Adding Pass/Fail grades to gradebook?

Adding Pass/Fail grades to gradebook?

by Robert Talbert -
Number of replies: 4
My calculus course involves four mastery exams which are graded on a pass/fail basis. The individual outcomes of exams do not contribute to the course grade. Students just have to pass all four exams by the end of the semester or else incur a penalty on their course grade.

I want to add entries to the gradebook for the pass/fail grades for each exam. I want them to say "Passed" or "Not passed" -- no numerical analogues such as 0 = fail and 1 = pass. And I do not want these pass/fail grades to add to the student's point totals from other, numerically-graded items in the course.

I added a category for "Mastery Exams" in the gradebook and tried adding an item for one of the Mastery Exams. I selected "Text" for the grade type and accepted the defaults for everything else. However, when I go to the Grader Report and click "Turn Editing On", there is no entry field in which to put a grade.

Here's a short screencast showing all this:
http://screencast.com/t/SlGTgBwKYU8y

Any ideas? Is this doable? If not, suggestions for a workaround?
In reply to Robert Talbert

Re: Adding Pass/Fail grades to gradebook?

by Ken Gibson -

Hey Robert,

Login as admin and on your Moodle Homepage (Site Admin block) go to: Grades>>>Scales.  Then add a new scale ("Pass/Fail").  Go back to the  assignments in question and change the grading scale to the new "Pass/Fail" (you will now see it in scale dropdowns).   

These won't be factored in the sum of numerical scores for the course. 

Ken   

In reply to Ken Gibson

Re: Adding Pass/Fail grades to gradebook?

by Robert Talbert -
Ken-

Thanks for the help. However, I did everything you said, but when I went back to enter grades for one of the Mastery Exams, there was still no field in which to enter the grades. Upon going back to Grades > Categories and Items > Edit grade item, the Scale dropdown menu had reverted back to "No Scale" rather than "Pass/Fail". Apparently the scale isn't "sticking" when I save my changes.

Anybody have any idea why?
In reply to Robert Talbert

Re: Adding Pass/Fail grades to gradebook?

by Haidee Foxwell -
If you are using the grade type text, the scale type stays 'greyed out' as it is not required.

It may be that the grade type 'text' is not quite going to do the job you require sad

Choosing text only allows you to write feedback in the gradebook and if you want the option of having a drop down with fail/pass which the student and teachers will see, then you need to choose grade type 'scale'. This can then be excluded from the gradebook.
In reply to Haidee Foxwell

Re: Adding Pass/Fail grades to gradebook?

by Robert Talbert -
Haidee's suggestion worked. Once I created the scale, I create the item and select "Scale" as the grade type, then select the scale I created from the dropdown menu. Very simple in retrospect.

Thanks!