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Basic Moodle Assignment Settings

These settings are for the Assignment activity in Moodle.

Updated over a month ago

Click the assignment activity link on your course page. Click the Settings tab once you are in the activity. Scroll down to the section you want to modify and click it to open it.


General: Describe the Assignment

Know what the terms mean:

Name = Title of the assignment as it appears on the course page and in the gradebook

Description = Information about the assignment; appears on the assignment page

Display description on course page = Shows the instructions on the course page before students click the course page assignment link

Activity Instructions = The actions you would like the students to complete for the assignment

  • This is only shown on the submission page, where a student edits and submits their assignment

Additional Files = Files for use in the assignment, such as answer templates, may be added here

Only show files during submission = reveals when files display to the student

  • Ticking this box only shows files when students click submission. Otherwise, files will be shown on the assignment and submission page.

Recommended Settings

Standard Assignment

Name – Enter a descriptive title e.g., Chapter 3 Essay

Description – Provide assignment instructions and expectations

Display description on course page – Unchecked

Activity Instructions - Copy description here, leave blank, and/or add additional details such as a rubric

  • Remember that students don’t see Activity Instructions until they click on the Add submission button. Important assignment details should be added to the Description box.

Additional Files - Optional

Only show files during submission - Optional


Availability: Establish Assignment Deadlines

Know what the terms mean:

Allow submission from = Earliest date and time a student can submit work

Due date = Target deadline – a late flag appears after this date

Cut-off date = No submissions

  • If set, submissions will not be accepted after this date without an extension. If not set, submissions will be accepted after the due date.

  • The cut-off date should be set to the assignment due date when no late work is accepted. If late work is accepted, do not set a cut-off date or set it to your preferred late work window.

Remind me to grade by = Instructor-only reminder

Always show description = Shows assignment description even before it’s open


Submission Types

Know what the terms mean:

Online text = Students type submissions directly into a Moodle text box

File submissions = Students upload a file, such as a Word document

Maximum number… = Each student can upload X number of files per assignment

Maximum submission size = The Site upload limit is 100MB, select a size limit at or below the Site upload limit

Accepted file types = Instructor may select file types such as Word docs, JPEGs, etc

  • If this field is left blank, then all file types are accepted. Click “Choose” to select specific file types

Considerations

  • Use online text only for short assignments to help prevent loss of student work in the event of technical/internet issues.

  • File submissions: Limiting the file types could prevent a student from submitting due to resource constraints.

  • Add to Online text: If online text submissions are enabled, a word limit box will appear that can be set to limit the maximum number of words a student can submit in the text box.


Feedback Types

Know what the terms mean:

Feedback comments = Instructor writes comments in a textbox

Annotate PDF = Instructor marks up a student’s submission using the built-in editor

Feedback files = Instructor uploads a separate feedback file

Comment inline = Instructor comments inside Online text submissions

  • The submission text will be copied into the feedback comment field during grading for the ability to provide feedback inline with their submission.

Recommended Setting: Leave everything checked (Default)

Change Comment inline to “Yes” only if you want this feature.


Submission Settings: Determine the Number of Chances

Know what the terms mean:

Require students to click the submit button = Students must confirm submission

Require that students accept the submission statement = Students must agree to an honesty statement

Allowed attempts = Number of times a student may submit the same assignment.

Grant attempts = Appears when Allowed attempts is set to >1.

  • Manually

    After each attempt, you can grant the next one through the Submissions page or the Grader page.

  • Automatically

    After each attempt, the next is granted automatically after grading.

  • Automatically until pass

    After each attempt, the next will be granted automatically after grading, until the student achieves the passing grade.

Common Scenarios

Standard assignment

Require students to click submit button – Choose Yes

Require that students accept submission statement – Completely optional

Allowed attempts – Leave this set to 1 (default)

One-time revision assignment

Require students to click submit button – Choose Yes

Require that students accept submission statement – Completely optional

Allowed attempts – Set to 2

Practice assignment (Resubmit until correct)

Require students to click submit button – Choose Yes

Require that students accept submission statement – Completely optional

Allowed attempts – Set as Unlimited


Group Submission Settings

To configure Group Submission Settings, first set up Groups in the course: Participants > Groups (Optional)

Know what the terms mean:

Students submit in groups = If enabled, students will be divided into groups based on the default set of groups or a custom grouping

  • A group submission will be shared among group members and all members of the group will see each others’ changes to the submission.

  • Note: You cannot change this setting if there are submissions already.

Require group to make submission = One student submits on behalf of the entire group

  • If enabled, users who are not members of a group will be unable to make submissions.

Require all group members… = Each member must click Submit

  • This setting must be used together with the ‘Require students to click the submit button’ in Submission settings.

  • If enabled, all group members must click the submit button for the group submission to be considered as submitted. If disabled, any group member can click the submit button.

Grouping for student groups = Limits which (created) groups can submit

  • This is the grouping that the assignment will use to find groups for student groups. If not set, the default set of groups will be used.

Common Scenarios

Standard Assignment

Leave the default setting – No

The other setting options only open if the initial setting is changed to Yes.

One submission per group with team leader

Students submit in groups – Yes

Require group to make submission – Yes

Require all group members to submit – No

Grouping for student groups – Select grouping if applicable and already set up

Group project with shared accountability

Students submit in groups – Yes

Require group to make submission – Yes

Require all group members to submit – Yes

Grouping for student groups – Select grouping if applicable and already set up


Notifications

Know what the terms mean:

Notify graders about submissions = Sends a notification to the instructor when the assignment is submitted

Notify graders about late submissions = Sends a notification when a student submits after the due date

Default for ‘Notify student’ = Allows for student notification after submission

  • When grading each student or updating grades, ‘Notify student’ will be ticked by default.

Note: If email notifications are disabled in account profile, instructors and students may not receive these emails.


Grade

Know what the terms mean:

Grade type = Points, scale, no grade assigned

Maximum grade = Total points possible or scale used – New scales can be created from Grade > Scales

Grading Method = How grading is performed, e.g., direct, rubric…

  • If the Rubric or Grading Guide is selected, once finished with the rest of the settings on this page, click ‘Save and Display.’ This takes you to the Advanced Grading screen for setup of the Grading Guide or Rubric.

Grading category = This setting controls the category in which this activity’s grades are placed in the gradebook

Grade to pass = Minimum score required to pass

  • The value is used in activity and course completion, and in the gradebook, where pass grades are highlighted in green and fail grades in red.

Anonymous submissions = Hides student names during grading

Hide grader identity = Students do not see grader names. Note that this setting has no effect on the comments box on the grading screen.

Use grading workflow = Enables marking statuses, e.g., draft, released…

Note: Grading an assignment does not mean a student can see the grade. That is controlled by releasing the grade if using the grading workflow.

Common Scenarios

Standard Points-based Assignment (Most Common)

Grade type – Points

Maximum grade = Enter total points, e.g., 100

Grading method – Simple direct grading

Grade category – Select the (already established) category in Grade setup that this falls under, e.g., Writing

Grade to pass – Optional

Anonymous submission – No

Hide grader identity – No

Use grading workflow – No


Common Module Settings

Know what the terms mean:

Availability = Determines whether the assignment is visible on the course page

'Hide on course page' also hides the grade in the student’s gradebook and will not count against them in their view.

ID number = Used for gradebook calculations – not typically used

Force language = Force activity to be displayed in selected language

Include in course content download = Allows or prevents inclusion in content downloads

Group mode = Determines how groups function within the assignment e.g., No groups, Separate groups, Visible groups

Grouping = Restricts the activity to a specific set of groups – must be pre-configured

Common Scenarios

Standard Assignment

Availability – Show on course page

ID number – Leave blank

Force language – Do not force

Include in course content download - Yes

Group mode – No groups

Prepare in advance (hide until ready)

Availability – Hide from students

ID number – Leave blank

Force language – Do not force

Include in course content download - Yes

Group mode – No groups


Restrict Access

Know what the terms mean:

Activity completion = Require students to complete (or not complete) another activity

Date = Opens or hides access until a specific date and time

Grade = Requires a minimum score or completion of another item

Group = Limits access to specific groups

Grouping = Limits access to a specific grouping within a group.

User profile = Restricts by role or profile attribute

WARNING: For reasons such as providing accommodations to specific students, make sure to protect their privacy by adhering to FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act).

Level = Limits access based on level of the user when using Level Up XP in the course.

Restriction Set = Add a set of nested restrictions to apply complex logic

Common Scenarios

  • Alternate assignment for one student for disability accommodation purposes

  • Completion of a previous activity before moving forward

  • Team or group assignments


Completion Conditions

Know what the terms mean:

Completion tracking = Determines whether students manually mark an activity complete or whether completion is automatic based on certain conditions

Require view = Students must click and view the assignment

Require grade = Assignment is marked complete when grade is entered

Require submission = Assignment is marked complete once the student submits work

Require passing grade = Student must receive at least the grade set in “Grade to pass” for completion

Set reminder in Timeline: This allows you to set a reminder for students to work on this activity

  • It will appear in the Timeline block on their Dashboard as “Assignment requires action.”

Common Scenarios

Standard Assignment

Completion tracking – Students can manually mark the activity complete

Note: Use this setting when the completion box is intended as a personal organization tool for students

Standard Assignment with Verified Completion

Completion tracking – Show activity as complete when conditions are met

Require submission – Checked

Require view – Not necessary

Require grade – Optional

Require passing grade - Optional


Tags

Tags allow students and teachers to connect different types of content on the site. Type the tag you want in the "Enter tags" block and hit Enter. The tag will apply to this assignment and will appear above the dropdown.


Turnitin Plagiarism Plugin Setting

Enable Turnitin = Select Yes if you want to enable the Turnitin Plagiarism Plugin for this activity.

Display Similarity Reports to Students = Allows you to display Turnitin similarity reports to student users. If set to yes, the similarity report generated by Turnitin is available for the student to view.

When should the file be submitted to Turnitin? = Submit file when first uploaded or Submit file when student sends for marking.

Allow submission of any file type? = This setting will allow any file type to be submitted.

Store Student Papers =

  • No Repository:

    Turnitin is instructed not to store submitted documents in any repository. Turnitin will only process the paper to perform the initial similarity check.

  • Standard Repository:

    Turnitin will store a copy of the submitted document only in the Standard Repository. By choosing this option, Turnitin is instructed to only use stored documents to make similarity checks against any documents submitted in the future.

Note: If you do not select "Yes" for at least one of the "Check against..." options below then a Similarity report will NOT be generated.

Check against stored student papers = Check against the Turnitin student paper repository when processing Originality Reports for papers.

Check against internet = Check against the Turnitin internet repository when processing Originality Reports for papers.

Check against journals, periodicals and publications = Check against the Turnitin journals, periodicals and publications repository when processing Originality Reports for papers.

Report Generation Speed =There are three options for this assignment setting

  • ‘Generate reports immediately: Submissions will be added to the repository immediately (if repository is set).’ generates the Originality Report immediately when a student makes a submission and later submissions will compare against previous submissions if the submissions were stored in a repository.

  • ‘Generate reports immediately: Submissions will be added to the repository on due date (if repository is set).’ generates an Originality Report immediately when a student makes a submission and collusion check will occur on the due date of the assignment if the submissions were stored in a repository.

  • ‘Generate reports on due date: Submissions will be added to the repository on due date (if repository is set),' generates the Originality Report and performs a collusion check on the due date of the assignment if the submissions were stored in a repository.

The following settings allow the instructor to exclude certain items in student papers from being checked for matches when generating Similarity Reports. These settings can be overridden in individual Similarity Reports:

Exclude Bibliography

Exclude Quoted Material

Exclude Small Matches: Words or Percentage

Exclusion Value = Type the Small Match value you want to exclude in the Similarity Report.

Attach a rubric to this assignment = Use Turnitin's built-in rubrics to assist in grading assignments. You can duplicate rubrics or create one from scratch.


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