I cannot find anything in the Moodle docs as to how to associate grade records with an identifier that is not generated each time for each assignment (eg, "Participant" + a number).
I would like to use the Username instead of the Participant XX. Is there a way to do this?
Thanks,
-George
In Moodle 2.4 when you grade offline using something else like a spreadsheet, the only way to upload grades is to first download a worksheet that has enrolled course members listed as "Participant" + a unique number.
The difficulty with this is that the scheme changes the unique number from assignment to assignment.
Is there another way to successfully upload assignment scores that instead uses a different field than the "Participant" + a unique number, such as the username that is drawn from the list of enrolled students?
I have tried doing it this way and it always fails uploading.
Can anyone point me to an answer?
-George
Not if that's what you're wondering: add new profile fields with the grid notes
try here:
http://yoursitemoodle/admin/settings.php?section=gradessettings
find this option:
Grade export user profile fields grade_export_userprofilefields
Include these user profile fields in the grade export, separated by commas.
Thank you Gisele.
I did add "username" (a key field in the moodle user data table) to the front of the list. However, when you download the grading sheet, the "username" field isn't included. I'm forced to use as the key field the "Participant" and a number (that are in the first field of the downloaded CSV file), which changes from assignment to assignment.
Following the import grades instructions, you use that downloaded CSV file, add grading data to it, and then upload it back - Moodle uses the "Participant" + Nr as the key field to associate the incoming records to the right individuals. But I cannot get it to read the "username" field instead of "Participant" + Nr field.
-George
Hi, George,
Are you uploading a CSV file in the gradebook? If so, then I recommend using Useremail as the key. Tip 1 from this page: http://docs.moodle.org/24/en/Grade_import#Importing_grades has more detail.
Hope that helps!
---Josh
Thanks Josh for the help.
The problem I am having is that there is an expediated way to upload grades into gradebook that works first from downloading an Excel form that captures temporary IDs, which are formed after some algorithm of "Participant" + whole number. You then use this worksheet to enter your grading information that you then upload into Moodle's gradebook. The IDs (ie Participant + nr) that gets produced are only temporary, so I cannot use them from assignment to assignment because I have a full off-line grading tool I have built and works off one main ID that is always permanent through the semester (or even spanning multiple semesters).
In addition, the strategy Moodle 2.4 uses with this option does not work at all for me because it forces you to only use comma delimited files. Within the feedback I generate to students, there can be commas as part of my narrative - this hangs the import process for CSV files - so I need to use tab delimiters, which are not accessible from that interface. When I generate feedback, I have automated algorithms that wrap my commentary with HTML tags, and there can be regular paragraph type narrative with all the expected punctuation one uses when writing - doing this produces easy-to-ready feedback, which is the point. (As an aside, in my recent experiments with Moodle 2.4, I have discovered that what I can have in my feedback will create parsing problems for the Moodle algorithms - eg, I discovered that ellipses and double-quotes makes the import function hang. Therefore, in my grading tool, I now have a little alert that is displayed if I forget and use either mark in my narrative.)
There is a more full way to do this I discovered by working directly in the gradebook. While I can successfully upload everything, and set mapping between the fields I have in my grading tool with Moodle grade book fields, as well as set the delimiter to tab, it would be so much easier if the expedited approach could be modified to do the same thing by making two simple adjustments: allowing settings to be made that set the key field (ie for user ID), which isn't a temporary identity, and set the delimiter.
I need to do all my grading outside of Moodle (or any LMS) because I am also developing methods that leverage new learning analytics to support more meaningful grading, monitoring student progress, and allow me a means to leverage technology to generate a more personal experience for the students by capturing specific things they do and incorporating that into my feedback. It would be nice to share my approaches so that they could be integrated into Moodle or other LMS, as I see that the present state of LA is still in its infancy as it is being currently used here. I don't get the impression though anyone is really interested.
-George
Hi, George!
I think I understand your issue now. I tried out the new Moodle offline grading system you are takling about and I haven't had any problems with commas or double-quotes. (Haven't tried ellipses.) I'm generating the CSV file with MS Excel, which appears to be "protecting" the commas by enclosing the entire field in double-quotes, and doubling the double-quotes in the actual text. (E.g. ""This is a quote."") Can you get your automated algorithms to do that? That should eliminate the need for tab delimiters.
Your request for permanent ID's seems very reasonable --- have you put in a Moodle Tracker entry for it? I would vote for it.
----Josh
ETA: I can send you an example of a CSV with "protected" characters if that would be helpful.
Hi Josh -or anyone!
I am "just a user" of Moodle but have a pretty large class of 300+ students and a large number of assignments, many of which are graded automatically within a separate drilling system.
So last year I was able to import CSV files into Moodle and was happy as can be since I can generate these in any format under the sun (all analyses are done in R).
But in our current version of Moodle, when I do the simplest of tests (under the Tip you mention in the March post), a text export followed by a csv upload of the same file fails to show any columns in the "Import CSV" window, i.e. the "Map from" tab is blank.
Any hints?
Thanks in advance
Gunnar
