Grading in the TU Graz TeachCenter (Exam)

In the drop-down menu under Gradebook setup, you can define a grading scheme for your course, group activities into categories and assign weights for calculating the grade.

Grade items are generated automatically as soon as you create a graded activity such as an assignment or quiz. You define the maximum points (max grade) for an item directly in the respective activity (Quiz, Assignment), but if you need an additional (manual) grade item (for example, for an oral exam that has no equivalent in the TeachCenter), you can create one by clicking on Add grade item. Name the item and select which category it should belong to. Enter the maximum achievable points.

Grade items can be summarised in grade categories (folders). Each TC course has a main grade category by default, represented by a folder symbol, which has the same name as the TC course itself. You can create additional categories, e.g. for "Written performance" and "Oral performance".

To add a new category, click on Add category below the main menu. Enter a name for the category. In the section Category total, you can again set whether points or grades should be displayed.

To move grade items to a category, click on the up and down arrow next to the item in the Gradebook setup and then click where you want to move the item to. Attention: Drag-and-drop is not possible in this overview!

Note: You should set the grading scheme of a TC (Exam) course at the beginning of the semester before any assignments have been graded, otherwise grades will have to be recalculated. If possible, we recommend starting with a total of 100 points as this is the easiest way to keep an overview of the grades.

In the Gradebook setup, you can also assign weights for grade items and categories. If possible, we recommend working with the max grade of the activities, which you enter directly in the activities (e.g. create a quiz with a max grade of 40 points and an assignment with a max grade of 60 points).

However, if you prefer that activities have a certain maximum number of points, which do not correspond to the "score" in the course (example: the quiz mentioned above only has 10 points, but counts for 40% of the overall grade), then you can enter appropriate weights, e.g. 40 for the quiz and 60 for the assignment. You must click on the checkmark next to the field before the weights can be overwritten.

By default, points are displayed in the Grader report. However, you can also display the students' grades or the grades in addition to the points.

First, check or edit the grading key: To do so, go to Grades in the main menu and select Grade letters in the drop-down menu. To overwrite the Grade letters (or numbers), click on the Edit button next to the heading. These settings apply to the entire TeachCenter course.

You can also add as many fields = individual Grade letters (or numbers) as you like by clicking on "Add 3 field(s) to form" below the grading scale. Unused fields can simply be left blank.

Note: A specific grading key with grades 1-5 is set by default.

To display grades in addition to points in the Grader report, select Course grade settings from the drop-down menu. In the section Grade items settings, select Letter, Letter (real) or Real (letter) as the grade display type.

Note: In the settings, Letter means grade and Real means points. So, if you want to show Grade (points) in the overview, you have to select Letter (real).

Note: The selected form of display then applies to all graded activities in the course.

To display only the overall grade of the course as a grade, select Gradebook setup in the drop-down menu. At the top of the line with the folder icon and course name, under Actions, select Edit > Edit settings.

In the section Category total, click Show more. Under Grade display type, select the preferred type, e.g. Letter or Letter (real).

For more complex grading processes with mathematical operators or logical connections, you can enter an equation to determine how the total is calculated. Go to the Grader report and switch on Edit mode. Blue calculator icons appear in the line Controls.

 

By clicking the calculator icon, you can enter calculations for e.g. the overall course.

The following page then appears:

Each entry begins with an = and contains mathematical operators, e.g. max or sum. A detailed list of all operators can be found in the Moodle guide to "Grade calculations".

All activities from the course that you want to include in the calculation must be labelled with an ID in the list below the calculation field. In the equation, you use the ID by writing it in two square brackets.

 

Example 1: Only certain tasks count towards the overall grade:

- Click on the calculator icon below Course total.

- Assign IDs for the corresponding activities used in the formula, e.g. item1, item2 and click on Add ID numbers.

- Enter =sum([[item1]], [[item2]]) in the Calculation field.

- Then click Save changes below Calculation.

 

Example 2: Students must achieve a certain number of points in an exam in order to pass the course.

Students need at least 5 points in the midterm exam. Only then their points from the midterm exam and the lab will count. If they do not pass the midterm exam, they will receive 0 points overall.

=if([[midtermexam]]>=5, [[midtermexam]]+[[lab]], 0)

If you want to make all grades for a quiz or assignment visible to students at the same time, you can also specify in the Grader report from which date on the grade should be visible. To do so, go to Grades at the top of the main menu and activate Edit mode.

If necessary, scroll to the right to the activity (grade item), whose results you want to hide and click on the gear icon below the name of the grade item.

Click Show more and tick the checkbox Hidden until > Enable in the following menu. To make the results automatically visible at a specific time, set a date.

 

Note: If you see the message "The visibility settings are set in the activity settings" instead of a checkbox, you must first make the activity in general visible and allow students to see their scores after the attempt (in the review options in the quiz settings).