Published on: 08/05/2023 · Last updated on: 03/09/2024

Assignment

The Moodle Assignment activity is an interface that allows you to collect and evaluate student work.  Students may submit work as individuals or in groups.

Assignments can be configured to accept either online text (entered directly into Moodle by the student) or, more commonly, file submissions. For written assignments, the file type should be left as the default PDF unless you specifically require another format for annotating submissions outside of Moodle.

It is also possible to use the assignment activity to provide comments and grades to support moderation for work that has taken place outside of Moodle (such as in Teams or Panopto for example). 

A range of grading and feedback mechanisms exist, providing high levels of flexibility.

Create a Moodle Assignment

Before you start

• We strongly recommend that you create fresh submission points for each assignment.  (Re-use of pre-existing assignments can cause problems with grading, release of grades and grade transfer).
   
• Where appropriate, student submissions at Bath (whether physical or digital) should be submitted anonymously in order to avoid perceptions of unconscious bias during marking. 

The video below outlines the steps to create an Assignment activity in your Moodle space, or follow the steps below it:

Setting up a Moodle Assignment.

• From the relevant space, Turn editing on.
• Within each topic or week, click on the Add an activity or resource link to display the Activity Chooser
• Select Assignment from the menu that appears and click on Add

You can now give your assignment a clear and meaningful title and description and modify the settings as appropriate.

To provide maximum flexibility, there are many settings within the Moodle assignment activity. However, in most cases, the default settings will be sufficient for your needs (though you should adjust the availability and due dates).

• If you are unsure what a setting does, you can find contextual help within the activity by clicking on the icon that appears next to the setting, however for most assignments, you can complete the assignment settings as outlined below.

Assignment name and description

The Moodle Assignment Name field is used to give the assignment a title or description. It is a required field and should be descriptive enough for students to understand the purpose of the assignment. The Assignment Name field can be a maximum of 255 characters in length.

Availability

The Moodle Assignment Availability field allows you to set when the assignment will be available to students. You can set a start and end date, as well as a cut-off date for submissions. This field also allows you to hide the assignment from students until the specified start date.

Submission type

The Moodle Assignment Submission Type field allows you to specify the type of submission that students must make. This could be an online text, file upload, or a link to a web page. You can also specify if multiple submissions are allowed, and if so, how many.

Feedback Types

The Moodle Assignment Feedback Types field allows you to specify the type of feedback that you want to provide to students. You can choose to provide feedback via an online text, file upload, or a combination of both. You can also specify if you want to provide grades and/or comments.

Group submissions settings

The Moodle Assignment Group Submission Settings field allows you to specify if you want to enable group submissions. You can also specify if you want to allow each group to submit one file, or allow each group member to submit their own file. You can also specify if you want to allow group members to edit each other’s submissions.

Notifications

The Moodle Assignment Notifications field allows you to specify if you want to enable notifications when an assignment is submitted, graded, or commented on. You can also specify if you want to send notifications to the student, the teacher, or both. You can also specify if you want to send notifications via email or the Moodle message system.

Grade

The Moodle Assignment Grade field allows you to specify the type of grading you want to use for the assignment. You can choose from a variety of grading options such as points, scales, and percentages. You can also specify if you want to display the grade to the student and if you want to allow the student to view the feedback.

Common modules settings

The Moodle Assignment Common Module Settings field allows you to configure the general settings for the assignment, such as the name, description, and availability. You can also specify if you want to limit the number of attempts and if you want to allow group submissions. You can also specify if you want to enable file submission and if you want to allow editing of submissions.

Restrict access

The Moodle Assignment Restrict Access Settings field allows you to restrict access to the assignment based on certain criteria. You can specify if you want to restrict access by date, grade, or group. You can also specify if you want to require a password to access the assignment and if you want to enable completion tracking.

Activity completion

The Moodle Assignment Activity Completion Settings field allows you to configure the activity completion settings for the assignment. You can specify if you want to mark the assignment as complete when the student submits the assignment, when the teacher grades the assignment, or when the student views the feedback. You can also specify if you want to require the student to view the feedback before marking the assignment as complete.

Tags

The Moodle Assignment Activity Tags Settings field allows you to assign tags to the assignment to make it easier to find and organize. You can specify if you want to allow the student to add tags and if you want to enable tag auto-completion. You can also specify if you want to enable tag-based access control and if you want to enable tag-based activity completion.

Ouriginal plagiarism plug-in

The Original Plagiarism Plugin for Moodle has a variety of settings that allow you to customize the detection process. You can specify if you want to enable the plugin for all assignments or only for certain ones. You can also specify if you want to exclude certain sources from the comparison and if you want to enable detailed reports. You can also set the sensitivity level for the detection process and specify if you want to enable the auto-submission feature.