Grading a forum

Grading a forum

by Glenys Hanson -
Number of replies: 15

Hello,

I'm grading a forum with a scale that has only two grades: "Not OK" and "OK" (in fact, I'd prefer to have just one like on these forums but I gather that's not possible for someone with zero coding skills).

The problem is that the maximum  grade is 2 when I would like it to be 100 (like all the other graded tasks).

Is there any way to achieve this?

Sorry if this has already been explained somewhere but I couldn't find anything in the forums or the documentation. Maybe I didn't know what term to look for: I'm also near zero in mathematical skills.

Cheers,

Glenys

In reply to Glenys Hanson

Re: Grading a forum

by Itamar Tzadok -

Set the multiplicator of the grade item to 50. OK will become 100 and Not OK 50. smile

In reply to Itamar Tzadok

Re: Grading a forum

by Glenys Hanson -

Hi Itamar,

I tried that but it doesn't work because, I think, the maximum value is 2 and the multiplicator is the "Factor by which all grades for this grade item will be multiplied, with a maximum value of the maximum grade."

Maybe it's because the "Sum of grades" is not the right aggregation to apply? mixed

Cheers,

Glenys

PS And I won my bet with myself that you'd be the first to reply on this subject. wink

In reply to Glenys Hanson

Re: Grading a forum

by Itamar Tzadok -

You're right. Another way is to use the offset which afaict should not be constrained by the max grade. Possible problem is that it shifts both values so if you offset by 98, OK will be 100 and Not OK will be 99 which would be quite OK for those whose work was Not OK. So, I'd recommend hiding this item and using a gradebook grade item in its stead. There you can set max grade to 100 and use a formula like:

=||Forum||*50

smile

In reply to Itamar Tzadok

Re: Grading a forum

by Glenys Hanson -

Hi Itamar,

I tried the offset by 98 but that doesn't change anything either.

Sorry, but I don't understand your next suggestions (remember who you're dealing with,wink):

  • What is a "grade book item" ?
  • Where should I put: =||Forum||*50

Maybe a screenshot would help me? thoughtful

Cheers,

Glenys

In reply to Glenys Hanson

Re: Grading a forum

by Itamar Tzadok -

Ok, here goes.

In the gradebook you need  to create a grade item. Click the 'Add grade item' button at the bottom. This will open a form. Enter a name and save. In the example I created a grade item called 'Forum 100'.

Now you need to assign a formula. Click the calculator icon in the items commands bar. This will open the formula form of the item. Now, you need to assign an id to your unit 6: forum. There should be a text box next to that item and you should enter a name and click the 'Add id numbers' button at the bottom. In the exampe I used the general forum, and assigned it the name 'Forum'. Then you go to the calculation box at the top enter the formula and save. Note that in the formula the name of the item you are referring to is enclosed with square brackets.

See if that works for you. smile

In reply to Itamar Tzadok

Re: Grading a forum

by Glenys Hanson -

Hi Itamar,

I think I'll be able to manage this though it's a steep learning curve. This side of the Atlantic it's 23:43 so I'll get back to you tomorrow.

Once again, thanks ever so much,

Glenys

In reply to Glenys Hanson

Re: Grading a forum

by Glenys Hanson -

Hi Itamar,

I'm afraid the maximum grade for Unit 6: Forum remains at 2 and the maximum grade for the Unit 6 category at 502 (as in the screenshot in my second) post.

Here's what I've done:

Am I doing something wrong?

Cheers,

Glenys

In reply to Glenys Hanson

Re: Grading a forum

by Itamar Tzadok -

This looks ok. Now you need to move the 'unit 6: forum' to some misc  category that doesn't participate in the overall grade and put the new grade item in the unit 6 category. You can also try to hide the original unit 6: forum in the gradebook and hopefully it won't affect the activity itself (we are not so fortunate it the case of an assignment activity). smile

In reply to Glenys Hanson

Re: Grading a forum

by Itamar Tzadok -

Just wanted to clarify that this approach doesn't change the max grade of the original item but rather allows you to replace the original item with another one in which you can display the marks of the original item adjusted to a desired scale. smile

In reply to Itamar Tzadok

Re: Grading a forum

by Glenys Hanson -

Hi Itamar,

That does clarify things. approve I was, in fact, wondering if that was the way to go.

Thing, is I've about 20 forums I'd like to modify in the same way (though just one for tomorrow morning, wink). Do I have to do each one individually?

I see I need to work out a naming system that makes sense to the students.

I feel I've made huge progress in understanding the gradebook over the past 24 hours. Still got a long way to go though.

Cheers,

Glenys

In reply to Glenys Hanson

Re: Grading a forum

by Itamar Tzadok -

Yes, it's item per item. You can use the original forum names. If you hide the original items the students won't even know that what they see in their grade report is a double. smile

In reply to Itamar Tzadok

Re: Grading a forum (problem solved)

by Glenys Hanson -

Hi Itamar and everybody,

I'm very grateful to Itamar for this workaround but I hope that sometime, in the gradebook, there can be a way of simply indicating, "Work done" without having to make invidious distinctions between one student's work and another's. Is this/will this be possible in Moodle 2+? Are other people interested in such a possibility?

Cheers,

Glenys

In reply to Glenys Hanson

Re: Grading a forum (problem solved)

by Itamar Tzadok -

Glenys, It is not entirely clear what you mean by "Work done". Do you need to calculate a grade or just display an indication of something?

There are already several types of indication.For instance, you can set a pass grade in the grade item, such that any grade equal or greater will be highlighted green. You can also add feedback.

You can display all the gradebooks grades in percentage which will show then on a scale of 0-100 regardless of the actual value/scale you use. smile

In reply to Itamar Tzadok

Re: Grading a forum (problem solved)

by Glenys Hanson -

Hi Itamar,

As I said, I have a way to go before understanding all the subtleties of the Gradebook. Maybe it already does what I want? thoughtful

What I would like is something like what Questionnaire does: all the students either get the same grade or they get nothing. For tasks such as writing in forums, contributing to glossaries, participating in collaborative tasks... I would like them to see something like "OK" or "Work done" that would be transformed behind the scenes into a numerical score (so that it can be comparable with the scores from Quiz, QuizPort, etc.)

At the moment, I just tell students not to pay too much attention to their gradebook scores because they don't determine their final grade.

Not sure I'm being clearer.

Glenys

PS I'd love to be able to find again some research I read years ago. We all know that having two teachers grade a student gives a more reliable result than just one. And three are more reliable than two, but are 33 more reliable than 32? I don't know how they went about it, but they determined that after a certain point, adding more graders does not significantly improve reliability... and also that the cut off point is different for different subjects. If I remember rightly, for maths it is something like 12 graders and for philosophy... 200!  But maybe not for your branch of philosophy. wink Logic, isn't it?

In reply to Glenys Hanson

Re: Grading a forum (problem solved)

by Itamar Tzadok -

No, it isn't Logic. I'd like to think of it as practical philosophy which directs one to identify a problem and solve it by whatever means available. And I assure you, sometimes the solution doesn't make (logical) sense at all, but if it works it works.

So the research suggests that if you have something that is unreliable add to it another of its kind and gradually you'll increase reliability. I hope you see the potential problem here. To illustrate in different terms, by adding a small number to a small number you don't necessarily get a bigger number (-1+-1=-2); or add infinity to infinity and you still end up with infinity (although there are different magnitudes and one infinity can actually be "bigger" than another, but that's another story). smile