Gradebook improvements

Note: This page is a work-in-progress. Feedback and suggested improvements are welcome. Please join the discussion on moodle.org or use the page comments.

Moodle 2.0

Improving the usability of the Moodle gradebook is one of the main targets for Moodle 2.0 and 2.1.

This evolving page summarises a number of proposed changes, derived from community suggestions in the Gradebook forum and in the tracker, with special attention given to the issues with the most votes.

We would really like your feedback on:

1. The changes already proposed here
2. Any issues that you feel are not yet addressed

We would also like your contributions to Gradebook uses.

Please join the discussions and post your suggestions in the Gradebook forum.

Stage 1

Edit categories and items advanced settings

May 2009 progress update: Stage 1 has now been completed, with improvements implemented in Moodle 1.9.5 and 2.0. See Gradebook improvements in Moodle 1.9.5 for details.

Easier editing of categories and items

• MDL-16913 New "Edit categories and items" page, with hide/show advanced settings, moving of multiple items between categories and quick editing of multiple settings
• MDL-17829 Combine category grade item and category edit forms

Report improvements

Simple grader report from LSU

• MDL-18228 Add horizontal scrollbar in grader report to scroll grades while students stay fixed (as used in the LSU simple grader report)
• MDL-17991 New visual organization for gradebook user report (including category nesting, ranges)

User report

Better gradebook navigation

• MDL-18004 Implement tabs navigation
• MDL-12631 Grader report breadcrumbs are too long

Simplifying the gradebook

• MDL-18321 Change gradereport/overview:view default setting to 'Not set' for the role of teacher and non-editing teacher in new installs
• Simplifying the gradebook by changing permissions - documentation on how to provide a simplified gradebook for teachers by changing certain permissions
• MDL-12380 Add an admin setting for selecting which aggregation types are available
• MDL-18523 Only display the 'Synchronise legacy grades' button when necessary

Groups access

• MDL-18119 Restrict teachers to their own groups when accessing User Reports
• MDL-15617 Showing all groups in gradebook when user restricted to one

Further bug fixes and improvements

• MDL-14961 Adding a help button next to the "Synchronise legacy grades"
• MDL-13417 Outcomes report is available even when outcomes are disabled
• MDL-12380 Allow grades over 100%
• MDL-14831, MDL-15033 and MDL-16363 Issues relating to the "Sum of grades" aggregation type

Stage 2

Nov 2010 progress update: Stage 2 has now been completed, with improvements implemented in 2.0. Items that were not completed have been bumped to stage 3 (Moodle 2.1)

For more details about these items see MDL-19131 Gradebook 2.0 - META.

Centralisation of grade item settings in gradebook

• MDL-19133 Module forms remain the same, but they draw their "Grade" section from gradebook code

Gradebook help

• Review current Gradebook help files and check for consistency
• MDL-13960 Make full use of title attributes in the gradebook

Stage 3

For more details about these items see MDL-25423 Gradebook 2.1 - META and Gradebook 2.x architecture

Simplifying the gradebook further

• MDL-18049 Investigate ways of reducing the number of settings in the gradebook. Currently only grade category settings can be forced and hidden by an admin. See Gradebook settings review.
• MDL-20250 Add admin settings for disabling gradebook features such as multiplicator, offset, calculations

Outcomes

• Review outcomes and how they are implemented in the gradebook. MDL-10685 is part of this.
• MDL-16103 Have an icon for outcomes on the edit categories and items page

Centralisation of grade item settings in gradebook

• Hide, Lock, Maximum Grade and other grade item settings in module forms are saved in the gradebook tables, not in module tables

Scales Refactoring

• MDL-17258 Custom non-numeric scales to have assigned numeric value in gradebook

Further changes under consideration

Animated grade statistics report

Student grades quick edit from LSU

• MDL-15050 Grades entered in 1.9 gradebook should show in student activity report
• MDL-13501 Animated grade statistics report (GSoC project by Daniel Servos)
• MDL-12203 Bulk message direct from the gradebook
• MDL-18229 Add grade item and student grades quick edit feature to the grader report (with thanks to developers at the LSU for their quick edit screens)
• MDL-18163 Provide summary statistics in the gradebook
• MDL-16801 Create a grade history GUI
• MDL-25424 Provide a reason why a category/course total is not being displayed

See also

• Gradebook uses
• Gradebook improvements in Moodle 1.9.5
• Development talk:Gradebook improvements
• Gradebook settings review
• MDL-18083 META: Gradebook improvements - Stage 1
• MDL-19131 Gradebook 2.0 - META
• MDL-20249 Gradebook 1.9.6 - META
• Grades for archive specification