

(1 1.75 3)
(4 7 12)
(8 14 24)
(400 700 1200)

===What is the difference between Weight and Extra Credit?===
Weight is only available with "Weighted mean of grades". For the "Simple weighted mean of grades", the weight is taken from the grade item's maximum grade. A weight is used to give a grade item more or less importance in the computation of the category total or average, compared with the other items of the same category.

Extra credit replaces grade item weight if the aggregation method is "Mean of grades (with extra credits)", "Sum of grades", or "Simple weighted mean of grades". The effect of extra credit is different in each case, hence some confusion:

*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.

*Sum of grades: Extra credit is a checkbox, not a number. Normally, with Sum of Grades, 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 [[Category_aggregation#Simple_weighted_mean|here]] for more information.

===How do I create an assignment for which students can receive a grade higher than the maximum?===

In Moodle 1.9.5 onwards, a new [[Grade_settings#Unlimited_grades|unlimited grades]] setting in ''Administration > Grades > General settings'' enables administrators to allow teachers to enter grades over 100% directly in the gradebook.

===Why can't I enter a grade higher than the maximum?===

First, check with your administrators to make sure the [[Grade_settings#Unlimited_grades|unlimited grades]] setting is turned on. If that is not the problem, you might be using [[Gradebook_report_settings#Quick_grading_and_quick_feedback|quick grading]]. If that is the problem, you can still enter grades higher than the maximum this way:

# Go to the Moodle gradebook "Grader Report" page.
# Use the button in the upper right to "Turn editing on" if it is not already on.
# In the upper right corner of each box for entering the grade, there should be a hand holding a pencil. Click on that.
# On the "Edit grade" screen that comes up, there's a box for "Final grade". You should be able to enter any number of points into that, even if it's more than the maximum

==Formulas==

===How do I give a fixed score for a successful quiz attempt===

Suppose you want to give 5 points for a passing grade (say, 70) in a certain quiz. Possible scenario ([http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=148576]): extra credit points to every student that gets a "passing grade" in a "practice test" at the end of each chapter covered in the course, to encourage them to practice after the homework quizzes and to get familiar with a "test type" situation before the actual test.

The following formula should do the trick:

=round((||quiz||/70)-0.49,0)*5

The formula may be added to a designated grade item or category.

Sample calculations:
Score 70:
=round((70/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(1-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.51,0)*5
=1*5
=5

Score 69:
=round((69/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.98-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.49,0)*5
=0*5
=0

==See also==

*Gradebook Scenarios/Use Cases [https://docs.moodle.org/en/experimental:_gb_tutoring]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=2122 Gradebook forum]

Using Moodle forum discussions:
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=123143 Excluding practice quizzes from gradebook]
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=193705 Course total not sum of max grade column?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=167596 Why do only certain items have multiplicator & offset boxes?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=235640 Extra credit]

[[Category:FAQ]]

[[ca:PMF de les qualificacions]]
[[fr:FAQ des notes]]
[[ja:評定FAQ]]
[[de:Bewertungen FAQ]]

Grades FAQ

2013-09-15T21:41:09Z

Joshuarbholden: /* Weights and extra credits */ Added "Why can't I enter a grade higher than the maximum?"

{{Grades}}
== General ==

===How can I change how grades are displayed?===

Grades may be displayed as as actual grades, as percentages (in reference to the minimum and maximum grades) or as letters.

The default grade display type for the site is set by an administrator in ''Administration > Grades > [[Grade item settings]]''. However, this may be changed at course level.

To change how grades are displayed for particular [[Grade items|grade items]], or category and course summaries (called aggregations):

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# Click the edit icon for the grade item, category total or course total.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively, to change how grades are displayed for the whole course:

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Course settings" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button.

===How can I hide entered grades until a specified date?===

To set a "Hidden until" date:

#Access the course gradebook via the grades link in the course administration block.
#Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
#Click on the edit icon opposite the activity for which a "Hidden until" date is to be set.
#On the edit grade item page, ensure that advanced settings are displayed. (Click the "Show advanced" button if not.)
#Enable the "Hidden until" setting by unchecking the disable checkbox, then set a date.
#Click the "Save changes" button.

=== Is it possible to show the teachers/administrators' grades in the grader report? ===
Yes, at the site level you can define which roles will appear in the grader report. This can be found in [[General_grade_settings#Graded_Roles|Administration > Grades > General settings]]. Also read [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92612 this discussion] for some more ideas.

===Why can't I change a grade within an assignment after changing it in the gradebook?===

When you edit a grade directly in the gradebook, an "overridden" flag is set, meaning that the grade can no longer be changed from within the assignment.

However, the flag can be removed by turning editing on in the [[Grader report|grader report]], then clicking the [[Grade editing|edit grade]] icon, unchecking the overridden box and saving the changes.

===How do I get groups to show up in the grader report?===

For groups to show up in the grader report, group mode should be set to visible or separate groups in the [[Course settings|course settings]]. This will result in a groups dropdown menu being displayed, enabling a teacher to view the grades of all participants, or only the grades for a selected group.

===The quiz grades keep disappearing from the student view, even after I un-hide them!===

Check your quiz settings. Under the '''Review options''' heading, in the '''Later, while the quiz is still open''' and/or the '''After the quiz is closed''' columns, you probably have Scores un-checked. Each time a student completes a quiz, these settings are consulted and the scores will be hidden from ''all'' students. If your students don't all take the quiz at the same time, it can look like quiz scores reset themselves to 'hidden' randomly, even after you un-hide them.

===How can I make the gradebook simpler for teachers?===

See [[Simplifying the gradebook by changing permissions]].

==Grades and user removals==

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is unenrolled from a course?===
On re-enrolling, you can recover their grades from before: see [https://docs.moodle.org/24/en/Grade_settings#Recover_grades_default Recover grades on re-enrol]

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is deleted from the Moodle site?===

==Advanced grading==

===Why can't I see the advanced grading option??===
To see the option for Advanced grading, you first have to create an assignment and choose Advanced grading/Rubric from the gGading method dropdown. Advanced grading will then appear in ''Settings>Assignment administration.''
===How can I allow teachers to save rubrics as templates for others?===
Create a new role and assign it in the system context. Give this role the capability ''moodle/grade:sharegradingforms'' (for sharing as a template) and if desired ''moodle/grade:managesharedforms'' (for editing or deleting templates created by others) Assign this role to those teachers you wish to have this ability.

===How do students see the Marking guide?===
Assuming the teacher has allowed this in the [[Marking guide]] settings, the student may click "submissions grading" under the assignment name in their navigation block:

[[File:submissionsgrading.png]]

== Reports ==
=== How do I create my own custom gradebook reports? ===
Here is a [[Development:Gradebook_Report_Tutorial|tutorial]] explaining all the main steps involved.
===How can I sort or change the order of column headings?===
Go to Grades link, then select one of the "Category & items" actions from the pulldown on the top left. Use the move icon to change the position of the graded item. And/or you could create categories for the items and move them into a category so they will be grouped that way first.

===How can I remove user ID numbers and/or email addresses from the grader report===

Go to ''Settings > Site administration > Users > Permissions > [[Roles settings|User policies]]'' and untick the 'ID number' and/or 'email address' checkboxes for 'Show user identity'.

Note that this will result in ID numbers and/or email addresses not being shown when searching for users and displaying lists of users. See the section 'Show user identity' in [[Roles settings]] for a list of locations where user identity fields are shown.

== Aggregation ==
=== I can't find where to change the aggregation type for my gradebook categories! ===
Each category has an aggregation type, which can be changed through that category's "edit" page. To access that page, you must use one of 2 ways:

1. In the grader report, turn "Editing" on, then click the little "hand" icon next to the category whose aggregation you want to change
2. In the "Edit categories and Items" page (accessible through the "choose an action" menu, top left), you see a tree view of the categories and items in your gradebook. The top category is the course category. Each category also has a "hand" icon, which leads to the category edit page

=== How can I grade some of my activities without the results affecting my students' course total? ===
#Go to Grades and choose the "Category and items" tab.
#Add two [[Grade categories]], one for your "Graded activities" and one for your "Not graded activities". In the "Not graded activities" category choose "None" in grading type.
#Ensure that "Aggregate including subcategories" (an option visible only in "full view") is unchecked for your top level course grade category.
#If you want to completely hide the "Not graded activities" category from your students tick the "Hidden" icon too.
#Save your changes.
#Move all your normally graded activities into the "Graded activities" category.
#Move all your excluded from grading activities into "Not graded activities" category.

'''Note''': Following the above steps the not graded activities will be completely hidden from your students. So...

*'''IF''' you want the activity grades of the "Not graded activities" category, to remain visible to your student without their grades affecting their course total, simply click the eye to show the "Not graded activities" category.

*'''IF''' you want students to be able to see the activity grades and the category total of the "Not graded activities", then you have to let the category visible and also choose a grading type between value, scale or text, by editing the category.

In this case you can exclude the "Not graded activities" from course total using the "Weighted mean of grades" aggregation method in Course category and assigning 100 weight to the "Graded activities" and 0 weight to the "Not graded activities".

*'''IF''' you don't want to use grade categories, you can also exclude the grades of a specific activity by changing the "Multiplicator" (visible only in "full view") from 1.0 into 0.0.

*Last, '''IF''' you want to exclude the grade of an activity only to one or some specific students, then follow these steps:
#From the grader report "Turn editing on"
#Click the "Edit grade" icon of the activity of the student you want to exclude.
#In the Edit grade page, check the tick box next to the "Excluded" option and "Save changes".

=== My student completed only one activity out of 5, but his course total shows 100%. How do I show a more "progressive" course total? ===

==== Step-by-Step Explanation ====
# From the view menu in the gradeboook, select "Categories and items"
# At the top line there is a folder icon and an edit icon on the right, click the edit icon
# You'll then see the title "Grade category," the 3rd item is "Aggregate only non-empty grades."
# Uncheck this.
# Save.

==== Another Explanation ====
By default, only non-empty grades are aggregated, the others are ignored. However, you can change this setting as well as others that affect the course total, by turning "Editing" on in the grader report, and clicking the "Edit" icon next to the course category (the very top row of the grader report).

You can untick the box "Aggregate only non-empty grades" if you want to show a more "progressive" score for each student. Their empty grades will count as a 0 and will be counted in the course mean/total.

If you prefer to show a sum of points, rather than a percentage, you can change the course category's aggregation method to "Sum of grades".

=== How can I display the average grade for my course categories (not grade categories)? ===
In Moodle 1.9 there is no way to aggregate course totals within each category. The gradebook is course-centered, and there is currently no User Interface for showing grades within an entire course category at once.

=== How can I setup weighted assignments? ===
See [[Using "Weighted Mean of Grades" to weight categories containing assignments]].

=== Why is the Category Total blank for one of my categories? ===
One possibility is that you accidentally entered some grades into the Category Total column and then erased them. When you do that, an override flag gets set and then the totals won't calculate. Here's how to check, and fix it:

# Go to the [[Grader report]] view of the gradebook.
# Click the "Turn editing on" button for the gradebook. (There's a separate one for the gradebook from the one on the main page.)
# Find the box for the problem category and the first student affected.
# Click on the hand with the pencil *in that box*.
# See if the box marked "[[Grade_editing#Overridden|Overridden]]" (third line down) is checked. If it is, uncheck it.
# Repeat (4) and (5) for each student affected.

== Categories ==
=== How many depths of categories/subcategories can I create? ===
There is no programmatic limit, but there are practical limits. Very deeply nested structures are difficult to manage. 3 levels of categories should be sufficient for most situations. Note that there is always at least one level of categories, since the Course category always encompasses all other categories and grade items, can cannot be deleted.

=== I can't find setting X in the grade category edit page! Where is it? ===
If a setting documented on the [[Grade categories]] page does not appear on your edit page, it may mean that it is set globally in your site. See [[Grade_category_settings#Forcing_settings|Forcing settings]] for more information.

== Outcomes ==
=== I want to set up an outcome item for my course. What are the steps required? ===
#The site administrator needs to have enabled outcomes via ''Settings>Site Aaministration > Advanced Features >Enable Outcomes''
#In your course, go to ''Settings>Course administration>Grades>Scales'' and create the scale you need.
#[[Scales#Creating_a_new_scale|Create a scale]]
#In Settings>Course administration>Outcomes, create a course outcome assigning it to the scale you just created.
#Read the [[Outcomes| outcomes documentation]] for instructions).
#You can now give your students a rating on the outcome dimension you just created. If you created a standard outcome, you will be able to use it in other courses and follow your students' performance across these courses.

===How can I remove an outcome from an activity?===

An outcome can be removed from an activity by deleting it on the gradebook edit categories and items page. This results in the outcomes being deselected on the update activity page.

== Modules ==
=== The activity module (Module name) doesn't support grading. How can I give my students a grade anyway? ===
You can create a [[Grade_items#Manual_grade_items|grade item]] manually in the gradebook. You will have to grade your students through the [[Grader report]] interface (in editing mode).

=== I just graded some of my students using the (Module name) interface, but the results aren't showing up in the grader report. What's going on? ===
Here are some of the possible reasons:
#The site settings>Grades>General settings may not have the correct graded roles checked off to appear in grade book. If you see no students in the Gradebook but do see columns for the graded activities, then check the graded role settings.
#The corresponding [[Grade items|grade item]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_items|locked]], or its parent [[Grade categories|category]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_categories|locked]].
#The module code is not using the [[Development:Grades#API_for_communication_with_modules.2Fblocks|gradebook API]] correctly

=== I just created a new assignment with the "Grade" setting set to "No grade", but it still appears in the gradebook ===
The reason is that the gradebook is now the place where both numerical and textual types of feedback are recorded for all activity modules. The word "Grading" in assignment relates only to numerical grades, but the ability to give text feedback remains, and must be recorded in the gradebook. This is why a grade item is created for it. You can hide the grade item if you do not want it to appear in the user reports.

==Weights and extra credits==

===How do weighted grades influence the category or course total?===
A weight (also called coefficient) only has meaning in reference to other weights. If you only have one grade item, changing its weight will not have any effect. However, if you have two grade items, each with a different weight, the "heavier" item will have more influence on the total grade than the "lighter" one.

You can set the weights to any positive numerical value you choose. Usually, at least one of the weights will be 1 and serve as the baseline for other weights. If another item has a weight of 2, its grades will be multiplied by 2 compared with the grades of the first grade item, before being averaged. The denominator used for averaging is the sum of all the weights.

An example follows:
item 1 weight: 1
item 2 weight: 3
item 3 weight: 0.5

item 1 grade: 40/100
item 2 grade: 60/100
item 3 grade: 20/100

Calculation:
total = ((40 * 1) + (60 * 3) + (20 * 0.5)) / (1 + 3 + 0.5)
= (40 + 180 + 10) / (4.5)
= 230 / 4.5
= 51.11

The total for this category will then be 51.11 out of 100

===Do I have to put a value in each "weight" input box?===
No. If you do not put a value, it will default to 1. If all items are set to 1 then they all have equal weight. If you set a weight to 0, the item's grades will not count at all in the category or course average.

===Do all the weights have to add up to 100 or some similar value?===
No, the numbers you put as weights are completely arbitrary. They must be positive numbers, and can add up to anything you want. Note however that the following four sets of weights are identical in value:

(1 1.75 3)
(4 7 12)
(8 14 24)
(400 700 1200)

===What is the difference between Weight and Extra Credit?===
Weight is only available with "Weighted mean of grades". For the "Simple weighted mean of grades", the weight is taken from the grade item's maximum grade. A weight is used to give a grade item more or less importance in the computation of the category total or average, compared with the other items of the same category.

Extra credit replaces grade item weight if the aggregation method is "Mean of grades (with extra credits)" or "Sum of grades". The effect of extra credit is different for both methods, hence some confusion:

*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.

*Sum of grades: Extra credit is a checkbox, not a number. Normally, with Sum of Grades, 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.

===How do I create an assignment for which students can receive a grade higher than the maximum?===

In Moodle 1.9.5 onwards, a new [[Grade_settings#Unlimited_grades|unlimited grades]] setting in ''Administration > Grades > General settings'' enables administrators to allow teachers to enter grades over 100% directly in the gradebook.

===Why can't I enter a grade higher than the maximum?===

First, check with your administrators to make sure the [[Grade_settings#Unlimited_grades|unlimited grades]] setting is turned on. If that is not the problem, you might be using [[Gradebook_report_settings#Quick_grading_and_quick_feedback|quick grading]]. If that is the problem, you can still enter grades higher than the maximum this way:

# Go to the Moodle gradebook "Grader Report" page.
# Use the button in the upper right to "Turn editing on" if it is not already on.
# In the upper right corner of each box for entering the grade, there should be a hand holding a pencil. Click on that.
# On the "Edit grade" screen that comes up, there's a box for "Final grade". You should be able to enter any number of points into that, even if it's more than the maximum

==Formulas==

===How do I give a fixed score for a successful quiz attempt===

Suppose you want to give 5 points for a passing grade (say, 70) in a certain quiz. Possible scenario ([http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=148576]): extra credit points to every student that gets a "passing grade" in a "practice test" at the end of each chapter covered in the course, to encourage them to practice after the homework quizzes and to get familiar with a "test type" situation before the actual test.

The following formula should do the trick:

=round((||quiz||/70)-0.49,0)*5

The formula may be added to a designated grade item or category.

Sample calculations:
Score 70:
=round((70/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(1-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.51,0)*5
=1*5
=5

Score 69:
=round((69/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.98-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.49,0)*5
=0*5
=0

==See also==

*Gradebook Scenarios/Use Cases [https://docs.moodle.org/en/experimental:_gb_tutoring]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=2122 Gradebook forum]

Using Moodle forum discussions:
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=123143 Excluding practice quizzes from gradebook]
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=193705 Course total not sum of max grade column?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=167596 Why do only certain items have multiplicator & offset boxes?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=235640 Extra credit]

[[Category:FAQ]]

[[ca:PMF de les qualificacions]]
[[fr:FAQ des notes]]
[[ja:評定FAQ]]
[[de:Bewertungen FAQ]]

Grades FAQ

2013-09-15T21:30:31Z

Joshuarbholden: /* How do I create an assignment for which students can receive a grade higher than the maximum? */ Deleting section that only applies to versions <= 1.9

{{Grades}}
== General ==

===How can I change how grades are displayed?===

Grades may be displayed as as actual grades, as percentages (in reference to the minimum and maximum grades) or as letters.

The default grade display type for the site is set by an administrator in ''Administration > Grades > [[Grade item settings]]''. However, this may be changed at course level.

To change how grades are displayed for particular [[Grade items|grade items]], or category and course summaries (called aggregations):

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# Click the edit icon for the grade item, category total or course total.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively, to change how grades are displayed for the whole course:

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Course settings" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button.

===How can I hide entered grades until a specified date?===

To set a "Hidden until" date:

#Access the course gradebook via the grades link in the course administration block.
#Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
#Click on the edit icon opposite the activity for which a "Hidden until" date is to be set.
#On the edit grade item page, ensure that advanced settings are displayed. (Click the "Show advanced" button if not.)
#Enable the "Hidden until" setting by unchecking the disable checkbox, then set a date.
#Click the "Save changes" button.

=== Is it possible to show the teachers/administrators' grades in the grader report? ===
Yes, at the site level you can define which roles will appear in the grader report. This can be found in [[General_grade_settings#Graded_Roles|Administration > Grades > General settings]]. Also read [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92612 this discussion] for some more ideas.

===Why can't I change a grade within an assignment after changing it in the gradebook?===

When you edit a grade directly in the gradebook, an "overridden" flag is set, meaning that the grade can no longer be changed from within the assignment.

However, the flag can be removed by turning editing on in the [[Grader report|grader report]], then clicking the [[Grade editing|edit grade]] icon, unchecking the overridden box and saving the changes.

===How do I get groups to show up in the grader report?===

For groups to show up in the grader report, group mode should be set to visible or separate groups in the [[Course settings|course settings]]. This will result in a groups dropdown menu being displayed, enabling a teacher to view the grades of all participants, or only the grades for a selected group.

===The quiz grades keep disappearing from the student view, even after I un-hide them!===

Check your quiz settings. Under the '''Review options''' heading, in the '''Later, while the quiz is still open''' and/or the '''After the quiz is closed''' columns, you probably have Scores un-checked. Each time a student completes a quiz, these settings are consulted and the scores will be hidden from ''all'' students. If your students don't all take the quiz at the same time, it can look like quiz scores reset themselves to 'hidden' randomly, even after you un-hide them.

===How can I make the gradebook simpler for teachers?===

See [[Simplifying the gradebook by changing permissions]].

==Grades and user removals==

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is unenrolled from a course?===
On re-enrolling, you can recover their grades from before: see [https://docs.moodle.org/24/en/Grade_settings#Recover_grades_default Recover grades on re-enrol]

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is deleted from the Moodle site?===

==Advanced grading==

===Why can't I see the advanced grading option??===
To see the option for Advanced grading, you first have to create an assignment and choose Advanced grading/Rubric from the gGading method dropdown. Advanced grading will then appear in ''Settings>Assignment administration.''
===How can I allow teachers to save rubrics as templates for others?===
Create a new role and assign it in the system context. Give this role the capability ''moodle/grade:sharegradingforms'' (for sharing as a template) and if desired ''moodle/grade:managesharedforms'' (for editing or deleting templates created by others) Assign this role to those teachers you wish to have this ability.

===How do students see the Marking guide?===
Assuming the teacher has allowed this in the [[Marking guide]] settings, the student may click "submissions grading" under the assignment name in their navigation block:

[[File:submissionsgrading.png]]

== Reports ==
=== How do I create my own custom gradebook reports? ===
Here is a [[Development:Gradebook_Report_Tutorial|tutorial]] explaining all the main steps involved.
===How can I sort or change the order of column headings?===
Go to Grades link, then select one of the "Category & items" actions from the pulldown on the top left. Use the move icon to change the position of the graded item. And/or you could create categories for the items and move them into a category so they will be grouped that way first.

===How can I remove user ID numbers and/or email addresses from the grader report===

Go to ''Settings > Site administration > Users > Permissions > [[Roles settings|User policies]]'' and untick the 'ID number' and/or 'email address' checkboxes for 'Show user identity'.

Note that this will result in ID numbers and/or email addresses not being shown when searching for users and displaying lists of users. See the section 'Show user identity' in [[Roles settings]] for a list of locations where user identity fields are shown.

== Aggregation ==
=== I can't find where to change the aggregation type for my gradebook categories! ===
Each category has an aggregation type, which can be changed through that category's "edit" page. To access that page, you must use one of 2 ways:

1. In the grader report, turn "Editing" on, then click the little "hand" icon next to the category whose aggregation you want to change
2. In the "Edit categories and Items" page (accessible through the "choose an action" menu, top left), you see a tree view of the categories and items in your gradebook. The top category is the course category. Each category also has a "hand" icon, which leads to the category edit page

=== How can I grade some of my activities without the results affecting my students' course total? ===
#Go to Grades and choose the "Category and items" tab.
#Add two [[Grade categories]], one for your "Graded activities" and one for your "Not graded activities". In the "Not graded activities" category choose "None" in grading type.
#Ensure that "Aggregate including subcategories" (an option visible only in "full view") is unchecked for your top level course grade category.
#If you want to completely hide the "Not graded activities" category from your students tick the "Hidden" icon too.
#Save your changes.
#Move all your normally graded activities into the "Graded activities" category.
#Move all your excluded from grading activities into "Not graded activities" category.

'''Note''': Following the above steps the not graded activities will be completely hidden from your students. So...

*'''IF''' you want the activity grades of the "Not graded activities" category, to remain visible to your student without their grades affecting their course total, simply click the eye to show the "Not graded activities" category.

*'''IF''' you want students to be able to see the activity grades and the category total of the "Not graded activities", then you have to let the category visible and also choose a grading type between value, scale or text, by editing the category.

In this case you can exclude the "Not graded activities" from course total using the "Weighted mean of grades" aggregation method in Course category and assigning 100 weight to the "Graded activities" and 0 weight to the "Not graded activities".

*'''IF''' you don't want to use grade categories, you can also exclude the grades of a specific activity by changing the "Multiplicator" (visible only in "full view") from 1.0 into 0.0.

*Last, '''IF''' you want to exclude the grade of an activity only to one or some specific students, then follow these steps:
#From the grader report "Turn editing on"
#Click the "Edit grade" icon of the activity of the student you want to exclude.
#In the Edit grade page, check the tick box next to the "Excluded" option and "Save changes".

=== My student completed only one activity out of 5, but his course total shows 100%. How do I show a more "progressive" course total? ===

==== Step-by-Step Explanation ====
# From the view menu in the gradeboook, select "Categories and items"
# At the top line there is a folder icon and an edit icon on the right, click the edit icon
# You'll then see the title "Grade category," the 3rd item is "Aggregate only non-empty grades."
# Uncheck this.
# Save.

==== Another Explanation ====
By default, only non-empty grades are aggregated, the others are ignored. However, you can change this setting as well as others that affect the course total, by turning "Editing" on in the grader report, and clicking the "Edit" icon next to the course category (the very top row of the grader report).

You can untick the box "Aggregate only non-empty grades" if you want to show a more "progressive" score for each student. Their empty grades will count as a 0 and will be counted in the course mean/total.

If you prefer to show a sum of points, rather than a percentage, you can change the course category's aggregation method to "Sum of grades".

=== How can I display the average grade for my course categories (not grade categories)? ===
In Moodle 1.9 there is no way to aggregate course totals within each category. The gradebook is course-centered, and there is currently no User Interface for showing grades within an entire course category at once.

=== How can I setup weighted assignments? ===
See [[Using "Weighted Mean of Grades" to weight categories containing assignments]].

=== Why is the Category Total blank for one of my categories? ===
One possibility is that you accidentally entered some grades into the Category Total column and then erased them. When you do that, an override flag gets set and then the totals won't calculate. Here's how to check, and fix it:

# Go to the [[Grader report]] view of the gradebook.
# Click the "Turn editing on" button for the gradebook. (There's a separate one for the gradebook from the one on the main page.)
# Find the box for the problem category and the first student affected.
# Click on the hand with the pencil *in that box*.
# See if the box marked "[[Grade_editing#Overridden|Overridden]]" (third line down) is checked. If it is, uncheck it.
# Repeat (4) and (5) for each student affected.

== Categories ==
=== How many depths of categories/subcategories can I create? ===
There is no programmatic limit, but there are practical limits. Very deeply nested structures are difficult to manage. 3 levels of categories should be sufficient for most situations. Note that there is always at least one level of categories, since the Course category always encompasses all other categories and grade items, can cannot be deleted.

=== I can't find setting X in the grade category edit page! Where is it? ===
If a setting documented on the [[Grade categories]] page does not appear on your edit page, it may mean that it is set globally in your site. See [[Grade_category_settings#Forcing_settings|Forcing settings]] for more information.

== Outcomes ==
=== I want to set up an outcome item for my course. What are the steps required? ===
#The site administrator needs to have enabled outcomes via ''Settings>Site Aaministration > Advanced Features >Enable Outcomes''
#In your course, go to ''Settings>Course administration>Grades>Scales'' and create the scale you need.
#[[Scales#Creating_a_new_scale|Create a scale]]
#In Settings>Course administration>Outcomes, create a course outcome assigning it to the scale you just created.
#Read the [[Outcomes| outcomes documentation]] for instructions).
#You can now give your students a rating on the outcome dimension you just created. If you created a standard outcome, you will be able to use it in other courses and follow your students' performance across these courses.

===How can I remove an outcome from an activity?===

An outcome can be removed from an activity by deleting it on the gradebook edit categories and items page. This results in the outcomes being deselected on the update activity page.

== Modules ==
=== The activity module (Module name) doesn't support grading. How can I give my students a grade anyway? ===
You can create a [[Grade_items#Manual_grade_items|grade item]] manually in the gradebook. You will have to grade your students through the [[Grader report]] interface (in editing mode).

=== I just graded some of my students using the (Module name) interface, but the results aren't showing up in the grader report. What's going on? ===
Here are some of the possible reasons:
#The site settings>Grades>General settings may not have the correct graded roles checked off to appear in grade book. If you see no students in the Gradebook but do see columns for the graded activities, then check the graded role settings.
#The corresponding [[Grade items|grade item]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_items|locked]], or its parent [[Grade categories|category]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_categories|locked]].
#The module code is not using the [[Development:Grades#API_for_communication_with_modules.2Fblocks|gradebook API]] correctly

=== I just created a new assignment with the "Grade" setting set to "No grade", but it still appears in the gradebook ===
The reason is that the gradebook is now the place where both numerical and textual types of feedback are recorded for all activity modules. The word "Grading" in assignment relates only to numerical grades, but the ability to give text feedback remains, and must be recorded in the gradebook. This is why a grade item is created for it. You can hide the grade item if you do not want it to appear in the user reports.

==Weights and extra credits==

===How do weighted grades influence the category or course total?===
A weight (also called coefficient) only has meaning in reference to other weights. If you only have one grade item, changing its weight will not have any effect. However, if you have two grade items, each with a different weight, the "heavier" item will have more influence on the total grade than the "lighter" one.

You can set the weights to any positive numerical value you choose. Usually, at least one of the weights will be 1 and serve as the baseline for other weights. If another item has a weight of 2, its grades will be multiplied by 2 compared with the grades of the first grade item, before being averaged. The denominator used for averaging is the sum of all the weights.

An example follows:
item 1 weight: 1
item 2 weight: 3
item 3 weight: 0.5

item 1 grade: 40/100
item 2 grade: 60/100
item 3 grade: 20/100

Calculation:
total = ((40 * 1) + (60 * 3) + (20 * 0.5)) / (1 + 3 + 0.5)
= (40 + 180 + 10) / (4.5)
= 230 / 4.5
= 51.11

The total for this category will then be 51.11 out of 100

===Do I have to put a value in each "weight" input box?===
No. If you do not put a value, it will default to 1. If all items are set to 1 then they all have equal weight. If you set a weight to 0, the item's grades will not count at all in the category or course average.

===Do all the weights have to add up to 100 or some similar value?===
No, the numbers you put as weights are completely arbitrary. They must be positive numbers, and can add up to anything you want. Note however that the following four sets of weights are identical in value:

(1 1.75 3)
(4 7 12)
(8 14 24)
(400 700 1200)

===What is the difference between Weight and Extra Credit?===
Weight is only available with "Weighted mean of grades". For the "Simple weighted mean of grades", the weight is taken from the grade item's maximum grade. A weight is used to give a grade item more or less importance in the computation of the category total or average, compared with the other items of the same category.

Extra credit replaces grade item weight if the aggregation method is "Mean of grades (with extra credits)" or "Sum of grades". The effect of extra credit is different for both methods, hence some confusion:

*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.

*Sum of grades: Extra credit is a checkbox, not a number. Normally, with Sum of Grades, 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.

===How do I create an assignment for which students can receive a grade higher than the maximum?===

In Moodle 1.9.5 onwards, a new unlimited grades setting in ''Administration > Grades > General settings'' enables administrators to allow teachers to enter grades over 100% directly in the gradebook.

==Formulas==

===How do I give a fixed score for a successful quiz attempt===

Suppose you want to give 5 points for a passing grade (say, 70) in a certain quiz. Possible scenario ([http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=148576]): extra credit points to every student that gets a "passing grade" in a "practice test" at the end of each chapter covered in the course, to encourage them to practice after the homework quizzes and to get familiar with a "test type" situation before the actual test.

The following formula should do the trick:

=round((||quiz||/70)-0.49,0)*5

The formula may be added to a designated grade item or category.

Sample calculations:
Score 70:
=round((70/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(1-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.51,0)*5
=1*5
=5

Score 69:
=round((69/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.98-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.49,0)*5
=0*5
=0

==See also==

*Gradebook Scenarios/Use Cases [https://docs.moodle.org/en/experimental:_gb_tutoring]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=2122 Gradebook forum]

Using Moodle forum discussions:
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=123143 Excluding practice quizzes from gradebook]
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=193705 Course total not sum of max grade column?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=167596 Why do only certain items have multiplicator & offset boxes?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=235640 Extra credit]

[[Category:FAQ]]

[[ca:PMF de les qualificacions]]
[[fr:FAQ des notes]]
[[ja:評定FAQ]]
[[de:Bewertungen FAQ]]

Grades FAQ

2013-09-11T19:01:40Z

Joshuarbholden: /* Why is the Category Total blank for one of my categories? */

{{Grades}}
== General ==

===How can I change how grades are displayed?===

Grades may be displayed as as actual grades, as percentages (in reference to the minimum and maximum grades) or as letters.

The default grade display type for the site is set by an administrator in ''Administration > Grades > [[Grade item settings]]''. However, this may be changed at course level.

To change how grades are displayed for particular [[Grade items|grade items]], or category and course summaries (called aggregations):

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# Click the edit icon for the grade item, category total or course total.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively, to change how grades are displayed for the whole course:

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Course settings" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button.

===How can I hide entered grades until a specified date?===

To set a "Hidden until" date:

#Access the course gradebook via the grades link in the course administration block.
#Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
#Click on the edit icon opposite the activity for which a "Hidden until" date is to be set.
#On the edit grade item page, ensure that advanced settings are displayed. (Click the "Show advanced" button if not.)
#Enable the "Hidden until" setting by unchecking the disable checkbox, then set a date.
#Click the "Save changes" button.

=== Is it possible to show the teachers/administrators' grades in the grader report? ===
Yes, at the site level you can define which roles will appear in the grader report. This can be found in [[General_grade_settings#Graded_Roles|Administration > Grades > General settings]]. Also read [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92612 this discussion] for some more ideas.

===Why can't I change a grade within an assignment after changing it in the gradebook?===

When you edit a grade directly in the gradebook, an "overridden" flag is set, meaning that the grade can no longer be changed from within the assignment.

However, the flag can be removed by turning editing on in the [[Grader report|grader report]], then clicking the [[Grade editing|edit grade]] icon, unchecking the overridden box and saving the changes.

===How do I get groups to show up in the grader report?===

For groups to show up in the grader report, group mode should be set to visible or separate groups in the [[Course settings|course settings]]. This will result in a groups dropdown menu being displayed, enabling a teacher to view the grades of all participants, or only the grades for a selected group.

===The quiz grades keep disappearing from the student view, even after I un-hide them!===

Check your quiz settings. Under the '''Review options''' heading, in the '''Later, while the quiz is still open''' and/or the '''After the quiz is closed''' columns, you probably have Scores un-checked. Each time a student completes a quiz, these settings are consulted and the scores will be hidden from ''all'' students. If your students don't all take the quiz at the same time, it can look like quiz scores reset themselves to 'hidden' randomly, even after you un-hide them.

===How can I make the gradebook simpler for teachers?===

See [[Simplifying the gradebook by changing permissions]].

==Grades and user removals==

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is unenrolled from a course?===
On re-enrolling, you can recover their grades from before: see [https://docs.moodle.org/24/en/Grade_settings#Recover_grades_default Recover grades on re-enrol]

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is deleted from the Moodle site?===

==Advanced grading==

===Why can't I see the advanced grading option??===
To see the option for Advanced grading, you first have to create an assignment and choose Advanced grading/Rubric from the gGading method dropdown. Advanced grading will then appear in ''Settings>Assignment administration.''
===How can I allow teachers to save rubrics as templates for others?===
Create a new role and assign it in the system context. Give this role the capability ''moodle/grade:sharegradingforms'' (for sharing as a template) and if desired ''moodle/grade:managesharedforms'' (for editing or deleting templates created by others) Assign this role to those teachers you wish to have this ability.

===How do students see the Marking guide?===
Assuming the teacher has allowed this in the [[Marking guide]] settings, the student may click "submissions grading" under the assignment name in their navigation block:

[[File:submissionsgrading.png]]

== Reports ==
=== How do I create my own custom gradebook reports? ===
Here is a [[Development:Gradebook_Report_Tutorial|tutorial]] explaining all the main steps involved.
===How can I sort or change the order of column headings?===
Go to Grades link, then select one of the "Category & items" actions from the pulldown on the top left. Use the move icon to change the position of the graded item. And/or you could create categories for the items and move them into a category so they will be grouped that way first.

===How can I remove user ID numbers and/or email addresses from the grader report===

Go to ''Settings > Site administration > Users > Permissions > [[Roles settings|User policies]]'' and untick the 'ID number' and/or 'email address' checkboxes for 'Show user identity'.

Note that this will result in ID numbers and/or email addresses not being shown when searching for users and displaying lists of users. See the section 'Show user identity' in [[Roles settings]] for a list of locations where user identity fields are shown.

== Aggregation ==
=== I can't find where to change the aggregation type for my gradebook categories! ===
Each category has an aggregation type, which can be changed through that category's "edit" page. To access that page, you must use one of 2 ways:

1. In the grader report, turn "Editing" on, then click the little "hand" icon next to the category whose aggregation you want to change
2. In the "Edit categories and Items" page (accessible through the "choose an action" menu, top left), you see a tree view of the categories and items in your gradebook. The top category is the course category. Each category also has a "hand" icon, which leads to the category edit page

=== How can I grade some of my activities without the results affecting my students' course total? ===
#Go to Grades and choose the "Category and items" tab.
#Add two [[Grade categories]], one for your "Graded activities" and one for your "Not graded activities". In the "Not graded activities" category choose "None" in grading type.
#Ensure that "Aggregate including subcategories" (an option visible only in "full view") is unchecked for your top level course grade category.
#If you want to completely hide the "Not graded activities" category from your students tick the "Hidden" icon too.
#Save your changes.
#Move all your normally graded activities into the "Graded activities" category.
#Move all your excluded from grading activities into "Not graded activities" category.

'''Note''': Following the above steps the not graded activities will be completely hidden from your students. So...

*'''IF''' you want the activity grades of the "Not graded activities" category, to remain visible to your student without their grades affecting their course total, simply click the eye to show the "Not graded activities" category.

*'''IF''' you want students to be able to see the activity grades and the category total of the "Not graded activities", then you have to let the category visible and also choose a grading type between value, scale or text, by editing the category.

In this case you can exclude the "Not graded activities" from course total using the "Weighted mean of grades" aggregation method in Course category and assigning 100 weight to the "Graded activities" and 0 weight to the "Not graded activities".

*'''IF''' you don't want to use grade categories, you can also exclude the grades of a specific activity by changing the "Multiplicator" (visible only in "full view") from 1.0 into 0.0.

*Last, '''IF''' you want to exclude the grade of an activity only to one or some specific students, then follow these steps:
#From the grader report "Turn editing on"
#Click the "Edit grade" icon of the activity of the student you want to exclude.
#In the Edit grade page, check the tick box next to the "Excluded" option and "Save changes".

=== My student completed only one activity out of 5, but his course total shows 100%. How do I show a more "progressive" course total? ===

==== Step-by-Step Explanation ====
# From the view menu in the gradeboook, select "Categories and items"
# At the top line there is a folder icon and an edit icon on the right, click the edit icon
# You'll then see the title "Grade category," the 3rd item is "Aggregate only non-empty grades."
# Uncheck this.
# Save.

==== Another Explanation ====
By default, only non-empty grades are aggregated, the others are ignored. However, you can change this setting as well as others that affect the course total, by turning "Editing" on in the grader report, and clicking the "Edit" icon next to the course category (the very top row of the grader report).

You can untick the box "Aggregate only non-empty grades" if you want to show a more "progressive" score for each student. Their empty grades will count as a 0 and will be counted in the course mean/total.

If you prefer to show a sum of points, rather than a percentage, you can change the course category's aggregation method to "Sum of grades".

=== How can I display the average grade for my course categories (not grade categories)? ===
In Moodle 1.9 there is no way to aggregate course totals within each category. The gradebook is course-centered, and there is currently no User Interface for showing grades within an entire course category at once.

=== How can I setup weighted assignments? ===
See [[Using "Weighted Mean of Grades" to weight categories containing assignments]].

=== Why is the Category Total blank for one of my categories? ===
One possibility is that you accidentally entered some grades into the Category Total column and then erased them. When you do that, an override flag gets set and then the totals won't calculate. Here's how to check, and fix it:

# Go to the [[Grader report]] view of the gradebook.
# Click the "Turn editing on" button for the gradebook. (There's a separate one for the gradebook from the one on the main page.)
# Find the box for the problem category and the first student affected.
# Click on the hand with the pencil *in that box*.
# See if the box marked "[[Grade_editing#Overridden|Overridden]]" (third line down) is checked. If it is, uncheck it.
# Repeat (4) and (5) for each student affected.

== Categories ==
=== How many depths of categories/subcategories can I create? ===
There is no programmatic limit, but there are practical limits. Very deeply nested structures are difficult to manage. 3 levels of categories should be sufficient for most situations. Note that there is always at least one level of categories, since the Course category always encompasses all other categories and grade items, can cannot be deleted.

=== I can't find setting X in the grade category edit page! Where is it? ===
If a setting documented on the [[Grade categories]] page does not appear on your edit page, it may mean that it is set globally in your site. See [[Grade_category_settings#Forcing_settings|Forcing settings]] for more information.

== Outcomes ==
=== I want to set up an outcome item for my course. What are the steps required? ===
#The site administrator needs to have enabled outcomes via ''Settings>Site Aaministration > Advanced Features >Enable Outcomes''
#In your course, go to ''Settings>Course administration>Grades>Scales'' and create the scale you need.
#[[Scales#Creating_a_new_scale|Create a scale]]
#In Settings>Course administration>Outcomes, create a course outcome assigning it to the scale you just created.
#Read the [[Outcomes| outcomes documentation]] for instructions).
#You can now give your students a rating on the outcome dimension you just created. If you created a standard outcome, you will be able to use it in other courses and follow your students' performance across these courses.

===How can I remove an outcome from an activity?===

An outcome can be removed from an activity by deleting it on the gradebook edit categories and items page. This results in the outcomes being deselected on the update activity page.

== Modules ==
=== The activity module (Module name) doesn't support grading. How can I give my students a grade anyway? ===
You can create a [[Grade_items#Manual_grade_items|grade item]] manually in the gradebook. You will have to grade your students through the [[Grader report]] interface (in editing mode).

=== I just graded some of my students using the (Module name) interface, but the results aren't showing up in the grader report. What's going on? ===
Here are some of the possible reasons:
#The site settings>Grades>General settings may not have the correct graded roles checked off to appear in grade book. If you see no students in the Gradebook but do see columns for the graded activities, then check the graded role settings.
#The corresponding [[Grade items|grade item]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_items|locked]], or its parent [[Grade categories|category]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_categories|locked]].
#The module code is not using the [[Development:Grades#API_for_communication_with_modules.2Fblocks|gradebook API]] correctly

=== I just created a new assignment with the "Grade" setting set to "No grade", but it still appears in the gradebook ===
The reason is that the gradebook is now the place where both numerical and textual types of feedback are recorded for all activity modules. The word "Grading" in assignment relates only to numerical grades, but the ability to give text feedback remains, and must be recorded in the gradebook. This is why a grade item is created for it. You can hide the grade item if you do not want it to appear in the user reports.

==Weights and extra credits==

===How do weighted grades influence the category or course total?===
A weight (also called coefficient) only has meaning in reference to other weights. If you only have one grade item, changing its weight will not have any effect. However, if you have two grade items, each with a different weight, the "heavier" item will have more influence on the total grade than the "lighter" one.

You can set the weights to any positive numerical value you choose. Usually, at least one of the weights will be 1 and serve as the baseline for other weights. If another item has a weight of 2, its grades will be multiplied by 2 compared with the grades of the first grade item, before being averaged. The denominator used for averaging is the sum of all the weights.

An example follows:
item 1 weight: 1
item 2 weight: 3
item 3 weight: 0.5

item 1 grade: 40/100
item 2 grade: 60/100
item 3 grade: 20/100

Calculation:
total = ((40 * 1) + (60 * 3) + (20 * 0.5)) / (1 + 3 + 0.5)
= (40 + 180 + 10) / (4.5)
= 230 / 4.5
= 51.11

The total for this category will then be 51.11 out of 100

===Do I have to put a value in each "weight" input box?===
No. If you do not put a value, it will default to 1. If all items are set to 1 then they all have equal weight. If you set a weight to 0, the item's grades will not count at all in the category or course average.

===Do all the weights have to add up to 100 or some similar value?===
No, the numbers you put as weights are completely arbitrary. They must be positive numbers, and can add up to anything you want. Note however that the following four sets of weights are identical in value:

(1 1.75 3)
(4 7 12)
(8 14 24)
(400 700 1200)

===What is the difference between Weight and Extra Credit?===
Weight is only available with "Weighted mean of grades". For the "Simple weighted mean of grades", the weight is taken from the grade item's maximum grade. A weight is used to give a grade item more or less importance in the computation of the category total or average, compared with the other items of the same category.

Extra credit replaces grade item weight if the aggregation method is "Mean of grades (with extra credits)" or "Sum of grades". The effect of extra credit is different for both methods, hence some confusion:

*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.

*Sum of grades: Extra credit is a checkbox, not a number. Normally, with Sum of Grades, 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.

===How do I create an assignment for which students can receive a grade higher than the maximum?===

In Moodle 1.9.5 onwards, a new unlimited grades setting in ''Administration > Grades > General settings'' enables administrators to allow teachers to enter grades over 100% directly in the gradebook.

In earlier versions of 1.9, it is possible for a student to get less than the maximum grade in some grade items, while still getting the maximum grade in the category or course total. The Extra Credit feature is used for this purpose, as described above.

==Formulas==

===How do I give a fixed score for a successful quiz attempt===

Suppose you want to give 5 points for a passing grade (say, 70) in a certain quiz. Possible scenario ([http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=148576]): extra credit points to every student that gets a "passing grade" in a "practice test" at the end of each chapter covered in the course, to encourage them to practice after the homework quizzes and to get familiar with a "test type" situation before the actual test.

The following formula should do the trick:

=round((||quiz||/70)-0.49,0)*5

The formula may be added to a designated grade item or category.

Sample calculations:
Score 70:
=round((70/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(1-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.51,0)*5
=1*5
=5

Score 69:
=round((69/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.98-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.49,0)*5
=0*5
=0

==See also==

*Gradebook Scenarios/Use Cases [https://docs.moodle.org/en/experimental:_gb_tutoring]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=2122 Gradebook forum]

Using Moodle forum discussions:
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=123143 Excluding practice quizzes from gradebook]
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=193705 Course total not sum of max grade column?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=167596 Why do only certain items have multiplicator & offset boxes?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=235640 Extra credit]

[[Category:FAQ]]

[[ca:PMF de les qualificacions]]
[[fr:FAQ des notes]]
[[ja:評定FAQ]]
[[de:Bewertungen FAQ]]

Grades FAQ

2013-09-11T18:40:49Z

Joshuarbholden: /* Aggregation */ Added "Why is the category total blank for one of my categories?"

{{Grades}}
== General ==

===How can I change how grades are displayed?===

Grades may be displayed as as actual grades, as percentages (in reference to the minimum and maximum grades) or as letters.

The default grade display type for the site is set by an administrator in ''Administration > Grades > [[Grade item settings]]''. However, this may be changed at course level.

To change how grades are displayed for particular [[Grade items|grade items]], or category and course summaries (called aggregations):

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# Click the edit icon for the grade item, category total or course total.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.

Alternatively, to change how grades are displayed for the whole course:

# Follow the grades link in the course administration block.
# Select "Course settings" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# From the Grade display type menu, select real (for actual grades), percentage or letter.
# Click the "Save changes" button.

===How can I hide entered grades until a specified date?===

To set a "Hidden until" date:

#Access the course gradebook via the grades link in the course administration block.
#Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
#Click on the edit icon opposite the activity for which a "Hidden until" date is to be set.
#On the edit grade item page, ensure that advanced settings are displayed. (Click the "Show advanced" button if not.)
#Enable the "Hidden until" setting by unchecking the disable checkbox, then set a date.
#Click the "Save changes" button.

=== Is it possible to show the teachers/administrators' grades in the grader report? ===
Yes, at the site level you can define which roles will appear in the grader report. This can be found in [[General_grade_settings#Graded_Roles|Administration > Grades > General settings]]. Also read [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=92612 this discussion] for some more ideas.

===Why can't I change a grade within an assignment after changing it in the gradebook?===

When you edit a grade directly in the gradebook, an "overridden" flag is set, meaning that the grade can no longer be changed from within the assignment.

However, the flag can be removed by turning editing on in the [[Grader report|grader report]], then clicking the [[Grade editing|edit grade]] icon, unchecking the overridden box and saving the changes.

===How do I get groups to show up in the grader report?===

For groups to show up in the grader report, group mode should be set to visible or separate groups in the [[Course settings|course settings]]. This will result in a groups dropdown menu being displayed, enabling a teacher to view the grades of all participants, or only the grades for a selected group.

===The quiz grades keep disappearing from the student view, even after I un-hide them!===

Check your quiz settings. Under the '''Review options''' heading, in the '''Later, while the quiz is still open''' and/or the '''After the quiz is closed''' columns, you probably have Scores un-checked. Each time a student completes a quiz, these settings are consulted and the scores will be hidden from ''all'' students. If your students don't all take the quiz at the same time, it can look like quiz scores reset themselves to 'hidden' randomly, even after you un-hide them.

===How can I make the gradebook simpler for teachers?===

See [[Simplifying the gradebook by changing permissions]].

==Grades and user removals==

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is unenrolled from a course?===
On re-enrolling, you can recover their grades from before: see [https://docs.moodle.org/24/en/Grade_settings#Recover_grades_default Recover grades on re-enrol]

===What happens to gradebook data when a user is deleted from the Moodle site?===

==Advanced grading==

===Why can't I see the advanced grading option??===
To see the option for Advanced grading, you first have to create an assignment and choose Advanced grading/Rubric from the gGading method dropdown. Advanced grading will then appear in ''Settings>Assignment administration.''
===How can I allow teachers to save rubrics as templates for others?===
Create a new role and assign it in the system context. Give this role the capability ''moodle/grade:sharegradingforms'' (for sharing as a template) and if desired ''moodle/grade:managesharedforms'' (for editing or deleting templates created by others) Assign this role to those teachers you wish to have this ability.

===How do students see the Marking guide?===
Assuming the teacher has allowed this in the [[Marking guide]] settings, the student may click "submissions grading" under the assignment name in their navigation block:

[[File:submissionsgrading.png]]

== Reports ==
=== How do I create my own custom gradebook reports? ===
Here is a [[Development:Gradebook_Report_Tutorial|tutorial]] explaining all the main steps involved.
===How can I sort or change the order of column headings?===
Go to Grades link, then select one of the "Category & items" actions from the pulldown on the top left. Use the move icon to change the position of the graded item. And/or you could create categories for the items and move them into a category so they will be grouped that way first.

===How can I remove user ID numbers and/or email addresses from the grader report===

Go to ''Settings > Site administration > Users > Permissions > [[Roles settings|User policies]]'' and untick the 'ID number' and/or 'email address' checkboxes for 'Show user identity'.

Note that this will result in ID numbers and/or email addresses not being shown when searching for users and displaying lists of users. See the section 'Show user identity' in [[Roles settings]] for a list of locations where user identity fields are shown.

== Aggregation ==
=== I can't find where to change the aggregation type for my gradebook categories! ===
Each category has an aggregation type, which can be changed through that category's "edit" page. To access that page, you must use one of 2 ways:

1. In the grader report, turn "Editing" on, then click the little "hand" icon next to the category whose aggregation you want to change
2. In the "Edit categories and Items" page (accessible through the "choose an action" menu, top left), you see a tree view of the categories and items in your gradebook. The top category is the course category. Each category also has a "hand" icon, which leads to the category edit page

=== How can I grade some of my activities without the results affecting my students' course total? ===
#Go to Grades and choose the "Category and items" tab.
#Add two [[Grade categories]], one for your "Graded activities" and one for your "Not graded activities". In the "Not graded activities" category choose "None" in grading type.
#Ensure that "Aggregate including subcategories" (an option visible only in "full view") is unchecked for your top level course grade category.
#If you want to completely hide the "Not graded activities" category from your students tick the "Hidden" icon too.
#Save your changes.
#Move all your normally graded activities into the "Graded activities" category.
#Move all your excluded from grading activities into "Not graded activities" category.

'''Note''': Following the above steps the not graded activities will be completely hidden from your students. So...

*'''IF''' you want the activity grades of the "Not graded activities" category, to remain visible to your student without their grades affecting their course total, simply click the eye to show the "Not graded activities" category.

*'''IF''' you want students to be able to see the activity grades and the category total of the "Not graded activities", then you have to let the category visible and also choose a grading type between value, scale or text, by editing the category.

In this case you can exclude the "Not graded activities" from course total using the "Weighted mean of grades" aggregation method in Course category and assigning 100 weight to the "Graded activities" and 0 weight to the "Not graded activities".

*'''IF''' you don't want to use grade categories, you can also exclude the grades of a specific activity by changing the "Multiplicator" (visible only in "full view") from 1.0 into 0.0.

*Last, '''IF''' you want to exclude the grade of an activity only to one or some specific students, then follow these steps:
#From the grader report "Turn editing on"
#Click the "Edit grade" icon of the activity of the student you want to exclude.
#In the Edit grade page, check the tick box next to the "Excluded" option and "Save changes".

=== My student completed only one activity out of 5, but his course total shows 100%. How do I show a more "progressive" course total? ===

==== Step-by-Step Explanation ====
# From the view menu in the gradeboook, select "Categories and items"
# At the top line there is a folder icon and an edit icon on the right, click the edit icon
# You'll then see the title "Grade category," the 3rd item is "Aggregate only non-empty grades."
# Uncheck this.
# Save.

==== Another Explanation ====
By default, only non-empty grades are aggregated, the others are ignored. However, you can change this setting as well as others that affect the course total, by turning "Editing" on in the grader report, and clicking the "Edit" icon next to the course category (the very top row of the grader report).

You can untick the box "Aggregate only non-empty grades" if you want to show a more "progressive" score for each student. Their empty grades will count as a 0 and will be counted in the course mean/total.

If you prefer to show a sum of points, rather than a percentage, you can change the course category's aggregation method to "Sum of grades".

=== How can I display the average grade for my course categories (not grade categories)? ===
In Moodle 1.9 there is no way to aggregate course totals within each category. The gradebook is course-centered, and there is currently no User Interface for showing grades within an entire course category at once.

=== How can I setup weighted assignments? ===
See [[Using "Weighted Mean of Grades" to weight categories containing assignments]].

=== Why is the Category Total blank for one of my categories? ===
One possibility is that you accidentally entered some grades into the Category Total column and then erased them. When you do that, an override flag gets set and then the totals won't calculate. Here's how to check, and fix it:

# Go to the [[Grader report]] view of the gradebook.
# Click the "Turn editing on" button for the gradebook. (There's a separate one for the gradebook from the one on the main page.)
# Find the box for the problem category and the first student affected.
# Click on the hand with the pencil *in that box*.
# See if the box marked "[[Grade_editing#Overridden|Overridden]]" (third line down) is checked. If it is, uncheck it.
# Repeat (4) and (5) for each student affected,

== Categories ==
=== How many depths of categories/subcategories can I create? ===
There is no programmatic limit, but there are practical limits. Very deeply nested structures are difficult to manage. 3 levels of categories should be sufficient for most situations. Note that there is always at least one level of categories, since the Course category always encompasses all other categories and grade items, can cannot be deleted.

=== I can't find setting X in the grade category edit page! Where is it? ===
If a setting documented on the [[Grade categories]] page does not appear on your edit page, it may mean that it is set globally in your site. See [[Grade_category_settings#Forcing_settings|Forcing settings]] for more information.

== Outcomes ==
=== I want to set up an outcome item for my course. What are the steps required? ===
#The site administrator needs to have enabled outcomes via ''Settings>Site Aaministration > Advanced Features >Enable Outcomes''
#In your course, go to ''Settings>Course administration>Grades>Scales'' and create the scale you need.
#[[Scales#Creating_a_new_scale|Create a scale]]
#In Settings>Course administration>Outcomes, create a course outcome assigning it to the scale you just created.
#Read the [[Outcomes| outcomes documentation]] for instructions).
#You can now give your students a rating on the outcome dimension you just created. If you created a standard outcome, you will be able to use it in other courses and follow your students' performance across these courses.

===How can I remove an outcome from an activity?===

An outcome can be removed from an activity by deleting it on the gradebook edit categories and items page. This results in the outcomes being deselected on the update activity page.

== Modules ==
=== The activity module (Module name) doesn't support grading. How can I give my students a grade anyway? ===
You can create a [[Grade_items#Manual_grade_items|grade item]] manually in the gradebook. You will have to grade your students through the [[Grader report]] interface (in editing mode).

=== I just graded some of my students using the (Module name) interface, but the results aren't showing up in the grader report. What's going on? ===
Here are some of the possible reasons:
#The site settings>Grades>General settings may not have the correct graded roles checked off to appear in grade book. If you see no students in the Gradebook but do see columns for the graded activities, then check the graded role settings.
#The corresponding [[Grade items|grade item]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_items|locked]], or its parent [[Grade categories|category]] is [[Grade_locking#In_grade_categories|locked]].
#The module code is not using the [[Development:Grades#API_for_communication_with_modules.2Fblocks|gradebook API]] correctly

=== I just created a new assignment with the "Grade" setting set to "No grade", but it still appears in the gradebook ===
The reason is that the gradebook is now the place where both numerical and textual types of feedback are recorded for all activity modules. The word "Grading" in assignment relates only to numerical grades, but the ability to give text feedback remains, and must be recorded in the gradebook. This is why a grade item is created for it. You can hide the grade item if you do not want it to appear in the user reports.

==Weights and extra credits==

===How do weighted grades influence the category or course total?===
A weight (also called coefficient) only has meaning in reference to other weights. If you only have one grade item, changing its weight will not have any effect. However, if you have two grade items, each with a different weight, the "heavier" item will have more influence on the total grade than the "lighter" one.

You can set the weights to any positive numerical value you choose. Usually, at least one of the weights will be 1 and serve as the baseline for other weights. If another item has a weight of 2, its grades will be multiplied by 2 compared with the grades of the first grade item, before being averaged. The denominator used for averaging is the sum of all the weights.

An example follows:
item 1 weight: 1
item 2 weight: 3
item 3 weight: 0.5

item 1 grade: 40/100
item 2 grade: 60/100
item 3 grade: 20/100

Calculation:
total = ((40 * 1) + (60 * 3) + (20 * 0.5)) / (1 + 3 + 0.5)
= (40 + 180 + 10) / (4.5)
= 230 / 4.5
= 51.11

The total for this category will then be 51.11 out of 100

===Do I have to put a value in each "weight" input box?===
No. If you do not put a value, it will default to 1. If all items are set to 1 then they all have equal weight. If you set a weight to 0, the item's grades will not count at all in the category or course average.

===Do all the weights have to add up to 100 or some similar value?===
No, the numbers you put as weights are completely arbitrary. They must be positive numbers, and can add up to anything you want. Note however that the following four sets of weights are identical in value:

(1 1.75 3)
(4 7 12)
(8 14 24)
(400 700 1200)

===What is the difference between Weight and Extra Credit?===
Weight is only available with "Weighted mean of grades". For the "Simple weighted mean of grades", the weight is taken from the grade item's maximum grade. A weight is used to give a grade item more or less importance in the computation of the category total or average, compared with the other items of the same category.

Extra credit replaces grade item weight if the aggregation method is "Mean of grades (with extra credits)" or "Sum of grades". The effect of extra credit is different for both methods, hence some confusion:

*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.

*Sum of grades: Extra credit is a checkbox, not a number. Normally, with Sum of Grades, 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.

===How do I create an assignment for which students can receive a grade higher than the maximum?===

In Moodle 1.9.5 onwards, a new unlimited grades setting in ''Administration > Grades > General settings'' enables administrators to allow teachers to enter grades over 100% directly in the gradebook.

In earlier versions of 1.9, it is possible for a student to get less than the maximum grade in some grade items, while still getting the maximum grade in the category or course total. The Extra Credit feature is used for this purpose, as described above.

==Formulas==

===How do I give a fixed score for a successful quiz attempt===

Suppose you want to give 5 points for a passing grade (say, 70) in a certain quiz. Possible scenario ([http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=148576]): extra credit points to every student that gets a "passing grade" in a "practice test" at the end of each chapter covered in the course, to encourage them to practice after the homework quizzes and to get familiar with a "test type" situation before the actual test.

The following formula should do the trick:

=round((||quiz||/70)-0.49,0)*5

The formula may be added to a designated grade item or category.

Sample calculations:
Score 70:
=round((70/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(1-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.51,0)*5
=1*5
=5

Score 69:
=round((69/70)-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.98-0.49,0)*5
=round(0.49,0)*5
=0*5
=0

==See also==

*Gradebook Scenarios/Use Cases [https://docs.moodle.org/en/experimental:_gb_tutoring]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=2122 Gradebook forum]

Using Moodle forum discussions:
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=123143 Excluding practice quizzes from gradebook]
*[http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=193705 Course total not sum of max grade column?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=167596 Why do only certain items have multiplicator & offset boxes?]
*[https://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=235640 Extra credit]

[[Category:FAQ]]

[[ca:PMF de les qualificacions]]
[[fr:FAQ des notes]]
[[ja:評定FAQ]]
[[de:Bewertungen FAQ]]

Using Assignment

2013-07-07T19:39:48Z

Joshuarbholden: /* Offline assignment */ Replaced "2.3" with "2.x" (Is this the standard terminology?)

{{Assignment}}
<p class="note">'''Note''': This page is about using the new Assignment module in Moodle 2.3 onwards. For documentation on using Assignments (2.2), see [https://docs.moodle.org/22/en/Using_Assignment Using Assignment] in the 2.2 docs.</p>

==Different Assignment types==

The new assignment module in Moodle 2.3 onwards combines the previous assignment types into a single assignment with editable settings. This means an assignment combining editable text and file submission can be created. So rather than ask “What type of assignment do I want?” you can now add an assignment and select which options you need.

The standard assignment submission options available are:
* File submissions (students submit a file for assessment)
* Online text (students can type their responses directly in Moodle)
* Submission comments

It is also possible to create an 'offline' assignment, ie. one that has no Moodle component.

===File submissions===
A file submission assignment allows students to submit/upload file(s) to be assessed, for example, a word document for an essay assignment. In Moodle 2.1 and earlier versions, this was known as ‘Upload a single file’ and/or ‘Advanced uploading of files’.

The advantage of file submissions is students’ work is collated into one space, and it is easy to find. The assignments can be opened from within Moodle, or can be downloaded in bulk for marking.

* Scroll down to ‘Submission Settings’
*Ensure that ‘File Submissions’ is set to ‘Yes’.
*In the ‘Maximum number of uploaded files’ field, click the dropdown menu to select the relevant number for your assignment. This will enable multiple file submissions.
*The ‘Maximum submission size’ field provides a maximum limit for the size of student submission. Using the dropdown menu, select the appropriate submission size relevant to the assignment.

[[Image:single file submission.jpg|frame|center|Single file submission]]
[[Image:multiple file submission.jpg|frame|center|Multiple file submission]]
Please note, you can '''also''' allow a ‘online text’ to be entered a file submission assignment. If you would like this as part of your assignment, please click ‘yes’ in the online text field.

===Online text===
The online text submission setting allows students to create and edit their assignments in Moodle using the HTML editor. They can use all the features of the editor. They can add text, format text, add images, tables, videos and links to web pages and files.

The advantage of online text is the assignment text is stored and can be read within Moodle. There are no files to download. It is particularly well suited to assignments requiring shorter word counts.

*Scroll down to ‘Submission settings’
*For Online text assignments, set ‘Online text’ to ‘Yes.’
*Change the ‘File submissions’ setting to ‘No’, to prevent students from uploading files. Note, students can still add files using the ‘insert/edit link’ button.

[[Image:online text.jpg|frame|center]]
Please note, you can '''also''' allow a ‘file submission’ in an online text assignment. If you would like this as part of your assignment, please click ‘yes’ in the file submission field and set required no of files and file size limits.

===Submission comments===
Submission comments in the assignment module replace the 'Notes' functionality in previous versions. The ‘Submission comments’ allows students to comment on their submission and teachers to reply to the comments. Comments by teachers are different to the Feedback supplied by teachers when marking.

[[Image:submission comments setting.jpg|frame|center|Submission comments setting]]

[[Image:submission comments.jpg|frame|center]]

===Offline assignment===
In previous versions of Moodle there was a separate assignment type called Offline Assignment. This type of assignment suited activities completed offline, whilst allowing teachers to mark the assignments through Moodle and provide students will grades and feedback. In addition, as with all assignment types, the due date for the assignment automatically appears in the Calendar.

This assignment type can be replicated in Moodle 2.x using the following settings.

*Scroll down to ‘Submission settings’
*Ensure the ‘Online text’ setting is ‘No’ to prevent student from entering text.
*Change the ‘File submissions’ setting to ‘No’, to prevent students from uploading files.
*Whether or not you enable Submission comments is your choice and will depend on the type of offline activity you are assessing.

[[Image:offline assignment.jpg|frame|center]]

==Which assignment suits you best?==

===You want students to type shorter or longer responses directly online===

*Set ''Online text'' to Yes. This works well for younger children who will only manage a sentence or two and works just as well for higher education students who write more.
**Advantage - quick for the student to get started; no need to use a word-processing program and upload the file.
**Disadvantage - potential worries that if the internet goes down, the work students have typed in and not yet saved might be lost. If the word count is expected to be large, setting ''Online text'' to No and ''File submission'' to Yes might be a better option.

===You want students to submit work you can download in a specified program===

*Set ''File submission'' to Yes, set the number of files you will allow using the ''Maximum number of uploaded files'' setting and the file sizes by using the '' Maximum submission size'' setting.
**Advantage - better than students emailing work as the whole class's work is collated in one space on your course. Markers can provide comments directly on the student work.
**Disadvantage - assignments must downloaded to be viewed (but they can be [[Assignment_FAQ| downloaded in bulk]]) and the teacher needs the appropriate program to open them.

===You want students to submit files at different times for a project===

*Set ''File submission'' to Yes, and use ''Maximum number of uploaded files'' to set the maximum number of separate files they can upload
**Advantage - all project files are in one assignment area for grading so they get a single grade.
**Disadvantage - all project files are in one assignment area for grading - so they can only have a single grade!

===You want students to write a response to a video/sound file/image===

*Set up an assignment allowing ''online text'' submission and get students to use the Moodle media icon to add video/sound/image files.

===You want students to answer a series of questions on a video/sound file/image===
*Investigate the [[Quiz]] module. Assignments are really just for a single question.

===You want to view, comment on and send back students' assignments===

*Set up an assignment allowing ''file submissions'' which allows you to download the assignment, add your comments and then re-upload back to the student.
**Advantage: useful for teachers who like using the "comment" options in word-processing programs for example
**Disadvantage: the files have to be downloaded, saved and re-uploaded. They can't be edited online.

===You want students to send you a comment or note along with their uploaded work===

*In the settings, set ''Submission comments'' to Yes.

===You want to allow students to redraft and decide when to submit the work===

*In the settings set ''Require students click submit button'' to Yes. Students can then control when their draft work is submitted to the teacher.

===You want students to keep an ongoing journal or do an iterative assignment===

*In the settings set ''Require students click submit button'' to No. Students can continue to make changes to their assignment and at no point do they 'submit'. If the work will be graded at some point it is recommended that either ''Prevent late submissions'' is set to Yes to ensure that no changes can be made after the due date, or [[Using_Assignment#Submission_status| all submissions are locked]] when grading commences to ensure that the work is not altered during grading.
**Advantage: the work remains in one place and is constantly improved, graded (if needed) and improved again.
**Disadvantage: there is no record/history of previous attempts (such as with the [[Wiki]]). The online text assignment does not replicate the display of a journal or blog where each new entry is additional to the previous ones.

===You want students to submit work in groups===

*In the settings, set "Students submit in groups" to Yes. If you just do this, then once one student has submitted, the assignment will be flagged as submitted even if the others haven't contributed. If you want to ensure everyone has an input, set "Require students click submit button" to Yes and then change "Require all group members to submit" to Yes. The assignment will only be classed as submitted when each member has contributed, and once one student has submitted, the remaining members's names will be displayed for the group to see who still needs to add their input.

===You want to grade students' work anonymously===
*In the settings, choose "Blind marking". When students submit assignments, their names will be replaced by radomly generated participant numbers so you will not know who is who. Note that this is not ''totally'' blind marking because you can reveal their identities in the assignment settings and you can work out identities from the logs - so this might not be suitable if your establishment has very precise privacy requirements.

===You want to read and grade student assignments offline===
*In the settings, choose "Offline grading worksheet". When students have submitted, click "View/grade all submissions" and you can download their assignments from the link "Download all submission" and download the grading sheet from the link "Download grading worksheet". You can then edit grades and re-upload the grading worksheet. You can also upload multiple feedback files in a zip from this drop down menu. See [[Assignment settings]] for an explanation of how to use the "upload multiple feedback files as zip" feature.

==How do students submit their assignments?==
The first page students will see when they click on the assignment activity link from the course page will display the assignment name, description and the submission status. The first time a student views the assignment it will look like this:
[[Image:statuses.jpg|frame|center]]
The submission status section includes:
*'''Submission status'''
*'''Grading status'''
*Due date
*Time remaining
*Last modified
*Submission details

As they progress through the assignment the Submission status and Grading status will update and the Last modified date will appear.
[[Image:submission statuses graded.jpg|frame|center|Example of submitted and graded assignment]]

Submission statuses include:

*Nothing submitted for this assignment
*Draft (not submitted)
*Submitted for grading

Grading statuses include:

*Not graded
*Graded

===File submission===
To submit a file submission, students complete the following steps:
*Click the ‘Add submission’ button to bring up the file upload page.
[[Image:file upload.jpg|frame|center]]
*Upload the relevant file into the submission. They are able to ‘drag and drop’ the file into the submission box.
*Click ‘Save Changes’.
*There should now be a Last modified date and the file(s) uploaded will also be displayed.
[[Image:file uploaded.jpg|frame|center]]
*Depending on how the assignment is setup the status will either read ‘Submitted for grading’ - in which case no further action is need, or ‘Draft (not submitted)’.
*If changes are required, click on ‘Edit my submission’.
*Once ready to submit, click ‘Submit assignment’. Note that once the assignment is 'submitted’ no further changes are allowed.
[[Image:submit button.jpg|frame|center]]
Note: Depending on how the assignment is setup students may see '''both''' a file submission page and an online text editor.

===Online text===
To submit an online text submission, students complete the following steps:
*Click the ‘Add submission’ button to bring up the online text editor page
[[Image:online text editor.jpg|frame|center]]
*Type the relevant text into the [[Text_editor|HTML editor]], or paste from a previously written file.
*Click ‘Save Changes’.
*There should now be a Last modified date and the first 100 characters entered will also be displayed.
[[Image:online text entered.jpg|frame|center]]
*Depending on how the assignment is setup the status will either read ‘Submitted for grading’ - in which case no further action is need, or ‘Draft (not submitted)’
*If changes are required, click on ‘Edit my submission’.
*Once ready to submit, click ‘Submit assignment’. Note that once the assignment is 'submitted’ no further changes are allowed.
[[Image:submit button online text.jpg|frame|center]]

Note: Depending on how the assignment is setup students may see '''both''' a file submission page and an online text editor.

===Submission comments===
Depending on how the assignment has been setup, there may be a section where students can leave submission comments.
[[Image:student comments.jpg|frame|center]]

==Submission notifications==
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. Moodle also allows notifications to teachers either when students submit assignments, or when students submit assignments late, or both. This feature notifies markers of the presence of assignments, or provides a reminder to access assignments submitted after the due date.

'''Why is this useful?'''
*Provides a receipt for student that the assignment has been successfully submitted
*Provides notification to marker that assignment are submitted
*Notifies of any changes to submission - for student’s record and to notify marker
*Provides notification to student that assignment feedback is available

'''When is it sent?'''

If ‘Require students to hit submit button’ is enabled within the assignment (formerly ‘enable send for marking button’ in 2.2), which requires students to click a final submit button and prevents further changes, only one notification will be sent upon hitting the submit button.

If ‘Require students to hit submit button’ is not enabled, and students are allowed to make alterations or add/remove files from their submission, this receipt will be sent every time the file is altered - ie once on adding the file, once on adding a second file, once on removal of file, once on uploading a new file.
[[Image:submit button setting.jpg|frame|center]]

'''Where are these settings?'''

Submission Notification for Grader - ''Assignment > Edit Settings''
The grader is given two options:
*Notify Graders about Submissions - YES/NO
*Notify Graders about Late Submissions - YES/NO
[[Image:grader notifications.jpg|frame|center]]
The first option will notify the grader on any/all submissions made. The second will only send a notification for assignments submitted after the ‘Due Date’.

The Late Submissions option will be greyed out unless ‘Notify Graders about Submissions’ is selected as NO because ‘Notify Graders about Submissions’ will also send receipts for assignments submitted after the due date. To fully disable the grader receiving notifications, change both options to NO.

Submission Notification for Students - ''My Profile Settings > Messaging''
Tickboxes on the messaging page can be set by the student depending on their preference. A student can opt to receive notification via email, popup message or both.
[[Image:messaging settings.jpg|frame|center]]

Assignment notification - On submission of an assignment, the student will receive a notification that their assignment has been successfully received.

Essay graded notification - Once a grader has provided a mark/feedback for assignments, students will be notified (within the hour) that this feedback is available.

==Viewing and grading submitted assignments==
When students have submitted their assignments, they can be accessed by clicking on the assignment activity. This will bring up the Grading Summary page.
[[Image:grading summary page.jpg|frame|center]]

The Grading Summary page displays a summary of the assignment, including; number of participants, number of drafts, number of submitted assignments, due date and time remaining.

Clicking on the the ‘View/grade all submissions’ link will bring up the Grading Table.
[[Image:grading table.jpg|frame|center]]

The Grading Table contains columns of information about the student, the status of their submission, a link to grade their submission, a link to each submission and feedback comments and files (if enabled).

===Submission status===
If you will be assigning grades to student work, you may want to take note of the submission status before you begin the marking process. If you have required students click the Submit button, you may find that some submissions are still marked as Draft (not submitted), meaning the student has either uploaded a file(s) or entered some text, but has not clicked ‘Submit assignment’.
[[Image:submission statuses.jpg|frame|center]]

It is suggested that if it's after the due date and you are about to commencing marking that you use ‘Prevent submission changes’ to stop students from making changes to their assignment. You can do this one by one by using the icon in the Edit column.
[[Image:prevent submission changes dropdown.jpg|frame|center]]

Or you can select two or more students by putting a tick in the select column and going to 'Lock submissions’ from the ''With selected'' menu under the grading table.
[[Image:lock submissions.jpg|frame|center]]

Likewise you can also revert a student's submission to draft if they have uploaded the incorrect file. Instead of selecting ‘Prevent submission changes’ select ‘Revert the submission to draft’, or place ticks against selected students and choose 'Revert the submission to draft status' from the ''With selected'' menu under the grading table.
[[Image:revert to draft.jpg|frame|center]]
[[Image:revert submission to draft status.jpg|frame|center]]

===Quick grading===
Under Options (scroll to bottom of the page) you can determine your preferences for the number of assignments you wish to display per page. You can also filter assignments either to show all (no filter), submitted, or requires grading. This is also where you can turn on '''quick grading'''.
[[Image:options.jpg|frame|center]]

'''Quick grading''' allows you to enter grades and a feedback comment (if enabled in [[Assignment settings]]) directly into the grading table. '''Quick grading''' is not compatible with advanced grading and is not recommended when there are multiple markers.
[[Image:quick grading.jpg|frame|center]]

You can enter grades and feedback comments using quick grading. '''It is now possible to enter grades in decimal format.''' You will not be able to return a feedback file to your students (if enabled in the [[Assignment settings]]).

Enter the grades
[[Image:quick grading2.jpg|frame|center]]

Scroll to the bottom of the grading table and click 'Save all quick grading changes'
[[Image:quick grading3.jpg|frame|center]]

A confirmation screen will appear.
[[Image:quick grading4.jpg|frame|center]]

===Student grading page===
If you have enabled File Feedback in the [[Assignment settings]] and wish to upload either the marked student assignment, a completed text based feedback document or audio feedback, click on the green tick in the Grade column (or use the icon in the Edit column and select Grade).
[[Image:green tick.jpg|frame|center]]
[[Image:grade.jpg|frame|center]]

Here you can enter grades, feedback comments and feedback files (if enabled in the [[Assignment settings]]). You can use drag and drop to upload feedback files.
[[Image:student grading page.jpg|frame|center]]

===View gradebook===

You can jump directly to the gradebook for this course by selecting the ‘View gradebook’ option under the ''Choose'' menu at the top of the grading table, or clicking on ‘View gradebook’ in the settings menu.
[[Image:view gradebook2.jpg|frame|center]]
[[Image:view gradebook.jpg|frame|center]]

===Downloading student submissions===
You can download a zip file containing all of the assignment submissions by selecting the ‘Download all submissions’ options from the ''Choose'' menu at the top of the grading table, or in the settings menu.
[[Image:download all submissions2.jpg|frame|center]]
[[Image:download all submissions.jpg|frame|center]]

File submissions will be downloaded in the format uploaded by the student. Online text submissions will be downloaded as html files. '''Each file in the zip will include the student first and lastname at the beginning of the filename for identification purposes.'''

==Keeping records (archiving, exporting, backing up)==
When students unenrol from a Moodle area, their records become invisible through the Gradebook interface. In order to have the information to hand, departments or course teaching teams may need systems in place to keep their own records for the data retention period required in their particular context. There are two separate procedures for exporting student submissions and marks.

To export marks (with or without feedback):
#Go to your course area
#From its front page Settings block, select Grades; the Grader Report loads.
#From the Grader Report Settings block, select Export; a menu displays.
#From the menu, if you need easy viewing and running calculations you probably want to select one of the spreadsheet formats; a page of export settings loads
#Use the Visible Groups pulldown menu to limit the export to specific groups, as required
#In Options, you indicate whether feedback comments are included
#In Grade Items To Be Included lists you can, if required, omit particular Activities from the report
#When you've finished with the settings, click on Submit; a preview of your export displays
#Click on Download to export to the format you chose, and save the file.

To download the original student submissions:
#In your course area, click the link to the Assignment whose submissions you want to download.
#Click on the link to View/Grade all submissions; the Grading Table will load.
#Click the link to 'Download all submissions' (either from the ''Choose'' menu or from the Settings block), and save the file.

==Tips and Tricks==
* Want to use an Assignment activity again in another Moodle site? Use the [[Activity_backup| backup and restore]] options.
*Want to use an Assignment activity in another course you teach? Use the [[Import_course_data| Import function]] in the course administration block.
*Moodle will sometimes appear not to be uploading a resubmitted assignment - you seem to be downloading the original assignment. This is a cache issue, in short, go to ''"Tools > Clear Recent History"'' in Firefox or ''"Tools > Delete Browsing History > Delete Temporary Files"'' in Windows Explorer. The newer file will then appear.

==See also==
===Examples from [http://school.demo.net School demo site]===
[http://school.demo.moodle.net/mod/assign/view.php?id=1456 Student view of an assignment.] Log in with username 'student' and password 'moodle'. Scroll down to see the rubric and feedback.

[http://school.demo.moodle.net/mod/assign/view.php?id=1457&action=editsubmission Student view of a student submission statement] Log in with username 'student' and password 'moodle'

[http://school.demo.moodle.net/mod/assign/view.php?id=1501 Student view of group assignment grading screen] Log in with username 'student' and password 'moodle'

[http://schoolmaster.demo.moodle.net/mod/assign/view.php?id=1501 Teacher view of a group assignment grading screen] Log in with username 'teacher' and password 'moodle'.

[http://school.demo.moodle.net/mod/assign/view.php?id=1500&action=grading Teacher view of blind marking grading screen] Log in with username 'teacher' and password 'moodle'

===Other===
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=201307Advantages of using Assignment upload over emailing a document] forum discussion

[[de:Aufgabe nutzen]]
[[fr:Afficher un devoir]]
[[ja:課題を表示する]]

Using roles

2013-06-25T17:53:03Z

Joshuarbholden: Added section on adding a grader

{{Roles}}
Below are just a few creative examples of uses of roles and permissions in various settings.

==Give a student forum moderator rights==

''How'': Assign the role of non-editing teacher in the module context, via the "Locally assigned roles" link in the forum administration section of the Settings block.

[[File:Locallyassignedroles.png]]

* Enables a user to edit or delete forum posts, split discussions and move discussions to other forums
* See [[Forum moderator role]] for more details
* Consider assigning this role to two students, and guiding them in learning to facilitate a forum together; for example, they can share the "coverage" of the Forum on certain dates.

==Enable a student to grade assignment submissions==

''How'': Assign the role of non-editing teacher in the module context, via the "Locally assigned roles" link in the assignment administration section of the Settings block
* A form of peer assessment/evaluation
* Similar use: Enable a student to grade essay questions in a quiz

==Give a student the rights to approve database module entries==

''How'': Assign the role of non-editing teacher in the module context, via the "Locally assigned roles" link in the database administration section of the Settings block
* Enables a user to approve, edit and delete database module entries
* Similar use: Give a student the rights to approve glossary entries

==Allow a student to clean up saved chat sessions==

''How'': Assign the role of non-editing teacher in the module context, via the "Locally assigned roles" link in the chat administration section of the Settings block.
* Allows a user to delete chat logs for conversations which don't go anywhere
* Allows a user to save chat logs for a longer period of time
* Allows a user to put together group chat sessions

==Create an archive forum==

''How'': Override the student role in the module context, via the "Permissions" link in the forum administration section of the Settings block and remove the capabilities to start discussions and reply to posts

[[File:Forumarchive.png]]

* In an archived forum, students may no longer start new discussions, nor add replies, but may still read all the discussions
* See [[Forum permissions]] for more details
* Similar uses: Archive database, glossary or wiki

==Enable students to rate forum posts==

''How'': Override the student role in the module context, via the "Permissions" link in the forum administration section of the Settings block, and allow the capability to rate forum posts

[[File:Rateposts.png]]

* A formative assessment
* Peer evaluation
* See [[Forum permissions]] for more details
* Similar uses: Enable students to rate database or glossary entries

==Allow students to unenrol themselves from a course==

''How'': Override the student role in the course context, via the "Permissions" link in the Course administration area of the settings block and allow the unassign own roles capability

* Useful for taster courses, revision courses and any other courses which are optional
* See [[Unenrolment]] for more details

==Hide a block from guests==

''How'': Override the [[Guest role|guest role]] in the block context, via the "Permissions" link in the block administration area of the Settings block and and prevent the capability to view blocks

[[File:Blockpermissions.png]]

* See [[Blocks FAQ]] for more details
* Similar use: Hide a block from students

==Give a student unlimited time to complete timed quizzes==

''How'': Assign the role of quiz user with unlimited time in the course or module context (requires [[Quiz user with unlimited time role]] to be created by an administrator)
* Useful for particular students who require extra time in exams
* See [[Quiz user with unlimited time role]] for more details

==Enable a student to create questions==

''How'': Assign the role of question creator in the course context, via the" Permissions" link in the course administration area of the settings block (requires [[Question creator role]] to be created by an administrator)
* Enables a student to create questions which can later be used in quizzes
* See [[Question creator role]] for more details

''Warning'': Capabilities with [[Risks|XSS risks]] associated to them are allowed for the role of question creator. Thus, this role should be assigned with care.

==Assign a student the role of calendar editor==

''How'': Assign the role of calendar editor in the course context, via the "Permissions" link in the calendar administration area of the Settings block. (requires [[Calendar editor role]] to be created by an administrator)
* Allows a user to add course events to the calendar
* Useful for enabling school admin staff to add term dates etc. to the school calendar (when role assigned in the system context)
* See [[Calendar editor role]] for more details

==Provide temporary read-only access to a naughty student==

''How'': Assign the role in the course or module context (requires "can not post data" role, with selected capabilities prohibited, to be created by an administrator)
* Prevents a user from entering text anywhere whilst allowing read-only access

==Provide temporary access to a Guest Speaker in a completely online class==

''How'': Create a non-editing teaching role blocking access to everything but post to forum.

Steps to prevent guests from seeing confidential student information:
#Assign a guest role without access to grades and assignments.
#Only grant access to the guest for the minimal amount of time they need to be in the class.

==Allow an administrator and teacher to see participants, but not a student==

''How'': In a course, click on "Users" and then the "Permissions" link in the course administration area of the Settings block. Scroll down to ''view participants'' and select the prevent or prohibit button next to "Student".

[[File:Viewparticipants.png]]

* Allows teachers to see participants but not students.

==Add a grader to a course==

''How'': Use [[Enrolled users]] (if you want to allow students to see the grader) or [[Other users]] (if not) to add your grader with the [[Standard roles| role]] of "Non-editing Teacher".

* The grader will be able to assign and change any grades in the class.
* If you want to only allow the grader to grade certain quizzes and/or assignments, see [[Using_roles#Enable_a_student_to_grade_assignment_submissions|Enable a student to grade assignment submissions]].
* If you want to only allow the grader to grade certain offline assignments, you can set up an assignment with no text entry and no file uploading. (See [[Offline activity assignment]] and [[Assignment_settings#Submission_types]].)

==See also==

*[[Assign roles]]
* Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=90181 10 Useful Things a Teacher Can do with Roles?] forum discussion

[[ja:教師ができる便利なロールの使い方]]
[[de:Rollen nutzen]]

About Moodle FAQ

2013-06-25T01:23:12Z

Joshuarbholden: /* Is a 'social constructionist' approach necessary when using Moodle? */ fixed grammar

{{About Moodle}}
Below is a list of general questions many educators ask about Moodle. There are also [[:Category:FAQ|Frequently Asked Question page]]s for many specific Moodle tools.

==Starting with Moodle==

===What is Moodle?===
*Moodle is a learning management system (LMS, also called VLE), explained [http://moodle.org/about/ here]. In many ways, Moodle is like Lego, as this [http://www.slideshare.net/moodlefan/what-is-moodle-explained-with-lego-presentation Slideshare presentation] shows.

===How do I start using Moodle?===
*You can [http://download.moodle.org download] your own copy and install it on your server. If you want to try it out for yourself you can use one of the accounts on the [http://demo.moodle.net Moodle Demonstration Site]. To see a site with example content, visit the [http://school.demo.moodle.net School Demonstration site].

===Where do I get it (from)?===
*You can [http://download.moodle.org download] Moodle in a variety of packages and install it yourself or have a [[Moodle_Partners|Moodle Partner]] do it for you. Some webhosts offer Moodle as part of their hosting packages, although these vary in reliability. Other webhosts offer Moodle for free but this usually comes with conditions attached; for instance, your site might have adverts on it.

===Do I have to be really good with technology to use Moodle?===
*To use Moodle, you only need the basic web browsing skills. To install it you need a little more knowledge, but guidance is provided.

===What age of learners and educational settings is Moodle most appropriate for?===
*Moodle can be and is successfully used from early years of Primary schools ([[Primary_education|examples here]]) through to the Secondary sector ([[Secondary_education|examples]]) and universities worldwide. Moodle can be adapted to suit learners of all ages in any learning environment, including commercial training.

===Is Moodle just for online learning?===
*It can be. However, in most cases Moodle is used to support and combine face-to-face interaction with e-learning, m-learning and other forms of learning.

===Where can I get some tutorials or presentations about Moodle?===
*As well as the [[Main_page| comprehensive free documentation]] here and the [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=7246 published Moodle books], you can search through a list of [[Moodle_manuals|other manuals and resources]], a selection of [[Moodle_video_tutorials |video tutorials]] and general [[Moodle_presentations|presentations]].

===Are there any provisions in Moodle for people with disabilities?===
*Certainly. Moodle supports many assistive technologies such as screen-readers, screen-magnifiers, alternative mouse and key use, disabling of AJAX and Javascript, and more.

===Are there any comparisons of Moodle with other Learning Management Systems?===
*See the [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=2784 Comparisons and Advocacy forum] and also [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=19 Moodle buzz]

==Navigation and settings==

===How do I login to Moodle?===
*Go to the right URL (address) of the Moodle site, login with your username and password, or enter as a Guest (if allowed). Most Moodle sites will have a link to set up a new account or request forgotten details of your existing one.

===How do I get around Moodle?===
*Use the Navigation block on the side of your page. From there you can go directly to any part of Moodle you have access to.

===How do I edit things?===
*You can only edit things you have permission to edit. A regular user such as a student can only edit their [[My home]] page and possibly their [[My_Profile|profile page]]. A user with editing rights such as a teacher can use the 'Turn editing on' button or the link in the Settings block to edit items. A guest can't edit anything and an Admin you can whatever they like.

===Who can create and edit activities and other things in courses?===
*Whoever has the editing capability. Usually, it is the Teacher who creates and edits courses and activities within courses, but this role can be changed, re-named (eg. Facilitator) and given to other people too.

==Examples==

===Are there any good examples of Moodle use I can see?===
*Sure! Check this [http://embedr.com/playlist/moodle-on-the-ground little collection of videos] and flick through stories on [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=19 Moodle Buzz]. There is also an [http://school.demo.moodle.net entire school] full of examples for you to see and play with.

===How do I share ideas and learn from other educators using Moodle?===
*By participating in many ways, either through events, [http://moodle.org/forums/ forums] on Moodle.org and networks elsewhere.

===Are there any good sources for shared courses?===
*There certainly are. Via [[Community_hub|Community Hubs]] you can search for, enrol in, download and publish, shared courses..

==Learning with Moodle - pedagogy==

===What is the best way to use Moodle?===
*There is no one best way to use Moodle. Use of Moodle depends a lot on one's own educational philosophy, the context where Moodle is used and willingness to experiment and create a little (or a lot!). Moodle can be used by a strict controller using trusted material of 30 years or a free-loving e-hippie exploring new ways of teaching and learning alike.

===Can Moodle be used in different subjects (say maths, languages, art, media, science...)?===
*Yes. Moodle is used in a variety of fields. Users in some subject areas may benefit further from standard or compatible third-party modules and plugins (eg. in maths, [[TeX filter|Tex notation filter]] (standard) or [[DragMath equation editor|DragMath equation editor]] (third-party plugin)).

===How can I use Moodle to stimulate students think harder and ask good questions?===
*By asking and encouraging good questions students can wrestle with and explore through and with the help of activities, resources in a course. For example, open a forum discussion with a provocative question, start a wiki where groups collaboratively build a solution ... and more!

===How can I communicate with students by using Moodle?===
*Many ways are available. Some examples include: [[Forums]] are great for extended conversations over time, [[Messages]] for private channels, [[Chat]] for synchronous conversations, and [[Comments]] for quick notices and remarks. You can also exchange online feedback with [[Assignment]], comments to [[Blog]] posts ... and more!

===How can we share resources with Moodle?===
*Moodle offers a number of ways to share content: making files and folders available to course participants, collecting resources of any kind with a Database, attaching files to Forum posts, importing and linking resources to and from external repositories/portfolios ... and more!

===How can Moodle help people collaborate?===
*Use different activities like [[Wikis]] to create content together, [[Forums]] and [[Comments]] to exchange ideas, [[Database]] to collectively gather resources, [[Glossary]] to create shared understanding of concepts ... and more! You can [[Groups|group]] students in any of these activities to promote collaboration.

===How do I grade in Moodle?===
*[[Grades]] can be created for each [[Activity|activity]] in a [[Courses|course]] which are then added to the [[Gradebook]]. For example, grades in Assignment (all types), Quiz and Workshop activities are automatically added to Gradebook. In some activities you will have to turn grading on, such as ratings 'on' in Forum, Glossary and Database to send them to the Gradebook. You can also use the gradebook to adjust, assign or automatically scale an activity grade in your course. For some activities which don't automatically link to the gradebook, such as [[Chat]] or [[Feedback]], you have to create a new [[Grade items |grade item]] manually. There are many ways you can give feedback to students on their progress in activities without giving them a grade. In [[Assignments]] for example, you can give written feedback.

===Can students do self and peer assessment type tasks with Moodle?===
*Yes. Probably the best activity to do that is [[Workshop_module|Workshop]] module. Informally, students can evaluate (and even rate) each others' Forum posts, Glossary entries, and Database entries.

===Is a 'social constructionist' approach necessary when using Moodle?===
*Moodle has continuously been built with a particular, social constructionist [[Philosophy|philosophy]] in mind. This of course does not prevent people from using Moodle in line with their own preferred view of learning and the purpose they use it for.

==Students==

===How long does it take students to learn to use Moodle?===
*It really does not take a great deal of skill or computer knowledge to use Moodle. With basic web browsing and editing skills, students (and teachers) can use Moodle - instantly!

===What do my students need to know before using Moodle?===
*They need to know how login into the site and course, and have some basic web browsing and computer skills. For example, they need to how a mouse and keyboard works, what a link is, maybe how to attach, upload or download a file.

===Do students have to be online all the time to use Moodle?===
*Moodle '''is''' an online learning management system and at some point you and your students will have to spend some time in front of a computer. How much time depends on what you use Moodle for. Most Moodle sites are used to mix offline and online learning activities.

==Getting help==

===Is there an official support desk for Moodle?===
*Yes and no. Moodle.org forums can serve as a support desk. [[Moodle_Partners|Moodle Partners]] may charge for support desk as part of their service. Often, like the higher priced LMSs, a school or consortium will maintain a help desk.

===What do I do if I am stuck? Are there any good tutorials around?===
* Get some help at Moodle.org in a [http://moodle.org/forums/ forum] or search the [[Main_Page|Moodle documentation]] There are also many [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=7246 books and manuals] available for purchase.

===What if I have a specific question about a tool, where can I find out more?===
*Research it in Moodle documentation by using the search box on the left of every page in Moodle Docs. Click on a help icon on your Moodle site. Go to a [http://moodle.org/course/view.php?id=5 forum] dedicated to that tool. Research it by using the Search moodle.org box at the top of this page.

===How can I suggest improvements and put forward what I would like to see in Moodle?===
*[http://tracker.moodle.org/ Moodle Tracker] is by far THE best place to suggest improvement. File an issue or suggest improvement there, and let people know in a forum about your ideas. Maybe they will vote for it (which tends to get people's attention).

===Where can I get training on how to use Moodle?===
*A number of places offer training in how best to use Moodle. However, [[Moodle_Partners|Moodle Partners]] know Moodle best and can provide official training. You can also think of doing the [http://moodle.org/course/view.php?id=48 Moodle Course Creator Certificate] to improve your skills.

==Basic Moodle jargon==

Moodle uses jargon words that you may be familiar with from other, non-Moodle contexts. Within Moodle, These words have specific (and potentially different) meanings, explained below.

===What is a Course?===
* A course is the basic learning area on Moodle where a teacher displays materials for their students. See [[Courses|Courses]]

===What is a Category?===
*A [[Category|category]] is a group of things and has several meanings in Moodle. It can be a [[Add/edit course categories|grouping of courses]] by a certain criteria (Such as: Science; Junior School; Staff Area). It can be a [[Question categories|group of questions]], or a [[Using Glossary|group of entries]] in a glossary.

===What is an Activity?===
* Usually an [[Activities|activity]] is something that a student will do that interacts with other students and or the teacher. Moodle has over a dozen activity types of tools for a teacher to use in a course.

===What is a Resource?===
*[[Resources|Resources]] are items that a teacher can use to support learning, such as a file or a link. A standard Moodle comes with 6 resource types that can be added to a course.

===What is a Block?===
*Typically,[[Blocks|blocks]] are items which may be added to the left or right in a course's home page. There are dozens of different blocks that can be added to a course, or pages within a course.

===What is a Plugin?===
*Plugin is an optional extra component which can add functionality to your Moodle. Some standard Moodle plugins need to be turned on by Moodle Administrator. Many more can be downloaded from the [http://moodle.org/plugins/index.php Modules and Plugins database].

===What is a Filter?===
*[[Filters|Filters]] can be used to add links, insert multimedia players, convert Mathematical expressions or emoticons into displayed images.

===What is a Section?===
*A section is an area within a [[Course homepage|course's homepage]] that hold activities and resources. Standard [[Course formats|course section formats]] are topics, weeks, social and SCORM.

===What is a Role?===
*A role in Moodle refers to what a user is allowed (or not) to do on a Moodle site. [[Standard roles|Typical roles]] might include those of a student and teacher. A role is a collection of [[Roles and permissions|permissions]] that can be assigned to specific users in specific [[Context|contexts]]. For example, when a user is enrolled in a course as a student.

==Security==

===How secure is Moodle?===
*Moodle is designed to be very secure. However, a lot depends upon the webserver, the way Moodle is setup and regular updates of the package by the Moodle Administrator.

===Can Moodle get hacked into and student data stolen?===
*Highly unlikely if your Moodle site has up-to-date security and the site administrator has not given away the keys. Anything is possible on any website, but Moodle makes it difficult for nasty people to cause havoc.

===What if I did something wrong and accidentally broke it - could it be easily fixed?===
*Moodle can be backed-up at any point. If a backup was made 5 minutes before you broke it, chances are it can be fixed easily.

===Is my student data safe on a cheap or free webhost?===
*While you do have some control of the security of a Moodle site on a free or cheap web host, the question is: How much do you trust your web host?

===Can I track and search what people do and post in Moodle?===
*Assuming you are a teacher and it is your course, yes. Moodle Admin can do that for the entire site.

===Can I backup Moodle so I don't lose things?===
*Yes, you can backup a Moodle site or as a teacher you can back up your course and download it (if your role permits it). With appropriate permissions, you can restore your course and/or import parts of courses elsewhere on your site or beyond. This can be particularly useful with [[Community_hub|Community Hubs]] (Moodle 2.0 feature).

==Technical==

===Do I need my own server to run Moodle?===
*Moodle needs a web server. There are lots of options. See [[Moodle Partners]], [[Complete_install_packages_for_Windows| Complete install packages for Windows]] or [[Complete_Install_Packages_for_Mac_OS_X| Complete Install packages for Mac]] and [[Installation FAQ]].

===Do I have to install Moodle myself?===
*You can, guidance provided. Most organisations will have a policy on this and/or someone to perform the installation.

===Can I customise a theme and make it about our school?===
*Yes, see [[Themes]]. You can customise themes down to a single course. There are many ways to make Moodle looks great too.

===Does it matter what computer type or browser I use for Moodle?===
*Moodle works well in all standard, modern browsers and different operating systems. As with any web based application, you should be aware of your audience, their typical bandwidth and web browsers.

===Can you use Moodle from anywhere?===
*Yes, if it is on a web server attached to the internet and you have a computer, mobile device or tablet. Or if it is on a web server attached to the same intranet (internal network) as a computers or tablets which need to work it. And you can even put Moodle on a USB drive.

===Can access to Moodle be restricted to just our school?===
*Yes, several ways to do this. For example, it can be installed on your schools internal network, or limit the IPs to those assigned by your school, or only manually enroll your students are just a few ways.

===Can I access Moodle from a mobile device?===
*Yes. In Moodle 2.1 you use the [[Mobile app]] for iPhone. You can set one [[Themes|theme]] as the default but also set another theme for a mobile device and a different one for a tablet.

===I've come from a school that used a different VLE/LMS. Can I move my stuff over to Moodle?===
*Sure. Some VLE/LMS-specific activities may (not) be compatible, but you can zip your content files and unzip them in Moodle.

===I spotted a bug in the system. What do I do?===
*Go to [[Tracker]], search if the bug has already been reported and create a new issue if not.

===I have an idea for a feature and/or improvement in Moodle. What do I do?===
*Go to [[Tracker]], search if something like your idea has already been noted and worked on and suggest it if not.

==Cost==

===How much does it cost to download and use Moodle?===
*By way of its [[Dev:License|GNU General Public License]], Moodle is and will remain free to download and use in any way you like. Consider it free like a 'free puppy' that needs care and attention to grow, not free like a 'free beer'.

===How much does it cost to run Moodle?===
*Nothing to install, use and change. Of course, there are some associated costs if you have your Moodle hosted with someone, and costs associated with maintenance and training in an organisation (like any other software...). But no royalties, fees or user charges.

===How much does it cost to have Moodle hosted?===
*There are many options for hosting. Cost is usually related to services provided and capacity (eg. a university site with 10 000 users will naturally cost more to host and maintain than a small community school). Ask your local [[Moodle_Partners|Moodle Partner]] and keep Moodle going that way too!

==See also==

* [[Case for Moodle]]
* [[Decision FAQ]]

[[Category:FAQ]]

[[de:Was ist Moodle FAQ]]
[[es:FAQ acerca de Moodle]]

About Moodle FAQ

2013-06-25T01:22:27Z

Joshuarbholden: /* Can Moodle be used in different subject (say maths, languages, art, media, science...)? */ fixed grammar

{{About Moodle}}
Below is a list of general questions many educators ask about Moodle. There are also [[:Category:FAQ|Frequently Asked Question page]]s for many specific Moodle tools.

==Starting with Moodle==

===What is Moodle?===
*Moodle is a learning management system (LMS, also called VLE), explained [http://moodle.org/about/ here]. In many ways, Moodle is like Lego, as this [http://www.slideshare.net/moodlefan/what-is-moodle-explained-with-lego-presentation Slideshare presentation] shows.

===How do I start using Moodle?===
*You can [http://download.moodle.org download] your own copy and install it on your server. If you want to try it out for yourself you can use one of the accounts on the [http://demo.moodle.net Moodle Demonstration Site]. To see a site with example content, visit the [http://school.demo.moodle.net School Demonstration site].

===Where do I get it (from)?===
*You can [http://download.moodle.org download] Moodle in a variety of packages and install it yourself or have a [[Moodle_Partners|Moodle Partner]] do it for you. Some webhosts offer Moodle as part of their hosting packages, although these vary in reliability. Other webhosts offer Moodle for free but this usually comes with conditions attached; for instance, your site might have adverts on it.

===Do I have to be really good with technology to use Moodle?===
*To use Moodle, you only need the basic web browsing skills. To install it you need a little more knowledge, but guidance is provided.

===What age of learners and educational settings is Moodle most appropriate for?===
*Moodle can be and is successfully used from early years of Primary schools ([[Primary_education|examples here]]) through to the Secondary sector ([[Secondary_education|examples]]) and universities worldwide. Moodle can be adapted to suit learners of all ages in any learning environment, including commercial training.

===Is Moodle just for online learning?===
*It can be. However, in most cases Moodle is used to support and combine face-to-face interaction with e-learning, m-learning and other forms of learning.

===Where can I get some tutorials or presentations about Moodle?===
*As well as the [[Main_page| comprehensive free documentation]] here and the [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=7246 published Moodle books], you can search through a list of [[Moodle_manuals|other manuals and resources]], a selection of [[Moodle_video_tutorials |video tutorials]] and general [[Moodle_presentations|presentations]].

===Are there any provisions in Moodle for people with disabilities?===
*Certainly. Moodle supports many assistive technologies such as screen-readers, screen-magnifiers, alternative mouse and key use, disabling of AJAX and Javascript, and more.

===Are there any comparisons of Moodle with other Learning Management Systems?===
*See the [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/view.php?id=2784 Comparisons and Advocacy forum] and also [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=19 Moodle buzz]

==Navigation and settings==

===How do I login to Moodle?===
*Go to the right URL (address) of the Moodle site, login with your username and password, or enter as a Guest (if allowed). Most Moodle sites will have a link to set up a new account or request forgotten details of your existing one.

===How do I get around Moodle?===
*Use the Navigation block on the side of your page. From there you can go directly to any part of Moodle you have access to.

===How do I edit things?===
*You can only edit things you have permission to edit. A regular user such as a student can only edit their [[My home]] page and possibly their [[My_Profile|profile page]]. A user with editing rights such as a teacher can use the 'Turn editing on' button or the link in the Settings block to edit items. A guest can't edit anything and an Admin you can whatever they like.

===Who can create and edit activities and other things in courses?===
*Whoever has the editing capability. Usually, it is the Teacher who creates and edits courses and activities within courses, but this role can be changed, re-named (eg. Facilitator) and given to other people too.

==Examples==

===Are there any good examples of Moodle use I can see?===
*Sure! Check this [http://embedr.com/playlist/moodle-on-the-ground little collection of videos] and flick through stories on [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?d=19 Moodle Buzz]. There is also an [http://school.demo.moodle.net entire school] full of examples for you to see and play with.

===How do I share ideas and learn from other educators using Moodle?===
*By participating in many ways, either through events, [http://moodle.org/forums/ forums] on Moodle.org and networks elsewhere.

===Are there any good sources for shared courses?===
*There certainly are. Via [[Community_hub|Community Hubs]] you can search for, enrol in, download and publish, shared courses..

==Learning with Moodle - pedagogy==

===What is the best way to use Moodle?===
*There is no one best way to use Moodle. Use of Moodle depends a lot on one's own educational philosophy, the context where Moodle is used and willingness to experiment and create a little (or a lot!). Moodle can be used by a strict controller using trusted material of 30 years or a free-loving e-hippie exploring new ways of teaching and learning alike.

===Can Moodle be used in different subjects (say maths, languages, art, media, science...)?===
*Yes. Moodle is used in a variety of fields. Users in some subject areas may benefit further from standard or compatible third-party modules and plugins (eg. in maths, [[TeX filter|Tex notation filter]] (standard) or [[DragMath equation editor|DragMath equation editor]] (third-party plugin)).

===How can I use Moodle to stimulate students think harder and ask good questions?===
*By asking and encouraging good questions students can wrestle with and explore through and with the help of activities, resources in a course. For example, open a forum discussion with a provocative question, start a wiki where groups collaboratively build a solution ... and more!

===How can I communicate with students by using Moodle?===
*Many ways are available. Some examples include: [[Forums]] are great for extended conversations over time, [[Messages]] for private channels, [[Chat]] for synchronous conversations, and [[Comments]] for quick notices and remarks. You can also exchange online feedback with [[Assignment]], comments to [[Blog]] posts ... and more!

===How can we share resources with Moodle?===
*Moodle offers a number of ways to share content: making files and folders available to course participants, collecting resources of any kind with a Database, attaching files to Forum posts, importing and linking resources to and from external repositories/portfolios ... and more!

===How can Moodle help people collaborate?===
*Use different activities like [[Wikis]] to create content together, [[Forums]] and [[Comments]] to exchange ideas, [[Database]] to collectively gather resources, [[Glossary]] to create shared understanding of concepts ... and more! You can [[Groups|group]] students in any of these activities to promote collaboration.

===How do I grade in Moodle?===
*[[Grades]] can be created for each [[Activity|activity]] in a [[Courses|course]] which are then added to the [[Gradebook]]. For example, grades in Assignment (all types), Quiz and Workshop activities are automatically added to Gradebook. In some activities you will have to turn grading on, such as ratings 'on' in Forum, Glossary and Database to send them to the Gradebook. You can also use the gradebook to adjust, assign or automatically scale an activity grade in your course. For some activities which don't automatically link to the gradebook, such as [[Chat]] or [[Feedback]], you have to create a new [[Grade items |grade item]] manually. There are many ways you can give feedback to students on their progress in activities without giving them a grade. In [[Assignments]] for example, you can give written feedback.

===Can students do self and peer assessment type tasks with Moodle?===
*Yes. Probably the best activity to do that is [[Workshop_module|Workshop]] module. Informally, students can evaluate (and even rate) each others' Forum posts, Glossary entries, and Database entries.

===Is 'social constructionist' approach necessary when using Moodle?===
*Moodle has continuously been built with a particular, social constructionist [[Philosophy|philosophy]] in mind. This of course does not prevent people from using Moodle in line with their own preferred view of learning and the purpose they use it for.

==Students==

===How long does it take students to learn to use Moodle?===
*It really does not take a great deal of skill or computer knowledge to use Moodle. With basic web browsing and editing skills, students (and teachers) can use Moodle - instantly!

===What do my students need to know before using Moodle?===
*They need to know how login into the site and course, and have some basic web browsing and computer skills. For example, they need to how a mouse and keyboard works, what a link is, maybe how to attach, upload or download a file.

===Do students have to be online all the time to use Moodle?===
*Moodle '''is''' an online learning management system and at some point you and your students will have to spend some time in front of a computer. How much time depends on what you use Moodle for. Most Moodle sites are used to mix offline and online learning activities.

==Getting help==

===Is there an official support desk for Moodle?===
*Yes and no. Moodle.org forums can serve as a support desk. [[Moodle_Partners|Moodle Partners]] may charge for support desk as part of their service. Often, like the higher priced LMSs, a school or consortium will maintain a help desk.

===What do I do if I am stuck? Are there any good tutorials around?===
* Get some help at Moodle.org in a [http://moodle.org/forums/ forum] or search the [[Main_Page|Moodle documentation]] There are also many [http://moodle.org/mod/data/view.php?id=7246 books and manuals] available for purchase.

===What if I have a specific question about a tool, where can I find out more?===
*Research it in Moodle documentation by using the search box on the left of every page in Moodle Docs. Click on a help icon on your Moodle site. Go to a [http://moodle.org/course/view.php?id=5 forum] dedicated to that tool. Research it by using the Search moodle.org box at the top of this page.

===How can I suggest improvements and put forward what I would like to see in Moodle?===
*[http://tracker.moodle.org/ Moodle Tracker] is by far THE best place to suggest improvement. File an issue or suggest improvement there, and let people know in a forum about your ideas. Maybe they will vote for it (which tends to get people's attention).

===Where can I get training on how to use Moodle?===
*A number of places offer training in how best to use Moodle. However, [[Moodle_Partners|Moodle Partners]] know Moodle best and can provide official training. You can also think of doing the [http://moodle.org/course/view.php?id=48 Moodle Course Creator Certificate] to improve your skills.

==Basic Moodle jargon==

Moodle uses jargon words that you may be familiar with from other, non-Moodle contexts. Within Moodle, These words have specific (and potentially different) meanings, explained below.

===What is a Course?===
* A course is the basic learning area on Moodle where a teacher displays materials for their students. See [[Courses|Courses]]

===What is a Category?===
*A [[Category|category]] is a group of things and has several meanings in Moodle. It can be a [[Add/edit course categories|grouping of courses]] by a certain criteria (Such as: Science; Junior School; Staff Area). It can be a [[Question categories|group of questions]], or a [[Using Glossary|group of entries]] in a glossary.

===What is an Activity?===
* Usually an [[Activities|activity]] is something that a student will do that interacts with other students and or the teacher. Moodle has over a dozen activity types of tools for a teacher to use in a course.

===What is a Resource?===
*[[Resources|Resources]] are items that a teacher can use to support learning, such as a file or a link. A standard Moodle comes with 6 resource types that can be added to a course.

===What is a Block?===
*Typically,[[Blocks|blocks]] are items which may be added to the left or right in a course's home page. There are dozens of different blocks that can be added to a course, or pages within a course.

===What is a Plugin?===
*Plugin is an optional extra component which can add functionality to your Moodle. Some standard Moodle plugins need to be turned on by Moodle Administrator. Many more can be downloaded from the [http://moodle.org/plugins/index.php Modules and Plugins database].

===What is a Filter?===
*[[Filters|Filters]] can be used to add links, insert multimedia players, convert Mathematical expressions or emoticons into displayed images.

===What is a Section?===
*A section is an area within a [[Course homepage|course's homepage]] that hold activities and resources. Standard [[Course formats|course section formats]] are topics, weeks, social and SCORM.

===What is a Role?===
*A role in Moodle refers to what a user is allowed (or not) to do on a Moodle site. [[Standard roles|Typical roles]] might include those of a student and teacher. A role is a collection of [[Roles and permissions|permissions]] that can be assigned to specific users in specific [[Context|contexts]]. For example, when a user is enrolled in a course as a student.

==Security==

===How secure is Moodle?===
*Moodle is designed to be very secure. However, a lot depends upon the webserver, the way Moodle is setup and regular updates of the package by the Moodle Administrator.

===Can Moodle get hacked into and student data stolen?===
*Highly unlikely if your Moodle site has up-to-date security and the site administrator has not given away the keys. Anything is possible on any website, but Moodle makes it difficult for nasty people to cause havoc.

===What if I did something wrong and accidentally broke it - could it be easily fixed?===
*Moodle can be backed-up at any point. If a backup was made 5 minutes before you broke it, chances are it can be fixed easily.

===Is my student data safe on a cheap or free webhost?===
*While you do have some control of the security of a Moodle site on a free or cheap web host, the question is: How much do you trust your web host?

===Can I track and search what people do and post in Moodle?===
*Assuming you are a teacher and it is your course, yes. Moodle Admin can do that for the entire site.

===Can I backup Moodle so I don't lose things?===
*Yes, you can backup a Moodle site or as a teacher you can back up your course and download it (if your role permits it). With appropriate permissions, you can restore your course and/or import parts of courses elsewhere on your site or beyond. This can be particularly useful with [[Community_hub|Community Hubs]] (Moodle 2.0 feature).

==Technical==

===Do I need my own server to run Moodle?===
*Moodle needs a web server. There are lots of options. See [[Moodle Partners]], [[Complete_install_packages_for_Windows| Complete install packages for Windows]] or [[Complete_Install_Packages_for_Mac_OS_X| Complete Install packages for Mac]] and [[Installation FAQ]].

===Do I have to install Moodle myself?===
*You can, guidance provided. Most organisations will have a policy on this and/or someone to perform the installation.

===Can I customise a theme and make it about our school?===
*Yes, see [[Themes]]. You can customise themes down to a single course. There are many ways to make Moodle looks great too.

===Does it matter what computer type or browser I use for Moodle?===
*Moodle works well in all standard, modern browsers and different operating systems. As with any web based application, you should be aware of your audience, their typical bandwidth and web browsers.

===Can you use Moodle from anywhere?===
*Yes, if it is on a web server attached to the internet and you have a computer, mobile device or tablet. Or if it is on a web server attached to the same intranet (internal network) as a computers or tablets which need to work it. And you can even put Moodle on a USB drive.

===Can access to Moodle be restricted to just our school?===
*Yes, several ways to do this. For example, it can be installed on your schools internal network, or limit the IPs to those assigned by your school, or only manually enroll your students are just a few ways.

===Can I access Moodle from a mobile device?===
*Yes. In Moodle 2.1 you use the [[Mobile app]] for iPhone. You can set one [[Themes|theme]] as the default but also set another theme for a mobile device and a different one for a tablet.

===I've come from a school that used a different VLE/LMS. Can I move my stuff over to Moodle?===
*Sure. Some VLE/LMS-specific activities may (not) be compatible, but you can zip your content files and unzip them in Moodle.

===I spotted a bug in the system. What do I do?===
*Go to [[Tracker]], search if the bug has already been reported and create a new issue if not.

===I have an idea for a feature and/or improvement in Moodle. What do I do?===
*Go to [[Tracker]], search if something like your idea has already been noted and worked on and suggest it if not.

==Cost==

===How much does it cost to download and use Moodle?===
*By way of its [[Dev:License|GNU General Public License]], Moodle is and will remain free to download and use in any way you like. Consider it free like a 'free puppy' that needs care and attention to grow, not free like a 'free beer'.

===How much does it cost to run Moodle?===
*Nothing to install, use and change. Of course, there are some associated costs if you have your Moodle hosted with someone, and costs associated with maintenance and training in an organisation (like any other software...). But no royalties, fees or user charges.

===How much does it cost to have Moodle hosted?===
*There are many options for hosting. Cost is usually related to services provided and capacity (eg. a university site with 10 000 users will naturally cost more to host and maintain than a small community school). Ask your local [[Moodle_Partners|Moodle Partner]] and keep Moodle going that way too!

==See also==

* [[Case for Moodle]]
* [[Decision FAQ]]

[[Category:FAQ]]

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Grade categories

2013-05-31T21:12:10Z

Joshuarbholden: Updated the selections from the gradebook dropdown menu.

{{Managing grades}}
{{Improve}}
Grades can be organised into grade categories.
A grade 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: [[Edit_categories_and_items#Top_category|the course category]].

==Adding a grade category==
To add a grade category:
# Select "Categories and items" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# Click the "Add category" button near the bottom of the page.
# Give the grade category a meaningful name.
# Select grade category settings as appropriate. Advanced settings may be made available by clicking the "Show advanced" button.
# Click the "Save changes" button.

==Editing a grade category==
To edit a grade category:
# Select "Categories and items: Simple view" or "Categories and items: Full view" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
# Click the edit icon opposite the grade category you wish to edit.
# After editing the grade category, click the "Save changes" button.
[[Image:Edit grade category.png|thumb|center|Editing a grade category]]

==Settings==
If any of the following do not appear in your page, it may mean that they are set globally in your site. See [[Grade_category_settings#Forcing_settings|Forcing settings]] for more information.

=== Aggregation ===
See [[Category aggregation]] for a detailed explanation.

=== Aggregate only non-empty grades ===
Non-existent grades are either treated as minimal grades or not included in the aggregation. For example, an assignment graded between 0 and 100 for which only half the students have been graded will either count the non-graded submissions as 0 (option switched off) or will ignore them (option switched on).

Important: An empty grade is simply a missing gradebook entry, and could mean different things. For example, it could be a participant who hasn't yet submitted an assignment, an assignment submission not yet graded by the teacher, or a grade that has been manually deleted by the gradebook administrator. Caution in interpreting these "empty grades" is thus advised.

=== Aggregate including sub-categories ===
The aggregation is usually done only with immediate children, it is also possible to aggregate grades in all subcategories excluding other aggregated grades.

=== Include outcomes in aggregation ===
Including outcomes in aggregation may not lead to the desired overall grade, so you have the option to include or leave them out.

=== Drop the lowest ===
If set, this option will drop the X lowest grades, X being the selected value for this option.

Note: You can only make use of either this option or the option below `Keep Highest`. If you have both set then only `Drop the lowest` will be usable under course categories

=== Keep the highest ===
If set, this option will only retain the X highest grades, X being the selected value for this option.

Note: If you have `Drop the lowest` set to anything other than null then this option will have no effect

=== Parent Category - Item Weight ===

If your course is set to use weighted mean of grades, you can assign a weight that the grade for this category will have inside the parent category. Within all of the subcategories of the parent category, the weight values do not need to add up to 100.

=== Aggregation view ===
Each category can be displayed in three ways: Full mode (aggregated column and grade item columns), the aggregated column only, or the grade items alone.

==See also==

*[[Grade items]]
*[[Edit categories and items]]
*[[Grade category settings]] - for administrators
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUslTuZPu6A Video showing the effects of the grade category settings]
*Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=91632 Grade categories and weights 1.8 to 1.9?] forum discussion

[[fr:Catégories de note]]
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Grade items

2013-05-31T21:06:17Z

Joshuarbholden: Added a section on the basics of adding a grade item.

{{Managing grades}}
{{Improve}}
A grade item is a unit (typically an activity) where course participants are assessed through a grade or mark.
As such, a grade item is a container for grades and a set of settings applied to these grades. The settings affect the calculation and display of the grades in the gradebook reports and [[Grade_export|exports]].

Grade items may refer to course activities (e.g. a quiz, an assignment etc.), [[Outcomes]] or manual grades.

== Grade items and gradebook ==
The three building blocks of the Gradebook are:

#The grade item
#The [[Grade_categories|grade category]]
#The [[Grades|grade]]

Grade items are represented by columns in the [[Grader_report | grader report]].

Within a category, a [[Grades|grade]] summary is also a grade item itself. Summary grade items for a category can show up in reports, and can be used in the calculation of the grade for the parent category.

==Adding a grade item==
Grade items can be added in either of two ways:

# Automatically: Modules that include a form of grading, such as [[Assignments]] and [[Quizzes]], automatically generate a matching grade item. See [[Grade items#Activity-based grade items|Activity-based grade items]] for more details.
# Manually: To add a manual grade item:
## Select "Categories and items: Simple view" or "Categories and items: Full view" from the gradebook dropdown menu.
## Click the "Add grade item" button near the bottom of the page.
## Give the grade item a meaningful name.
## Select grade item settings as appropriate. Advanced settings may be made available by clicking the "Show advanced" button. See [[Grade items#Manual grade items|Manual grade items]] for more details.
## Click the "Save changes" button.

== Activity-based grade items ==
[[Image:Edit grade item.png|right|thumb|Editing a grade item]]
Modules that include a form of grading use the [[Development:Grades#API_for_communication_with_modules.2Fblocks|Gradebook API]] to generate a matching grade item, and to communicate their grades to the gradebook. The generated grade item can later be edited from within the gradebook interface (Course -> Grades -> Edit Categories and items -> Edit (hand icon) grade item), as seen in the screenshot to the right, but several of its settings will be 'frozen', only changeable from the activity module's interface. These are listed and explained below in the manual grade items section.

Here is a list of the settings that can be edited for an activity-based grade item:

*'''Item info''': General information about the grade item. Optional.
*'''Grade to pass''': Specify the minimum grade a student must achieve to be considered to have passed this item. This must be in real grades, not a percentage. Once this is done, grades will be highlighted in red for fail and green for pass in the gradebook. It doesn't work for scales, as it is yet to be fully implemented in Moodle 1.9. It is planned for use in [[Development:Course completion|course completion]] in Moodle 2.0.
*'''Grade display type''': See the [[Grade_item_settings#Grade_display_type | Grade display type doc]]
*'''Overall decimal points''': This specifies the number of decimal points to display for each grade. It has no effect on grade calculations, which are made with an accuracy of 5 decimal places.
*'''Multiplicator''': Factor by which all grades for this grade item will be multiplied, with a maximum value of the maximum grade. For example, if the multiplicator is 2 and the maximum grade is 100, then all grades less than 50 are doubled, and all grades 50 and above are changed to 100.
*'''Offset''': Number that will be added to every grade for this grade item, after the Multiplicator is applied. (Can be a negative number.)
*'''Hidden''': Whether this grade item should be hidden from students.
*'''Hidden until''': An optional date after which the grade item will no longer be hidden (i.e. a grades release date)
*'''Locked''': Whether or not to lock this grade item. A locked grade item doesn't accept changes to its settings or grades from its related module.
*'''Locked after''': A date after which the locking will be effective, usually after the grades release date.

== Grade outcome items ==
[[Image:grade_outcome_item.png|right|thumb|Editing a grade outcome item]]
These can either be generated by the creation of a new activity module (by selecting [[Outcomes]] in the module creation form), or manually created like manual grade items. A grade outcome item uses a course outcome as its grading type, so such an outcome must be made available at the course level before a grade outcome item can be manually created.

Grade outcome items can optionally be linked with an activity module. This is done automatically when a grade outcome item is generated by the creation of an activity module in which outcomes were selected. In this scenario, a grade category is also created and named after the activity module, and the grade item and grade outcome items are created as children of that category.

The settings of the grade outcome item edit form are identical to those of manual grade items, with the addition of two settings:

*'''Outcome''': The course outcome represented by this item
*'''Linked activity''': The optional activity module to which this item will be linked

== Manual grade items ==
[[Image:manual_item.png|right|thumb|Editing a manual grade item]]
These grade items are created manually through the "Edit Categories and Items" page. The "Add grade item" button is clicked, and the form appears. Several options are available here which are normally automatically filled out by the activity module creating an activity-based grade item:

*'''Item name''': The display name of your grade item
*'''ID Number''': An arbitrary string of characters used to refer to this grade item in Formulas. If set, it must be unique.
*'''Grade type''': The type of grade: None (no grading possible), Value (a numerical value), Scale (an item in a list) or Text (arbitrary text).
*'''Scale''': Which scale to use for grading: available only when the Scale grade type is selected.
*'''Maximum grade''': The maximum grade that can be given (for scales: the number of items in the scale - 1)
*'''Minimum grade''': The minimum grade that can be given (for scales: 0)

Conversely, two of the settings found in the form for activity-based grade items are absent from this form:
*Multiplicator
*Offset

==See also==
*[[Grade item settings]] - for administrators

[[ca:grade/edit/tree/item]]
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Metacourse examples of use

2012-08-21T18:53:12Z

Joshuarbholden: Incorporated section: "Merged course" / 1 course that consolidates enrollment from multiple other courses from 2.1 docs

[[Metacourse]]s can be used in many ways to fill some special needs around student enrolment. Here are some examples scenarios that may help you to understand how they work.

==Yearly intake ==
This example uses LDAP to enrol each year's intake of students onto that year's 'Course Noticeboard'. Then by making each of the Modules meta courses, and assigning their 'child' as that year's 'Course Noticeboard', the learners are automatically enrolled on all of the necessary module

Foundation Degree (2009 intake) [course category]
Course 2009 Noticeboard (uses LDAP to enrol 2009 students)
Year 1 [course category]
:Module 1 (Metacourse linked to 2009 Noticeboard_
:Module 2 (Metacourse linked to 2009 Noticeboard_
:Module 3 (Metacourse linked to 2009 Noticeboard_
:etc.

Foundation Degree (2010 intake) [course category]
Course 2010 Noticeboard (uses LDAP to enrol 2010 students)
Year 1 [course category]
Module 1 (Metacourse linked to 2010 Noticeboard_
Module 2 (Metacourse linked to 2010 Noticeboard_
Module 3 (Metacourse linked to 2010 Noticeboard_

Jerome Di Pietro in [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=39438 Teaching Strategies forum]

==1 course that sends its enrolments to 4 other courses ==
Meta courses 1-4 each have created a "child" link to Y which is a normal course. Students enrolling on Course Y are automatically enrolled in Meta courses 1-4.

[[Image:Metacourses2_en.jpg|Upsidedown Meta course Usage|center]]

For example: this would be used, when all five courses are intended to have exactly the same students.

==1 course that gets its enrolment from 4 other courses==
X is a meta course and Courses 1, 2, 3, 4 can be normal courses with standard student enrolments. These courses can contain resources, and activities that are specific to those courses, but they may also only contain enrolments. Students enrolling in Courses 1 or 2, or 3 or 4, are automatically enrolled onto Meta course X when the course is associated as a child course to Meta course X. The meta course is dependent upon its enrolments from each of the non-meta courses, the child courses.

[[Image:Metacourses1_en.jpg|Standard Meta course usage|center]]

For example, a math teacher has 2 algebra and 2 geometry courses and wants a "home room" to place things of interest for all of their students. The teacher creates a meta course called "Teacher's home room" and links the algebra and geometry courses as the "child" courses.

=="Merged course" / 1 course that consolidates enrollment from multiple other courses==
For a course with multiple sections - that is, a course where the same material is taught to students enrolled in several separate sections/courses - it is sometimes desirable to create a "merged course" that is used by students across all sections. This assumes that there is no section-specific information.

To create a "merged course," select one existing course/section that will become the merged metacourse. In that course:

#In the Settings module, navigate to Course administration -> Users -> Enrollment methods.
#Use the Add method drop-down menu to select Course meta link.
#Use the Link course drop-down menu to choose one of the other sections/courses you wish to merge into the metacourse.
#Repeat the preceding steps as necessary for additional sections/courses.

To make it clear which course is the merged metacourse, go to that course and:

#In the Settings module, navigate to Course administration -> Edit settings.
#Change the Course full name appropriately (consider "[Course Number] - [Course Name] - [Course Date]" e.g. "CSSE101 - Introduction to Computer Science - 201210")
#Click Save changes.

To hide the unused sections/courses, go to each course and:

#In the Settings module, navigate to Course administration -> Edit settings.
#Use the Availability drop-down menu to select This course is not available for students.
#Click Save changes.

==Meta course(s) used as libraries==
One or more meta courses are used as a library of resources and activities.

For example, the English department has collected material useful in writing papers, these are set up as meta courses, with links to their regular courses. Teachers can direct or embed a link to a specific reference about citations, or how to select a topic for a paper or suggested reading compiled by students. Thus an English 101 course should be one of the links in the "Writing Papers" meta course. This Meta course holds a resource called "Citations made easy", a Lesson "Select a topic" and a Wiki or database called "Suggested readings from classmates".

==Expanding the library concept==
I teach 4 sections of the same course and use a metacourse as the respository for materials used in the 4 sections. What I did was create the resource in the metacourse and then link that resource to the sections. For instance, I created a web page in the metacourse that included course notes. These course notes are in the form of 17 pdf files. The web page has links to the 17 files that were uploaded to the metacourse. Thus, the files and the web page that students will use to get to the files all exist in the metacourse.

Next I created a link to the web page in my normal courses. To do this I had to execute the web page in the metacourse and copy the address from my browser into the link I created in the normal course.

When the student is in the normal section course, they simply click on the link and the web page in the metacourse appears. The only minor problem is that the student navigation might leave them in the metacourse instead of the normal section course. To lessen this effect, I always launch links to the metacourse in a new window. Normally students understand that they need to close the popup window when they are finished with it.

There are several advantages to using metacourses in this way. First, it saves having to upload the same materials more than once. I can change a file in the metacourse and know that it is changed in all section courses. Second, it saves storage space. Third, it provides the possibility of developing learning objects or mini courses that can be quickly linked to create a new course. Finally, it would allows several teachers to pick and choose what materials to include in their section courses.

One hint, I put all activities (assignments, forums, journals, etc) in the child course, not in the metacourse. This keeps grading segregated and allows me to adjust assignments for a particular section (child).

Harold Kime [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=39438 Teaching strategies forum thread].

== Common department area==
Here is how we use metacourses for our district. Lets take a math teacher for example who teaches algebra 1, algebra 2 and geometry. This teacher wants a space (Moodle course) for each of their main subject areas. But they also want a generic space where they can post things for all of the students in all of their classes. This is where a meta course comes into play.

We create a Moodle course for algebra 1, another course for algebra 2 and a 3rd course for geometry. Now we enroll all of the appropriate students into each of these courses. Next we create a meta course and to the meta course we assign the first three courses created. Now by default, all of the students in the first three courses are automatically enrolled in the meta course. Now anything posted in the metacourse is available to all the students in the other three courses.

Randy Orwin [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=39438 Teaching strategies forum thread].

==A Diploma course sends its enrolment to meta courses==
A Diploma program involves courses D1, D2, D3, and D4. In this case, you would create a "Diploma" course as a normal course (non-meta course). You would then designate programs D1 through D4 as meta courses and each would show the Diploma course as the "child" course. When a student enrolls in "Diploma", he or she will be automatically enrolled in courses D1 through D4.

==Core subjects with fees based upon course groupings==
You have 3 course subjects and want to offer them for sale in different packages. The meta courses will contain your subjects. A normal (non-Meta course) course will be the gateways to the meta course(s). Course 1 is your gold package. Meta course A, Meta course B and Meta course C all link to Course 1. The silver package is Course 2. Meta courses A and B link to Course 2. You have also set up individual courses that have a link from a specific Meta Course to them. Thus you can offer and charge for each meta course separately or in some combination.

==One course, different student fees==
You have one "Wizbang" course but want to charge a different rate based upon the type of user. The "Wizbang" meta course is the one that holds the content. You create a courses for "Wizbang for Large Corporation users" and "Wizbang for Small Business users". The Wizbang meta course is linked to "Introduction to Wizbang for Large Corporation users" and "Introduction to Wizbang for Small Business users" courses. You can charge a different fee for the non-meta courses, maybe brand or put some unique material in each "Introduction" course but the students will be able to take the same "Wizbang" course.
==Two courses, combined teaching space==
We have automatic enrolment into Moodle using a custom enrolment plugin. We often have two or more courses that are taught together by the same teacher, in the same classroom with the same lectures. We create a metacourse for both courses and add the two individual courses as child courses.
==Student Support Space for degree programme==
We have a programme which is fully online. We have created a metacourse as a support space which includes information for the programme, specific forums for groups of students (using groups & groupings) and Social Forums to allow students to interact with each other.

==See also==

[[Category:Examples of use]]