Moodle: Grading Interface: Assignment vs Gradebook

Overview

Grading in Moodle can be done in the assignment activity or in the gradebook. Assignment-side grading is more focused on giving feedback while gradebook-side grading emphasizes score input. Learn how to grade with each interface and decide which works best for your needs.

Assignment

Grading with the feedback menu

Use the feedback menu to leave written comments and upload feedback files to student submissions. 

1. Click on the assignment on the course page
2. Click View all submissions
3. Click the blue Grade button next to a student submission
4. Input a Grade
5. Write Feedback comments in the text box
6. Upload Feedback files in the file upload area
7. At the bottom of the screen, you may choose to Allow another attempt to reopen the assignment for the student
8. Click Save changes or Save and show next
9. To return to the assignment submissions page, click View all submissions in the top left corner

Quick grading on the assignment submissions page

Use quick grading to input scores and brief comments for all students at once.

1. Click on the assignment on the course page
2. Click View all submissions
3. Scroll down and click the Quick grading check box
4. Text boxes will appear beside the blue Grade buttons in the Grade column for each submission. Input grades in these boxes
5. On the right side of the screen (you may need to horizontally scroll right), type comments in the Feedback comments text boxes
6. When finished, scroll down and click Save all quick grading changes

Edit options

The Edit drop down menu to the right of the blue Grade button has several important options. Some options may or may not appear depending on the submission status.

• Grade/Update grade: The same function as the blue Grade button
• Revert submission to draft: Un-submits submission on assignments if drafts are enabled
• Prevent/Allow submission changes: Lets you lock/unlock submissions for a student
• Grant Extension: Lets you extend the assignment due date to a specific day
• Allow another attempt: Allows the student to have another attempt

To edit submissions for multiple students at once:

1. Select students by clicking the checkbox in the leftmost column
2. Click the With selected… dropdown menu. Two additional options are available in this menu
   1. Download selected submissions: download submission content for each selected student as a zip file
   2. Send feedback files: upload additional files to the selected students' feedback sections
3. Click Go

Gradebook

Grading assignments from the gradebook side is less focused on feedback and more centered on the values that ultimately go into the gradebook. 

Accessing assignment grading in the gradebook

1. From the course page, click Grades tab and select Grader Report from the menu in the top left.
2. Click the dropdown menu on the top left of the screen
3. Scroll down and click Single view
4. Click Grade items
5. Click Select grade item and find the assignment

Overrides and Exclusions

The two key settings on this screen are Overrides and Exclusions:

• Overrides allow you to set the student's gradebook grade such that it cannot be edited outside of the gradebook
• Exclusions removes the assignment grade from a student's gradebook category calculations. An excluded assignment will not impact the student's grade

Bulk Insert

Finally, there is a Bulk insert option at the bottom of the screen. To bulk insert:

1. Click the Perform bulk insert checkbox
2. Choose to fill either all grades or only empty grades
3. Input a grade
4. Click the Save button

Questions?

If you need further assistance or have specific questions that aren't covered in this article, please don't hesitate to reach out for personalized support by submitting a Moodle Support ticket. 

Acknowledgment 

Created by Aleksander Prasolov '24, 10/14/21. Last modified by Sam Johnson-Lacoss, 10/27/23.