Grading Guide in Moodle

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Grading guides in Moodle allow instructors to use criteria-based assessment forms to grade student work consistently, quickly, and transparently. The grading guide allows the instructors to enter comments for and a mark up to a maximum score for each criterion. You can also provide a description of the criterion to available to students before their submissions to help them understand the expectations of the assignment and create a frequently used comments bank to assist in the grading process.

You can enable a Grading guide for Assignments and Forums using Whole forum grading.

Enter the assignment or forum where you want to add a grading guide.

Select the Advanced Grading option from the secondary navigation.

Set the Change active grading method to drop-down to Grading guide.

NOTE: The Grading method default is Simple direct grading until you create a Grading guide option.

Select Define new grading form from scratch or Create new grading form from a template.

If you would want to reuse a grading guide, you can choose Create from Template, or you can duplicate the assignment that uses the grading guide you want to use. Otherwise, create a new grading guide from scratch.

Enter the assignment or forum.

Select the Advanced Grading option from the secondary navigation.

NOTE: Make sure you have already changed your active grading method to Grading guide.

Click the Define new grading form from scratch button.

NOTE: If you already have a grading guide template, select Create new grading form from a template.

Enter a Name and a description.

NOTE: We recommend that you include the term, course prefix and number in the name (i.e. 2024/FA HA-120), so you can easily search for the grading guide in the future.

Click on Click to edit criterion name.

Enter a short name that identifies the characteristic or component of the assignment or forum that is being accessed.

Click on Click to edit beneath Description for students. 

Enter a short paragraph or sentence that clarifies the expectations needed to achieve maximum points for this criterion.

NOTE: You will be able to see both the Description for students as well as the Description for graders when grading so only recommend editing the Description for graders if you want to include special information you don’t want students to see.

Click click to edit beneath Maximum score to enter the points possible for the criterion.

To add criteria, click Add criterion button.

NOTE: Repeat Steps 4-6 until your grading guide is complete.

OPTIONAL: If you regularly use the same comments when marking, adding them to a frequently used comments can save you time when grading.

Click Add frequently used comment button.

Click on Click to edit.

Enter the frequently used comment.

Repeat these steps as necessary.

Click the Save button.

If you have already created a grading rubric that you would like to use or modify for an assignment or forum, select Create new grading form from a template.

NOTE: Any changes you make to the rubric will only affect this assignment or forum.

Enter the assignment or forum.

Select the Advanced Grading option from the secondary navigation.

NOTE: Make sure you have already changed your active grading method to Grading guide.

Click the Create new grading form from a template button.

Check the include my own forms checkbox.

Enter the name of the grading guide you wish to use with quotation marks.

NOTE: If you use quotation marks around the name (i.e. “2024/FA HA-120”), Moodle will look for the complete phrase and make the search more successful.

Click the Search button.

Locate the grading guide you want to use.

Click the Use this form as a template link below the correct grading guide.

Click the Continue button.

If you want to modify the grading guide for this assignment or forum, click on Edit the current form definition button.