3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Matt Campbell -
Number of replies: 15
I'm testing out 1.9 Beta and I don't know if I've encountered a bug or just don't know how to work it smile

Does anyone have the answers to these three questions?

1. How do I show ALL gradeable activities? Currently, I only see them if at least one student has a grade.

2. How do I assign a gradeable activity to a category?

3. How do I add more categories? I see one by default, and I can edit it, but I can't figure out how to add more.

Thanks for any answers!

Matt
In reply to Matt Campbell

Re: 3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Nicolas Connault -
1. In the grader report, whenever you have an activity that is gradeable, it should show up there, whether you have a grade in it or not. Please give me more details about the steps you're taking, and even some screenshots.

2. and 3. You need to use the "edit category" interface. At the top left of the grader report, there is a "View" drop-down menu. At the bottom of this menu is a heading called "Edit", which has 3 options. The first of these is "Categories and Items". This will take you to an interface showing all your items and categories in a tree format, with buttons for moving them around, deleting categories or creating new categories and items. It's designed to be rather user-friendly and to follow the type of interface found elsewhere in Moodle.

I hope this helps smile

In reply to Nicolas Connault

Re: 3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Matt Campbell -
Thanks! That's exactly what I needed on 2 and 3. (I was using 'Turn Editing On' and trying to find something there!)

Here's what I'm observing on #1 -

If I build the course in 1.9, then all proceeds correctly.

However, I took a course from 1.8 and backed it up, and then restored it into 1.9. The course has an assignment, two quizzes, a rated glossary and a rated forum, none of which show up in the gradebook.

If I update the item (click update and then save, don't have to actually change anything), then it will show up. If I go to an item and grade anything, that item will show up.

To me, it appears that activities aren't being put in the gradebook during the restore process.

I haven't checked this yet on a test site upgrade, but will do so later this week.

Thanks,
Matt
In reply to Nicolas Connault

Re: 3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Brian Pool -
Wow. I installed 1.9 Beta last night to look into the gradebook changes and was very surprised. While I do realize it is going through a major overhaul, I had hoped it would me be more intuitive for a novice user.

The previous Tab interface (we use gradebook version 2 mod) loads more quickly, is easier to navigate, and it is much smoother overall.

I do appreciate the addition of the new reports, but that is where it ends. I could go into a laundry list but it is basically slower for all items, clunkier, and less intuitive. If I find it that way, my teachers would kill me if I made this upgrade.
In reply to Brian Pool

Re: 3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Nicolas Connault -
Just be aware that this release of the gradebook is focused almost entirely on functionality. There is no dependency on Javascript, and consequently, no AJAX layer. This means that every action requires a page reload. The reason for this is accessibility.

Once this phase of development is over, and the gradebook is usable by all, we can focus on improving the interface by adding an AJAX layer, which will speed things up considerably and make the interface much more intuitive. For example, quick grading will be replaced by a system in which clicking on a grade will turn it into a form element, letting you change it, and as soon as you click out of it, the grade will be updated in the database, without the need for a page reload.

That being said, thanks for the feedback, and please keep it coming smile
In reply to Nicolas Connault

Re: 3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Clark Moodler -
Hi,
I'm wondering if the new gradebook will allow teachers to put in assignments in the gradebook, even though there is not a corresponding activity that shows up in the course. For example, if I want to give a grade for participation, or something outside class, or etc. and just need a column in the gradebook to put in a grade. Is that already possible or in the works?

thanks,
clark

In reply to Clark Moodler

Re: 3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Anthony Borrow -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers
Clark - Yes, they are called graded events or grade items (I forget the syntax that was used) in the user interface. This was possible in Moodle 1.8 with the GBPv2 patch; however, now that functionality is there within Moodle core. Let me know if you have trouble figuring out how to do it. Peace - Anthony
In reply to Anthony Borrow

Re: 3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Robert Russo -
Anthony,

We sent our new gradebook to Chris Roy yesterday for deployment (in addition to a boatload of other code). Can you please look the gradebook plugins as well as the anonymous administrative block (needed to make simple grader work) over and put them into the contrib section if you can. We are more than happy to maintain the system as we have to for our instructors anyway. smile

We are currently adding a GBV2-like (create and assign items/categories) screen that augments our simple tree. It should be done next week sometime.

We also hope to get a few conditional changes (checks to see if our gradebook exists before altering core behavior) made to core so users do not have to edit 2 files (6 lines total) to use our gradebook.
In reply to Robert Russo

Re: 3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Steve Garcia -
Hi Robert,

Any idea when this might go public? I have to make a decision in the next couple of weeks whether I need to revert to 1.8. From what you've said, "Simple Grader" will make 1.9 usable for sites that need extra credit support, but I don't want to start the term with the current 1.9 grader. Once the term is started I'm stuck, and I'm not willing to go through another term with the stock 1.9 grader.

Thanks!
In reply to Nicolas Connault

Re: 3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Dakota Duff -

Just be aware that this release of the gradebook is focused almost entirely on functionality. There is no dependency on Javascript, and consequently, no AJAX layer. This means that every action requires a page reload. The reason for this is accessibility.

Not being able to drag-and-drop items on the "Edit categories and items" page makes me want to break something. Due to Outcomes, I've got hundreds of gradebook items in some courses and they need to be placed in categories, but doing so would take DAYS.

I'm so frustrated that I looked at trying to hack it myself, but I'm not really sure where to start.

In reply to Dakota Duff

Re: 3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Nicolas Connault -
drag and drop would not help you much if you have that many items to move around, it would also be very time-consuming. Select + bulk action would be more helpful and could still be done without JS or AJAX. The selection could even be done through a search field (select all outcomes whose name includes "geography").

Besides, it's much, much (MUCH) easier to code the second solution than the AJAX drag and drop layer. I've had a go at writing this drag n drop, and it is an absolute nightmare. There are very few (if any) working examples of infinitely recursing tree AJAX drag n drops on the Web. It looks simple, but it's not at all ;)
In reply to Nicolas Connault

Re: 3 quick questions on 1.9 gradebook

by Dakota Duff -

I ended up "resolving" the issue with a long series of queries directly to the database. It works on the surface, but I always get nervous approaching things this way since I have no idea what underpinnings I may be missing.

I know for a fact that my sortorder column is all out-of-whack now, but with it all displays okay on the page, so hopefully there won't be any long term negatives.

In reply to Brian Pool

Re: Make 1.9 gradebook more intuitive

by Gary Anderson -
I agree that 1.9 gradebook needs to be more intuitive. See my tracker report (the pdf summary) at MDL-11835 as these are the change that we are recommending after our initial testing and development. Hopefully some of this can make it into core fore 1.9 goes final.
In reply to Gary Anderson

Re: Make 1.9 gradebook more intuitive

by Martin Dougiamas -
Picture of Core developers Picture of Documentation writers Picture of Moodle HQ Picture of Particularly helpful Moodlers Picture of Plugin developers Picture of Testers
Great feedback, Gary, thanks very much. I'd be interested in which bits of that others agree or disagree with.