Purpose:
This article explains how instructors can use activity completion settings to help monitor student participation. Activity completion is a support tool. It does not replace instructor judgment or the college participation process.
Important: For participation tracking, focus on student actions such as submitting work, attempting a quiz, or posting in a discussion. Avoid relying on view-only completion as evidence of participation.
What activity completion does
Activity completion allows you to set conditions that students must meet for an activity to be marked complete. This can make participation easier to monitor because Moodle can show whether students completed the required course activities.
Examples of meaningful activity include submitting an assignment, attempting a quiz, or posting in a discussion. Opening a file, viewing a page, or logging into Moodle is a passive activity and may not show active participation.
Step 1: Confirm completion tracking is enabled in the course
Go to your course.
Select Settings from the course menu.
Expand Completion tracking.
Ensure Enable completion tracking is set to Yes.
Ensure Show activity completion conditions is set to Yes.
Save changes if changes are made.
Note: Turning on completion tracking does not automatically track participation. Completion rules must still be configured inside individual activities.
Step 2: Add completion conditions to meaningful activities
After confirming completion tracking is enabled in the course, open the activity you want to track and add completion requirements.
Open the activity.
Select Settings.
Expand Completion conditions.
Select Add requirements.
Choose requirements based on student action, not just viewing.
Completion Conditions for an Assignment
Recommended completion settings
Activity type | Recommended condition | Why this helps |
Assignment | Require students to submit the assignment. | Shows that the student completed a course-related action. |
Quiz | Require an attempt or grade. | Shows that the student engaged with an assessment. |
Forum | Require students to post, reply, or start discussions as appropriate. | Shows active participation in a course discussion. |
Interactive activities | Use completion or grade-based requirements when available. | Can provide evidence of active participation when the activity records completion. |
Page, File, URL
| These are considered resources. Add view-only or manual self-completion requirements.
| Viewing content is considered passive participation; however, adding a completion condition can help students track the resources they have accessed. |
Panopto Video Activity | In addition to adding a grade based on an embedded quiz or percentage viewed, configure the completion condition to “Receive a grade.” | Videos are generally considered passive content; however, these additional configurations can create measurable engagement and provide better evidence of participation. |
Settings to avoid for participation tracking
Some completion settings are useful for student progress, but they may not be strong evidence of participation.
View the activity as the only completion condition
Manual self-completion when it is used as the only evidence of participation
Step 3: Use the Activity completion report
After activities have completion conditions, instructors can use the Activity completion report to review student completion across configured activities.
Go to the course.
Select Reports.
Open Activity completion.
Review completion status across students and activities.
Tip: This view can be more efficient than checking each activity individually because it consolidates configured activity completion into a single report.
Suggested course setup pattern
To make participation easier to monitor, consider requiring regular Moodle activities that provide clear evidence of student action. This does not have to mean extra work for students. It can be built into existing coursework.
Use required assignments, quizzes, or discussions at regular points in the course.
Configure completion based on submission, attempt, post, reply, completion, or grade as appropriate.
Avoid relying only on passive resources such as pages, files, URLs, or announcements.
Use the Activity completion report to help identify students who may need outreach.
Important limitations
Activity completion only tracks activities with configured completion conditions. It will not automatically capture all participation, especially participation that happens outside Moodle or during face-to-face class meetings.
Instructors should continue to use their judgment and follow the college process for monitoring participation and reporting non-participation. Activity completion is intended to support that process, not replace it.
Quick checklist
Completion tracking is enabled in the course.
Activity completion conditions are visible to students.
Required activities use action-based completion settings.
View-only completion is not used as the sole evidence of participation.
The instructor knows where to find the Activity completion report.