Adding an Assignment to Your Course

1. Add an Assignment

Step 1:      On your course page, click Turn editing on. Editing icons and links will appear.

Step 2:      Locate the Section/Topic on your course page where you want to add the assignment

Step 3:      At the bottom-right of the Section, select + Add an activity or resource. The Activity Chooser will open.

Step 4:      In the Activity Chooser, select Assignment and select Add. The Adding a new Assignment page will open.

Step 5:      Configure the assignment options, using the options below.

Step 6:      Select Save and return to course to return to your main course page, or Save and display to view the assignment page.

2. Assignment Options

General

·       Assignment name (required)
This name displays as a link on your course page. Use something unique that clearly identifies this assignment from other course activities. We also recommend keeping the name short.

·       Description (optional)
Enter a summary of the assignment and instructions. You can also Display description on course page. Select this option to display the description underneath the assignment link on your course page. (This works best if the description is very concise).

·       Additional files
Drag and drop files into the upload field to append the file to the assignment Description.

3. Availability

Select Enable check boxes to set a date and time for:

·       Allow submissions from
Determines when students can begin to submit to the assignment.

·       Due date
Determines when the assignment will be due. The due date will show in the course Calendar and within the Activities block.  I think students will see this in their calendars too, but I haven’t checked.

·       Cut-off date
Determine when the assignment will no longer accept submissions.

4. Submission Types

·       Submission types
With Online text, students can enter text directly into an editor.  If File submissions are enabled, students can upload one or more files. I am not a fan on Online text as it is difficult to mark on line.
Note: To create an offline assignment where students will submit or perform work outside Moodle, leave both Online text and File submissions unchecked. You can still provide a description, set due dates and have the activity show in the course Calendar and Gradebook.

·       Maximum number of uploaded files
If file submissions are enabled, each student will be able to upload up to the set number of files for their submission.

·       Maximum submission size
If file submissions are enabled, each upload cannot exceed this file size per upload. (If a student can upload multiple files, and uploads files at different times, the total can exceed the set size.)

·       Accepted file types
To limit submissions to specific file types, select Choose. A pop up window will open with file type options. Select the file types for which submissions you would like to enable by clicking the radio button next to each option. Select Save changes.  Personally I only allow .pdf files, as they can be marked online without needing to be downloaded.

5. Feedback Types

·       Feedback comments
If enabled, graders can provide written feedback for each submission. These comments are from the grader to the student.

·       Feedback files
If enabled, graders can upload files containing feedback when marking assignments. For example, you can upload marked up student submissions, documents with comments, or spoken audio feedback.

·       Offline grading worksheet
If enabled, graders can download a spreadsheet to enter grades without having to be logged in to Moodle. This can be useful if you anticipate grading while disconnected from the Internet.

·       Comment inline
If enabled, the submission text will be copied into the feedback comment field during grading, making it easier to comment inline or to edit the original text.

6. Submission Settings

·       Require students to click submit button
If enabled, students will have to select a Submit button to declare their submission as final. Requiring the Submit button allows students to keep a draft version of the submission on the system.
Note: If this setting is changed from No to Yes after students have made submissions, the submissions will be regarded as final.

·       Require that students accept the submission statement
If enabled, students will be shown a statement that declares they are submitting their own original work and they will have to accept the statement before their submission is processed.

·       Attempts reopened
If set to Manually, the student's submission can be reopened by a teacher. If set to Automatically until pass, the student's submission is automatically reopened until the student achieves a passing grade (defined under Grade).

·       Maximum attempts
The maximum number of submission attempts that can be made by a student. After this number of attempts has been made, the student's submission will not be able to be reopened.

7. Group Submission Settings

·       Students submit in groups
If enabled, students submit work together in groups rather than individually. For example, a group of students can submit one file that contains the joint work of the group.

·       Require all group members submit
Normally one student would submit for a group. But if enabled, all students in a group must individually select the Submit button in order to acknowledge that they are signing off on their group's joint submission.
Note: This option is available only if both the Students submit in groups and Require students select submit button are enabled.

·       Grouping for student groups
If Students submit in groups is enabled, this option shows which Grouping has been selected in the Common module settings.

8. Notifications

·       Notify graders about submissions
If enabled, instructors and TAs will receive an email alert whenever a student makes a submission. I would disable this.

·       Notify graders about late submissions
If enabled, instructors and TAs will receive an email alert whenever a submission is made after the due date.

·       Default setting for "Notify students"
In SmartEcole this is now automatically disabled.  You can change this so that students will be automatically informad of their grade as you finish with their paper, but I would seriously advice against it.  You are better off finishing your marking before setting the default setting to Notify Students. This can also be changed manually during grading Note: Students always receive an email confirmation when a submission is successfully made.

9. Grade

·       Grade
Select the Grade Type:
None - The assignment will be ungraded and worth no points.
Point - Grade out of a simple number of maximum points – in SmartEcole this is automatically set up at 20, although you can change that if you wish. Enter the maximum possible score for the assignment in the Maximum points field.
Scale -  Select a preset or custom Scale from the Scale drop-down.

·       Grading method
Choose Simple direct grading, Grading guide or Rubric to grade the assignment.  A Rubric is a marking grid, that you need to set up once you have created your assignment?

·       Grade category
Select a Category in your gradebook under which you would like the assignment grade to be placed

·       Blind grading
If enabled, instructors and TAs will not see student names when grading submissions.

·       Use grading workflow
When enabled, grading an assignment goes through a series of workflow stages: Not graded, In grading, Grading completed, In review, Ready for release, and Released

·       Use grading allocation
When both Use grading workflow and Use grading allocation are enabled, instructors can assign specific graders to grade specific students.

10. Common Module Settings

·       Availability
Set whether or not an assignment is visible to students. By default, new assignments are set to Show on course page. (This is comparable to using the Hide/Show icon for the activity on your course page.)

·       ID number
Setting an ID number identifies the activity for grade calculation purposes. See Custom Grade Formulas in he Moodle Gradebook [13].

·       Group mode, Grouping
These options let you restrict the assignment to particular groups of students you have already created in Moodle.

11. Restrict Access

Use Restrict Access settings with care and check for conflicts with other settings you may have made for the activity. Settings may prevent students from accessing restricted content, including grades and due dates.

To add restrictions on accessing the activity, click Add restriction... The Add restriction window will open, containing the following options:

·       Date. To prevent access until (or from) a specified date and time.

·       Grade. To require students to achieve a specified grade.

·       User profile. To control access based on fields within the student’s profile.

·       Restriction set. To add a set of nested restrictions to apply complex logic.

If you have groups in your course, you will see the following additional options:

·       Group. To allow or prevent access only students who belong to a specified group, or all groups.

·       Grouping. To allow or prevent access only students who belong to a group within a specified grouping.

12. Edit an Assignment (Warning)

While it is possible to edit the content or setup options for an existing assignment, proceed with caution if the assignment has already been released to students -- especially if students have already submitted work. Changing some options, such as changing participants when working with groups, may result in student confusion and the loss of work that has already been submitted.

To change the content or options for an assignment you have already created:

1.      On your course page, click Turn editing on (green pencil icon, top right).

2.      Next to the Assignment to update, click Edit, then select Edit Settings. The assignment's settings page will open.

3.      The Updating Assignment page shows you the same options available on the Adding a new Assignment page. Here you may change your assignment options as needed, including changing the due date, grading information, and availability of the assignment.

4.      Once you have finished making the necessary changes, click Save and return to course at the bottom of the page.