Including & Excluding Empty Grades in Moodle

There are primarily two methods of displaying/calculating grades.

(1) Exclude empty grades

This is the method we usually recommend. It gives your students a consistent running total for their grades based on the number of points they have attempted at a specific point in time. It works well for instructors who keep their grades updated in Moodle throughout the term, and it tends to be preferred by most students. For this to properly calculate, the instructor must fill in a zero point (0) for every assignment that was not, or will not be give credit in order to count against the student. This is why percentages can appear artificially inflated if each grade item does not have a numerical value and shows a dash (-).

(2) Include empty grades

This method works well if an instructor doesn't wish to enter in a zero grade as Moodle treats each empty grade as a 0; however, students do not receive an accurate grade percentage displayed in Moodle until the end of the term. As you can imagine, this can cause problems (and sometimes panic!) as students do not have an accurate idea of where they stand in the course.

Both methods must be fully understood by the instructor, and grades should be regularly updated as doing so will best benefit the student.

Moodle Course Dashboard - Needs Grading

Instructor question:

I'm still getting used to using the grader in Moodle (I used the Joule Grader in the past).  The Joule grader "told me" when someone resubmitted an assignment.  I assumed that the one we have now would do the same.

I knew that this student resubmitted because she told me she did.  But I can't see anything in the assignment submission list that tells me there has been an updated submission.  (I'm concerned because I know that other students have resubmitted as well and now I don't know how I can track them).

Can you take a look and let me know if there is a way to figure this out?

Click the settings gear in the upper right > Open Reports:

Then select the "Needs Grading" report from the "Dashboard" dropdown menu:

See the informational notice Moodle provides:

The Needs Grading report shows you what is ready for grading. It lists each student and their activities that need grading. Select Grade now to grade the activity.

Use the filters to expand or narrow your view. You can send messages to students you see in the report. Select the student and the option to send them a message from the Action menu.

Negative Grades In Moodle

We had an interesting question from an instructor:

What I want to be able to accomplish is to be able to input negative values to a grade.

In my class attendance is required. If students have perfect attendance they receive 10 points extra credit toward their final grade; if students miss 1 or 2 classes, their final grade does not change; and any subsequent absence, they are penalized by 10 points to their final grade. 

What I want to do on Moodle is to add an assignment and call it attendance where the value of the assignment is 0. I would add 10 points if students earned perfect attendance, and I want to subtract points from the final grade when they've missed more than 2 classes. However, Moodle will not allow me to input a negative value. How do I subtract points from the final grade without taking it out of previous assignments? Is there a way for you to allow me to input a negative value?

Eric Bryant delivered a terrific solution:

As this is a somewhat unique way of grading, my suggestion would be to create a manual gradebook item that has a maximum value of '0' and a minimum value of '-10'.  

You will also need to create an additional manual gradebook item with a minimum value of '0' and a maximum value of '10' and mark this one as Extra Credit.

Setting it up this way will allow you to assign every student on the first gradebook item a zero (100%), or something less up to -10 points (0%).  The second gradebook item will be for those students earning the extra credit.  As the item is marked as extra credit, only those earning 10 points will be awarded and it will not impact any other student grades.

Remember these two manual gradebook items should not be within a category if you use categories.

Moodle Course Total Not Visible

When students tell you they can see grades for individual graded activities, but not a category total or the course total grade, and you have confirmed that the totals are set to be visible on the Categories and Items page, you need to check adjust the following gradebook preferences:

1. Go into the Moodle course Gradebook and click the "Setup" tab. This will take you to the Categories and items page.

2. On the Setup sub-tabs, click Course grade settings. This will take you to the Course grade settings page.

3. Under "User report," change the Hide totals if they contain hidden items drop-down menu to the appropriate setting:

4. Click the "Save changes" button.

Moodle Gradebook Basics: Weighting

Moodle Gradebook Basics: Categories