Moodle Teacher Guide: Organizing the Gradebook

Use the Moodle gradebook to record, organize and calculate your course grades. Final grades calculated in Moodle can be manually entered into Banner. 

• Add items to the gradebook
• Organize the gradebook into categories
• Customize the look of the gradebook
  • Limit the number of grade columns displayed
  • Sort the gradebook by column
  • Display non-passing grades in red
  • Limit the number of students displayed
  • Hide grade items from students
  • Hide the entire gradebook from students
  • Highlight students' failing grades
  • Force the gradebook to recalculate after making changes

Most activities automatically create a new column in the gradebook when they are added to the Moodle course.  For more information, see the section in this guide on Graded Activities.  

You can also manually add a grade to your gradebook.  Use this option when you want to grade an activity that doesn't automatically get added to the gradebook or for student work done outside of Moodle. 

Manually add a grade item to the gradebook

• Administration block > Grades

• From the drop down list at the top of the page
  • Categories and items > select Set up > Catelogies and Items

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on

• Enter an Item name
• Configure other options, if necessary
• Click Save changes

Return to the Moodle Gradebook Organization menu

Advantages to organizing the gradebook into Categories include:

• Individual categories can be weighted so they count toward a certain percentage of the final grade

• Individual categories can be hidden in the Grader report so that scrolling is minimized

Create categories

• Administration block > Grades

• From the drop down list at the top of the page
  • Categories and items > select Set Up > Categories and Items

Scroll to the bottom of the page and click

• Add a Category name
• Configure other options, if needed
• click Save changes 

Add grade items to a category

• In the Edit categories and items view > check the box beside the items you wish to move
• In the Move selected items to drop down list > select the appropriate category

• Click Save changes

Return to the Moodle Gradebook Organization menu

The Moodle Grader report can become difficult to view when there are numerous grade columns and students. Use the following techniques to customize the look of the gradebook.

Limiting the number of grade columns displayed

• Grades > Grader report
• Click the toggle button beside the name of the grade item at the top of the column 

• click on the button to select grades only , grades and category total , or category total only 

Sort entire gradebook by any column

• Grades > Grader report
• click the Turn editing on button
• click the down and up arrows beside the grade item at the top of the column to toggle between sorted and unsorted

• sort the student name column by clicking on the First name or Surname link at the top of the column

Display non-passing grades in red

• Grades > Grader report
• click Turn editing on
• click the Edit button in the column heading

• Category total > set threshold in Grade to pass (may have to click Show more...)

• click Save changes
• click Turn editing off
• grades below the passing grade will be displyed in red and grades above the passing grade will be displayed in green

Limit the number of students displayed in the Grader report

• Grades > Grader report
• Under the Administration block > Grade administration > My report preferences > Grader report
• General section > configure Students per page
• Click Save changes

Hide grade items from students

• Grades > Categories and items > Simple view

• Click the eye button   under the Actions column of the grade you want to hide
• Click Save changes at the bottom of the screen

Hide entire gradebook from students

• From the course homepage
• Under the Administration block > click Edit settings
• Appearance section > select "No" from the Show gradebook to students drop down list
• Click Save changes

How to highlight failing grades in the gradebook

• Turn editing on in Grader Report
• Click on the Edit icon at the top of the grade column
• Under Grade item section > click Show more...
• Set a Grade to pass - any grade under this value will be highlighted in red (passing grades will be highlighted in green)

How to force the gradebook to recalculate after making changes

• click the Turn editing on button twice

Return to the Moodle Gradebook Organization menu