Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

by Sukant Mukherjee -
Number of replies: 10
Is there a plugin where we can configure the assignments with multiple submissions?
for example, i have a 5 day exercise, so i want to configure the assignment to have the below submissions with a due date. 
  • Monday- Submission 1- WIP
  • Tuesday- Submission 2- WIP
  • Wednesday- Submission 3- WIP
  • Thursday- Submission 4- Final
  • Friday- Submission 5- Final V2

Currently I'm create 5 separate assignments.

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In reply to Sukant Mukherjee

Re: Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

by Rick Jerz -
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Try one assignment, submit a file to it each day, and download all assignments. Explore what happens to the dates for the files.

Some of this might depend on how you want to grade assignments. For example, do you grade after all assignments are uploaded, or do you ever want to grade the first assignment immediately?
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In reply to Rick Jerz

Re: Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

by Sukant Mukherjee -
Hi Rick,

I did try the "one assignment- with unlimited submissions option enabled" but the primary drawback is that- the days is calculated with regards to the due date, so it just shows an early or late timestamp. Also at times it overwrites the submissions as well.

This is more like creating milestones within a single assignment, thereby not having a very bulky course.

Also the assignment grading is based on the final submission, but then at times the incremental completion needs to be tracked.
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In reply to Sukant Mukherjee

Re: Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

by Michael Hughes -
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In this case the "Unlimited submissions" (i'm guessing you're using the File Submission type) relates to the number of "submissions into File Submission type", not the number of submissions / steps for an assignment.

Out of the box Moodle doesn't support this.

You may be able to "clean up" the site for students by looking at Restrict Access conditions that make each step visible or not to the students depending on whether they have "completed" a previous step ("completion" doesn't necessarily mean anything to do with grading).

You may also be able to hide the "previous steps" based on them being completed as well, so that they only see 1 step at a time.

If each "step" is graded, then you probably want to look at making sure they're all in the same grade book category, and then use aggregation to synthesise a score, or a calculation if it's more complicated, or:
  1. hide the grade items for each of the Assignments and award the grade at the category level
  2. -or- leave the "last" assignment's grade visible and award this as the "final" grade.
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In reply to Michael Hughes

Re: Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

by Sukant Mukherjee -
Thank you for your suggestions.

The "unlimited submissions" is configured within "Assignment --> Settings --> Submission Settings --> Additional Attempts". And you're right, it is not the steps in an assignment.

Did try the "restrict access", but it doesn't really serve the objective, as the need is to track the completion in a incremental manner. Also, it would still mean I would have to create that many assignments, as opposed to having just one and integrating it with milestones based on certain predefined conditions.

And Thanks for the clarification, I hope Moodle eventually releases this feature. Could you please guide me as to how we can request this?
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In reply to Sukant Mukherjee

Re: Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

by AL Rachels -
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It might help to know what type of file the students are submitting. For instance, if it is text, audio, video, etc. files, there might be an entirely different activity more suitable for, and possibly able to give what you want.
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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

by Sukant Mukherjee -
Hi,

It is predominantly text files, but they are a path to a central location where they store the their artwork.

The need is to see the progression they make.

I did experiment with lessons, and workbooks, but that doesn't serve the purpose.
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In reply to Sukant Mukherjee

Re: Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

by AL Rachels -
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In that case, here are some suggestions:
  • Database activity - it is built in to Moodle, but you will have set up your own preset of the fields you want to use. I do remember a preset that was available at one time for something  like this. Each time the user needs to, they add a new entry.
  • Journal - It used to be built in to Moodle but is now an activity plugin that you would need to install. The down side is, while students can come back and modify their entry, it is just a one page entry that gets longer and longer, each time they add to it, leading to the "scroll of death."
  • Diary - I would recommend that you try this one, just note that I maintain it, so I am a little prejudiced. Diary is also a plugin you would need to install. It is based off the Journal plugin, with many, many, many additions. Some of the most notable are that users can make new, separate entries, add to old entries, or it can be set to have it work just like the Journal, etc. A rather recent addition is that you can set up time released writing prompts that tell the user what is NOW required. If you so desire there are a few things that can be set up to use for automatic grading: character count, word count, sentence count and paragraph count. You can also set up a glossary of common errors, that also get graded automatically. e.g. i instead of I, u instead of you, etc. You can create a student account and take a look at it here: https://m3x.drachels.com/course/view.php?id=4
Note send me an email and I can give you teacher access so you can try it "your" way.
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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

by Peter Diedrichs -
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Diary sounds very interesting! Is it a plugin that’s sure to be kept maintained?

We are using the great Dialogue plugin for several purposes, but from your description I can see some cases where it might serve better.

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In reply to Peter Diedrichs

Re: Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

by AL Rachels -
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As to the Diary plugin, as long as you see me on here, it will be maintained by me. I do admit to getting a little "long in the tooth" if you know what I mean. LOL
Yes, I used Dialogue also, when I was actively teaching. I hate to say it, but if you can make it work for you, then there is no need for Diary. It is most useful when you are giving students multiple writing assignments, such as a daily diary of what they've done, or any type of essay or short story, because it very easily let's you track updates and changes with grading for each iteration.
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In reply to AL Rachels

Re: Having Multiple Submissions in one Assignment

by Sukant Mukherjee -
Wanted to express my highest gratitude for your detailed response!

All three sounds interesting, but Diary seems to be by far the most compelling one for me to start getting a hands on experience.

Will most certainly send you an email so i can try it out.
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