How to Configure and U the Moodle Grade Book
Table of Contents
I. Definitions (2)
II. Grade Book Suggestions (2)
III. Decide on Aggregation Methods (3)
IV. Create Grade Categories (4)
1. Enter the Categories and Items Edit Mode (4)
2. Set the Overall Cour Aggregation Method (4)
3. Add Categories (5)
4. Return to the Grade Book (6)
V. Add Graded Items (assignments, exams, etc.) (6)
VI. Grade Book Views (7)
VII. Enter Grades in the Grade Book (8)
1. Introduction: (8)
2. Grade Book Spreadsheet: (8)
3. Quick Grading: (9)
4. Detailed Grading: (10)
Floyd E. Saner, Ph.D.
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I.Definitions
Category – a group for grades, e.g. Assignments, Exams, Participation, Rearch Paper. Graded item – any activity (assignment, exam, quiz) for which a student will be graded. Aggregation – the method ud to calculate a single grade from a group of grades. Aggregate only non-empty grades – graded items that have not been assigned a value are not counted in the final grade calculation. This tting is enabled by default.
Aggregation coefficient – the weight given to a grade category or graded item
II.Grade Book Suggestions
The Moodle grade book provides many options to maintain cour grades and to provide each student a private view of their progress in your cour. The flexibility of the grade book also adds some complexity. The purpo of this tutorial is to provide veral simple configurations that cover the most frequently ud grading methods.
It is best to configure the grade book before you create assignments, especially if you plan to place assignments into categories.
Before you t up your grade book:
1.Decide on aggregation methods (how grades are calculated/averaged).
2.Create grade categories (assignments, exams, quizzes, rearch paper, etc.)
a.Dividing graded items into categories has at least two advantages: 1) each
category can have its own aggregation method, and 2) category ctions in the
grade book can be collapd to make entering grades easier.
b.Categories can be created at any time, even after graded items are entered.
However you will save time and effort if you create your categories before you
enter graded items.
3.Decide whether or not to grant extra credit. Adding extra credit is possible in Moodle,
but it is difficult to configure. If possible, try to avoid including extra credit in the grade book calculations.
III.Decide on Aggregation Methods
Decide on your grade 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 usually calculated. You may u 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.
Grades: A1 = 70/100, A2 = 20/80, A3 = 10/10, category max 100:
Aggregation: (0.7 + 0.25 + 1.0)/3 = 0.65 → 0.65 * 100 = 65%.
2.Weighted mean - Each graded item is assigned a weight. This weight is ud to determine
the importance of each item in the overall mean.
Grades: A1 = 70/100, weight 10; A2 = 20/80, weight 5; A3 = 10/10, weight 3;
category max 100; sum of weights 18:
Aggregation: (0.7*10 + 0.25*5 + 1.0*3)/18 = 0.625 → 0.625 * 100 = 62.5%.
Note: for Weighted Mean
a.The weights may be fractions (.25, .5) or integers (25, 5). However, be consistent in
your u of fractions or integers.
b.Weights do not have to add up to 100 (although in most cas they will add to 100).
Either way the weighted calculation is correct.
3.Simple weighted mean - The difference from Weighted mean is that weight is calculated as
Maximum grade - Minimum grade for each item. A 100 point assignment has weight 100; a
10 point assignment has weight 10. In esnce this means that the weights are determined by
the number of possible points in a graded item. This is similar to “Sum of grades” (e
below). The difference is that “Simple weighted mean” displays percents (when the category max is 100) and “Sum of grades” displays points.
Grades: A1 = 70/100, A2 = 20/80, A3 = 10/10, category max 100; total points: 190
Aggregation: (0.7*100 + 0.25*80 + 1.0*10)/190 = 0.526 * 100 = 52.6%
4.Sum of grades - Grade is bad on total points – each graded item has a number of points
that contributes to the total points. A student’s grade is the number of points earned divided by the total points.
This is the only type that does not convert the grades to percentages internally
(normalization). The Maximum grade of the associated category item is calculated
automatically as a sum of maximums from all aggregated items.
Grades: A1 = 70/100, A2 = 20/80, A3 = 10/10: total possible points: 190
Aggregation: 70 + 20 + 10 = 100/190
Note: For Sum of Grades
a.The faculty grade book shows point totals, not percent. The student report shows
point totals and percent.
b.It is not possible to ignore empty grades – an empty grade is counted as zero.
IV.Create Grade Categories
Access the grade book by clicking on the “Grades” link in
the Administration block (left side of your cour page).
The initial grade book view contains a cour
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.
1.Enter the Categories and Items Edit Mode
To create categories for your grade book, click
in the drop box, “Choo an action” (located in
the upper left corner)
Click “Categories and items” in the list.
2.Set the Overall Cour Aggregation Method
Before you create subcategories (e.g.
assignments, exams), the first step is to
t the overall aggregation method. How
do you want to aggregate (calculate the
combined grade) from all your
subcategories? Click the edit icon
beside the cour category name.
The reason you want to t the overall aggregation method before creating subcategories is that the overall aggregation method determines which option fields appear for the subcategories.
The Overall Category Name will remain as the cour name unless you change it here.
Select the desired aggregation method from the drop list.
Click the blue ball for helpful information. S C elect or delect other options as desired.
lick “Save changes” when finished.
3. Add Categories
Categories show as folders . In this ca there is only one category – the overall cour
category. The name of this category is usually the cour name.
To add subcategories, click the “Add category” button
.
Click “Show Advanced” (top right) to show all options.
Enter a category name (e.g. Assignments, Exams).
Select a desired aggregation method. Select or delect other desired options. NOTE: If your overall cour aggregation
method is Weighted Mean, there will be a place
to enter the category weight (e below)
Click “Save changes” when finished. Show or hide advanced options
Continue to add categories. Each category added will be a subcategory under the overall cour category. The cour shown at the right has three cour categories: Assignments,
Exams, Rearch Paper.
