Importing Grades Into Moodle

Here is the basic process of importing grades from Google Sheets into a Moodle course shell.  Similar processes can be used if MS-Excel is the spreadsheet of choice.  Obtain the CSV file from MS-Excel by performing a “Save as” and selecting “CSV (MS-DOS) (*.csv) in the “Save as type:” drop-down.

The best way to import a spreadsheet of your students' grades into Moodle is to first download your Moodle gradebook as an Excel spreadsheet. This will give you something to build on in Excel that will map back to the Moodle gradebook.

Begin with your Moodle course enrolled with students and Moodle assignments in place.

1. In your Moodle course Administration block, click on the Grades icon.  From the Grades screen, click on the Export tab.  Next, select the “Excel spreadsheet” link below Export.  
   
2. In the Options box, select the “Include feedback in export” if you want the spreadsheet to include columns for grade comments.  Typically, one will want all assignments to be exported, so ensure that all items in the “Grade items to be included” box has those items you want.
   
   
   
   At the bottom of the page, click the “Submit” button.
   
3. On the next screen, select the “Download” button to download the MS-Excel spreadsheet to your computer.
   

You now have a spreadsheet that is nicely matched to your Moodle gradebook.  This will make importing your grades much easier and save time by having Moodle create a template, pre-populated with your assignments and students.

Moodle will allow two types of files to be imported into the gradebook: 1) CSV which is the default, and 2) XML.  This procedure only deals with importing CSV files.

1. As a logged in editor of a Google Sheets grade sheet, click on File → Download as → Comma-separated values.  The file will download to your internet browser default location (often the “Downloads” folder).
   
   
2. As a logged in editing instructor in Moodle, navigate to your course that is awaiting grades.  In the Administration block, click on the Grades icon.  From the Grades screen, click on the Import tab.
   
3. Upload the saved CSV file into the dash-lined rectangle area either by dragging and dropping the file from the computer file manager, or by browsing for the file by clicking on the “Choose a file...” button.  Wait until the green status bar disappears and only the full file name is shown (see image below).  Click on the “Upload grades” button to proceed.
   
   
   
4. This next screen is a preview of the CSV file and allows one to correctly map the columns in the CSV to the Moodle gradebook.  Verify that the preview looks correct.
   
5. LBCC students login to Moodle using their LBCC provided student eMail address.  This is Moodle’s “Username”.  In the “Identify user by” box, ensure that the data is as follows:
   Map from → “LBCC Email Address”
   Map to → “Username”
   
6. In the “Grade item mappings” box, select which assignments you wish to upload.  The column to the left, and in bold text represents the grade column header found in the CSV file.  Match bold text header to the drop-down list of gradebook column headers found in the Moodle gradebook.  NOTE:  Depending on how the spreadsheet was created, these headers may not match as they do in the above image.  Be extremely careful that these columns match, or you may end up with grades imported into the wrong column.  
   
7. When all grade item mappings have been selected, click the “Upload grades” button located at the bottom of the page.  Grades can be ignored if desired; not all items must be mapped.
   
8. If there was a problem with the mappings, an error will usually occur right away and provide a small error message that you must troubleshoot.  If the process is taking some time, that usually means that the grades will import successfully.  Be patient and wait for the “Grades imported successfully” message to appear.