How to Configure and Use the Moodle Grade Book

All grades for each student in a course can be found in the course grade book. The grader report collects items that have been graded and allows the instructor to view, change, and sort them into categories. The grade book also allows the instructor to calculate totals in various ways using excel type formulas. Various default options are set at the system level by the site administrator. These options can be overridden by the course instructor. Grade Book Definitions: Category a group for grades, e.g. Assignments, Exams, Participation, Research Papers Graded item any activity for which a student will be graded Aggregation the method used to calculate a single grade from a group of grades Aggregate only non-empty grades graded items that have not been assigned a value (graded) are not counted in the final grade calculation. The setting is enabled by default. Aggregation coefficient the weight given to a grade category or graded item

Grade Book Best Practices: The Moodle grade book provides many options for maintaining course grades and for providing each student a private view of their progress in a course. The flexibility of the grade book also adds some complexity. This tutorial will cover the most frequently used grading methods. If you plan to place assignments into categories, it is best to configure the grade book before creating assignments. Prior to setting up the grade book: 1. Decide on an aggregation method (how the grades will be calculated/averaged). 2. Create grade categories (assignments, exams, quizzes, research papers, participation, etc.). a. Each category can have its own aggregation method. b. Category sections in the grade book can be collapsed to make entering grades easier. c. Categories can be created at any time, even after the graded items are entered. It will save time and effort if created before entering grade items. 3. Decide whether or not to grant extra credit. Aggregation Methods: Four basic aggregation methods are listed below. Moodle has other aggregation methods, but most of them have little relation to how grades are commonly calculated. You may use a different method for each category and for the overall grade. 1. Mean of Grades each graded item is converted to a fraction. The overall grade is a simple average of the fractions converted to a percent value. The result is the sum of all grades divided by the total number of grades. Each item (regardless of points) has the same weight. 1

Assignment 1 70/100 Assignment 2 20/80 Assignment 3 10/10 Category Max = 100 Aggregation Method: (0.7 + 0.25 + 1.0)/3 = 0.65 0.65 * 100 = 65% 2. Weighted Mean of Grades Each graded item is assigned a weight. This weight is used to determine the importance of each item in the overall mean. Assignment 1 70/100, Weight = 10 Assignment 2 20/80, Weight = 5 Assignment 3 10/10, Weight = 3 Sum of Weights = 18 Category Max = 100 Aggregation Method (0.7 *10 + 0.25 * 5 + 1.0 * 3)/18 = 0.625 0.625 * 100 = 62.5% Note: For Weighted Mean of Grades a. The weights may be fractions (.25, .5) or integers (25. 5). However, be consistent in your use of fractions or integers. b. Weights do not have to add up to 100 (although in most cases they will). Either way the weighted calculation is correct. 3. Simple Weighted Mean of Grades The difference between Weighted Mean of Grades and Simple Weighted Mean of Grades is that the weight is calculated as Maximum Grade Minimum Grade for each item. A 100 point assignment has weight of 100, and a 10 point assignment has weight of 10. In essence, this means that the weights are determined by the number of points possible in the graded item. This is similar to Sum of Grades. The difference is that Simple Weighted Mean of Grades displays percents (when the category max is 100) and Sum of Grades displays points. Assignment 1 70/100 Assignment 2 20/80 Assignment 3 10/10 Category Max = 100 Total Possible Points: 100 + 80 + 10 = 190 Aggregation Method: (0.7 * 100 + 0.25 * 80 + 1.0 * 10)/190 = 0.526 0.526 * 100 = 52.6% 4. Sum of Grades The grade is based on total points each graded item has a number of points that contribute to the total points. A students grade is the number of points earned divided by the total points. This is the only aggregation type that does not convert the grades to percentages 2

internally (normalization). The Maximum grade of the associated category item is calculated automatically as a sum of maximums for all aggregated items. Assignment 1 70/100 Assignment 2 20/80 Assignment 3 10/10 Total Possible Points (100 + 80 + 10) = 190 Aggregation Method 70 + 20 + 10 = 100 100/190 = 0.526 0.526 * 100 = 52.63% Note: For Sum of Grades: a. The faculty grade book shows points totals, not percent. The student report shows point and percent. b. It is not possible to ignore empty grades an empty grade is counted as zero (0). Creating Course Categories: 1. Log into your course 2. Click the Grades link in the Administration block The initial grade book view, the Grader Report contains a course total, but no categories and no graded items. Student names are listed in the left column. You may sort the names by clicking on the First name or Surname links.

3. To

create

categories

for

your

grade

book,

click

the

drop-down arrow at the top left of the window and select Full view under Categories and items.

4. Select the overall aggregation method for the course by clicking the drop-down arrow in the Aggregation column. The overall aggregation method determines which option fields appear for the subcategories.

More options for the course category can be accessed by clicking the edit icon ( Actions column.

) in the

The overall category name will remain as the course name unless you change it here. You can also select the aggregation method from the drop-down arrow here. 5. Click Save changes at the bottom of the screen.

Show or Hide Advanced Options (indicated by a green asterisk *)

6. To add sub categories, click the 7. If necessary, click the

button at the bottom of the screen. button to display all options.

8. In the Grade category section, enter a Category name (e.g. Assignments, Exams).

9. Select the desired Aggregation method. 10. Select the desired Grade item options.

11. Click Save changes Continue to add categories. Each category added will be a subcategory under the overall course category. The course shown below has three course subcategories Assignments, Exams, and Participation.

12. To return to the Grader report view, click the select Grader report. Adding Graded Items (Assignments, Exams, etc.): There are two ways to add graded items to the grade book.

drop-down arrow and

a. Preferred method create an assignment or other graded activity on the course main page in one of the course weeks or topics. This is the recommended method because the assignment appears in the course schedule, the due date is entered in the course calendar, and the assignment is automatically added as a graded item in the grade book. Be sure to select a category when creating graded items. b. Second method add a graded item from within the grade book. This is known as a Manual grade item. This method will not create a link for the students on the course main page. To add a Manual grade item: i. Go to the grade book. ii. Click the drop-down arrow and select Full View underneath Categories and items. iii. Click the Add grade item button. iv. Enter the information for the grade item and then click Save changes. Grade Book Views: The grade book can be viewed in three levels of detail. Full view this detailed mode is represented by a (-) appearing to the right of the Category title . Toggle through the modes by clicking the icon. Sample Grader Report Full View

Aggregates Only this mode is represented by a (+) displayed to the right of the category title . Toggle through the modes by clicking the icon.

Sample Grader Report Aggregates Only View

Grades Only this mode is represented by a circle (o) displayed to the right of the category title . Toggle through the modes by clicking the icon.

Sample Grader Report Grades Only View

Entering Grades: Moodle provides several ways to enter assignment grades. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. In Moodle 1.9, there are three basic methods to enter grades. Grader Report grades are entered into the grader report in a spreadsheet editor. Quick Grading provides submission date and file details. Quick grading makes it easy to provide written feedback to each student. Detailed Grading provides the most assignment details and allows the grader to view comments a student may have submitted.

Grader Report: 1. Access the Grader Report by clicking Grades in the Administration block 2. 3. 4. 5. Click at the top right of the screen Enter grades in the correct column. Tab or click to the next row Click Update when finished. 7

Advantages: Decimal grades can be entered, e.g. 85.6. It is easy to navigate between assignments and individuals. It provides a big picture view of the impact of individual grades on total category grades and course totals. Its fast you may tab between column fields. It is easy to override an automatically calculated grade, e.g. a quiz or category total. It is the only way to grade manual grade items items that are not linked from the main course page.

Disadvantages: All grades entered in the grader report are flagged as overridden grades and may cause some confusion with other actual overridden grades. If there are multiple assignments in a course, linking a student name on the left to an input field on the far right become difficult. It is difficult to provide meaningful feedback to each student. There is no provision to view submitted work for online or uploaded assignments. Assignment submission date, large photos, and other details are not displayed.

Quick Grading: Quick Grading is a method that makes it easier to provide feedback to students and view notes students may have submitted with their assignments. 1. Click the assignments title on the course main page. 2. Click View submitted assignments in the upper right corner of the page.

3. Note the Available Options in Quick Grading

a. You may download all submitted files. b. You may enable grade email notices to the students. 8

c. You may enable Quick Grading, (please do). d. You may provide written comments to each student. e. You may view Notes submitted by each student (the notes setting is available in the Advanced uploading of files assignment type). Advantages: It is easy to associate the student with the grade being entered. It provides a convenient method for providing feedback to each student. It displays most submission detail (large photos, dates, link to submitted files). Tabbing and typing in grades facilitates quick and easy grade entry. It works well when grading a stack (physical or virtual) of the same assignment.

Disadvantages: It forces grades to whole numbers (45, 78) and does not accept real numbers (45.5, 78.3). It does not allow for easy cut-and-paste from submissions to feedback.

Detailed Grading: Detailed Grading provides the most detailed level of assignment grading. It is similar to Quick Grading, but the focus is on an individual student. 1. Click the Grade button in the Quick Grading view.

2. Note the Various Options in Detailed Grading a. The grade is entered from the box in the upper right corner. b. Written feedback may be given in the response box. c. A grade email notice may be sent to the student. d. The instructor may attach a file for the student. e. The instructor may view Notes submitted by the student.

Advantages: The focus is on an individual student (less chance of grading error). The instructor may view comments submitted by each student. A file can be attached for the student. Written feedback may contain html codes for font color, highlights, font type, bold, etc.

Disadvantages: It forces grades to be whole numbers (45, 78) and does not accept real numbers (45.5, 78.3). It can be fairly slow to grade multiple students as there is no quick tab sequence to provide a grade, feedback, and navigate to the next students submission.

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Grade Book Tips Highlighting Rows and Columns When your grade book starts to grow, it can be hard to keep track of which student and which assignment a cell refers to. Highlighting solves that.

Clicking on empty space in the cell that contains the students name will toggle the highlighting of that entire row Clicking on empty space in the cell at the top of each column will toggle highlighting of the entire column

Note: this requires Javascript to be enabled in your browser. Sorting by Columns You can sort by any column. Click the symbol near the top of a column to sort by that column. This will change the symbol to a single down arrow. Clicking again will sort lowest-to-highest, changing the symbol to an up arrow. The arrows will toggle between these two states until you click on a different column. The student name columns do not have the the report to sort. symbol. Clicking on either the first or last name will cause

Unsorted Sorted

Unsorted

Sorted

Highlighting Scores That Are Either Adequate or Unacceptable in Red and Green In the grader report, Turn editing on and click on the edit icon beneath the category name. You will see the option to enter a Grade to pass. Once set, any grades falling above this will be highlighted in green and any grade falling below will be highlighted in red. Note: The highlighting will not show if the Grader report is viewed in the editing mode. Horizontal scrollbar A horizontal scrollbar enables teachers to scroll grades in the grader report. Note: This feature is not available for IE6 users or for users who have the screen reader setting in their profile set to Yes. Mouse-over Tooltips Each grade cell in the table has a tooltip indicating the user and grade item to which the grade belongs. 11