Here are two examples when you may need to exclude a graded item for a student. Always consult with the Online Education Advisor (OEA) and parent/guardian before excluding any graded items.
Example 1: A student was unable to complete an assignment or quiz due to a family emergency, technical issue, or similar situation. The student can be excluded from the graded item so it’s not counted in a category total or course grade total. The student’s grade is recalculated as if the graded item didn’t exist.
~ Mark the applicable graded items as Excluded and provide an explanation for the exclusion in the Feedback section. The Feedback will appear in the Genius gradebook so the student, Online Education Advisor (OEA), and parent know the reason for the exclusion.
Example 2: A student was enrolled in your course several weeks into the semester/year or had technical difficulties for an extended period of time. In these cases, you may choose to exclude graded items prior to the student’s start date in your course or when a student first began experiencing technical issues.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If the student has missed completing a number of graded items, you do not have to exclude every missed item. Instead, you only need to exclude the earliest graded item in your course and enter comments in the Feedback section. See the specific guidance below.
Go to the earliest graded item in your course and mark it Excluded for the student. Provide an explanation in the Feedback section similar to one of the two responses below:
Response 1 - For a student who enters your course later in the year:
The student’s start date in this course was xx/xx/xxxx and all graded items between xx/xx/xxxx (this would be the course start date) and xx/xx/xxxx (this would be the date of the last item you plan to exclude for the student) will be excluded from the student’s grade.
Response 2 - For a student who has technical issues for an extended period of time:
Due to technical issues, all graded items between xx/xx/xxxx (this would be the date the student began having technical issues) and xx/xx/xxxx (this would be the date of the last item you plan to exclude for the student) will be excluded from the student’s grade.
The Feedback for the earliest graded item will appear in the Genius gradebook so the student, OEA, and parent can see your explanation. For all other graded items up until the student’s actual start date in your course or when they no longer have technical issues, you can just leave the grade blank and not exclude the graded item. The gradebook will not count empty grade fields (but it does count fields that contain a score of 0, so leave the fields blank).
Also, make sure to communicate with the student, OEA, and parent letting them know your intentions of excluding the specific graded items. You can let them know that even though the excluded graded items will appear in the Genius gradebook with no grade, they only need to be concerned with work going forward from the date where you want the student to begin in your course.
Follow the steps below to exclude a graded item in Moodle.
Navigate to your Moodle course.
From the left Navigation panel, click Grades to access the Grader report.
From the top right side of the page, click Turn editing on to edit the Grader report. This is not the same setting you click when you’re editing your course.
Locate the student and the graded item (e.g., assignment, quiz, forum) you want to exclude and then click Edit grade (gear icon) to make any edits.
Check the box to the left of Excluded. DO NOT place a score in the Final grade field.
Enter a comment in the Feedback text box with the reason for the exclusion.
Click Save changes.
Click Turn editing off when finished editing the Grader report.
Graded items that have been excluded will display the word, Excluded (red font), in the gradebook along with a dash (no grade should be entered for excluded items).
If you entered a grade of any kind (including 0.00) for a student and later need to exclude the graded item, follow the steps below.
From the left Navigation panel, click Grades to access the Grader report.
From the top right side of the page, click Turn editing on to edit the Grader report.
Locate the student and the graded item (e.g., assignment, quiz, forum) you need to edit and then click Edit grade (gear icon).
Check the Overridden box so you can make edits to the Final grade field.
Delete the grade in the Final grade field.
Click Save changes.
Click Turn editing off.