Moodle Assignments

Moodle Assignment allows academics to create a submission inbox page for students to submit work for grading.

It is a commonly used assessment activity that allows for grading, inline feedback, and group assessment.

Academics commonly choose between Moodle Assignment and Turnitin when creating submission assignments. The main difference is that Assignment has group assessment and Turnitin has Similarity Checking. For Turnitin assignment instructions, visit our Turnitin Support page.

Create an Assignment

Assignments are added as an activity through the "Add an activity/resource" button and choosing "Assignment".

Assignment Settings

The assignment provides many settings to specify how it will behave. Settings can be updated after the creation of the assignment but it is recommended not to make large changes after submissions have been made.

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Create an offline Assignment

Is is also possible to create an assignment in Moodle that doesn't involve students submitting online text or uploading submission files.

This can be done when teaching staff wants to provide information about the assignment for students via a link on the Moodle course home page, but conduct that assignment outside Moodle - for example, mark students on a face-to-face presentation to the class.

Setting up an assignment in this way also creates a grade item in the Gradebook so that the offline assignment can be marked there, and feedback entered, or feedback files uploaded for delivery to students with their marks using Moodle.

Granting Extensions

Extensions can be granted for certain students under appropriate circumstances. Assignment allows extensions to be granted to individual students and groups of students.

Allowing Resubmission

If the "Require students to click the submit button" has been enabled, students cannot edit their submission after the 'submit' button is pressed.

Academics can revert a student's submission to a draft state so they can make changes and resubmit.

If the 'Submit button" feature is enabled, submissions should have a cut off date in the future (or a student should be given an extension) and only then student's submission can be reverted to a draft.

Submit Assignment on behalf of a Student

In some cases, students may experience issues submitting an assignment. Academics can submit on behalf of the student if they have a copy of the submission.

Assignment Marking

Once the assignment has been set up and students have made submissions, it is time for staff to mark the papers. Moodle Assignment contains features that allow for differing marking workflows, catering to the preference of academics.

It is recommended to hide the assignment activity or hide the assignment marks in gradebook to prevent students from seeing their marks and feedback during the marking process. Otherwise, by default assignments will release marks as they are provided. Hiding the assignment activity is the easiest to perform but will also restrict students from entering the assignment to make submissions, so may not work in cases with special considerations.

Marker Allocation

Marker allocation can be enabled during setup to divide marking between staff with any desired arrangement, or within tutorial classes.

Mark student submissions

Submissions can be graded once the assignment is set up and students have submitted. The grading page allows staff to provide marks, annotations, and feedback to students.

Download Multiple Assignments

Staff can download assignments to mark or provide feedback to students' paper externally or offline.

Upload Feedback Files

If submissions were downloaded and marked externally, it can be re-uploaded to Moodle as a feedback file.

Creating a Group Assignment

The Moodle Assignment activity can also be set up to accept Group submissions. Group assignments require some additional set up as compared to the regular Moodle assignment.

Click 'Get Started' to view the step-by-step guide.

FAQ

How to enable marking workflow?

The Marking workflow feature in Moodle assignment allows markers to set a workflow status for submissions, which reflects the current state of marking and will hide feedback from students until it is 'Released'. If you have enabled and then disabled workflow in your activity, marks may stay hidden until they are regraded.

To enable/disable marking workflow:

1. Click 'Turn editing on' towards the top right of your course.

2. Click 'Edit' and 'Edit settings' beside the assignment.

3. In the 'Grade' section, set 'Use marking workflow' to 'Yes'/'No'.

Once marking workflow is enabled, the following options are available in the Grade window:

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How to bulk upload student submissions?

Only the Assignment activity allows bulk upload of submissions. Instructors can bulk upload:

1. In the settings block of the assignment activity, click 'Bulk upload submissions'.

2. Upload a zip file containing student papers named with their zID.

3. Click 'Save changes'.

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How to get notified when students submit assignment?

Notifications for student submissions can be enabled/disabled in the Assignment activity settings. To do this:

1. Click 'Turn editing on' in your course home page.
2. Navigate to the 'Edit settings' menu for your assignment.
3. In the 'Notifications' tab, make your selections from the dropdown menus.
4. Once you are done, click 'Save and return to course'.

Note: Turnitin Assignments do not have the same feature.

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Can I set up an assignment as a peer review activity?

You cannot do peer assessment in Moodle assignment, there is no feature to allow students to assess each other. The UNSW Workshop can be used for students to give peer feedback of each other’s submissions.

I can't see 'Edit Submission' button.

If an academic wants to upload students' paper on their behalf, but the due date has already passed, there are few steps needed to enable it.

1. Cut off date must be set in the future or a student must be granted extension

2. If paper is already submitted, it must be reverted to draft status

3. Edit submission button then appears and can be used to upload another paper on behalf of student (or allow students to upload themselves)

4. If 'Submit button' setting is applied, academic uploading paper on student's behalf should also click 'Submit for grading' button