Peter Ruthven-Stuart

I have been getting this error message:

Error: Database connection failed.

It is possible that the database is overloaded or otherwise not running properly.

The site administrator should also check that the database details have been correctly specified in config.php

when trying to access this site:
http://moodle.petesweb.org/

In the last few weeks it has appeared when my students all try to access the site at the same time - about 45 students. Up until today, we have been able to regain access to the site after a few minutes wait. Today, however, we have been unable to access the site at all.

The site is hosted with a hosting company (Bluehost). I have another non-production moodle hosted by the same company which can be accessed with no problem:
http://exp-moodle.petesweb.org/

I have read the various messages within moodle.org that relate to this error message (Error: Database connection failed). I have also read the FAQ written by Zbigniew Fiedorowicz titled 'Error: database connection failed' (http://moodle.org/mod/glossary/view.php). However, as a non programmer I am no closer to finding a solution.

Any suggestions will be hugely appreciated.

Moodle version: moodle 1.4.3 + (2004083131)
MySQL 4.0.24-standard

Sorry, the setting for

Percentage of Assessments to Drop:

should be a 0 - zero.

I have had 40 students do a workshop, and have reached the stage where I want to calculate and display the final grades. However, I am having a hard time making sense of the penultimate and final stage ('5. Show Final Grades' & '6. phase6').

In the 5th stage I can see that their are 2 important links:


I have experimented with various settings in the above two links, but am having a hard time understanding the instructions, which I have read through several times.

The settings of the workshop are:



I have set the Calculation of Final Grades as follows:

Weights used for Final Grade
Weight for Teacher Assessments:	5
Weight for Peer Assessments:	2
Weight for Bias:	0.5
Weight for Reliability:	1
Weight for Grading of Assessments:	0
Option for Peer Grade
Include Teacher's Grade:	Yes

I have set the Analysis of Assessments as follows:

Options used in Analysis
Loading for Teacher Assessments:	7.5
Weight for Grading of Assessments:	0.5
Percentage of Assessments to Drop:	0123456789101112131415161718192021222324252627282930313233343536373839404142434445464748495051525354555657585960616263646566676869707172737475767778798081828384858687888990919293949596979899100

When clicking on the stage 6 tab - 6. phase6 - and then on Display Final Grades I see the following (I've not copied the first column showing students' names):



When logging in as one of the above students (the first in the table) I sees this:



Perhaps this is what is supposed to happen, but it is not at all clear to me how these totals were reached. For example, I gave the student in row one a zero, so where does the '60' come from? Also I notice that the number in black in the 'Assessments by Teachers' column is the same as that in the 'Assessments by Students' column for every student. What is happening here?

My intentions is as follows. I have graded all 38 students' work. They have all graded 4 samples made by me, their own work, and most of them have graded about 5 of their peers' work. I have not graded their assessments of themselves or their peers because I understand that because I have graded all of them, and the samples, the Workshop module is able to handle the calculations. My hope is that the final grades will represent these 4 elements:

1. Teacher's grading of students work = 60% of total
2. Students grading of the samples (accuracy, i.e. closer to the teacher's grade the better) = 10%
3. Students grading of their own work (accuracy) = 10%
4. Students grading of their peers' work (accuracy and reliability) 20%

How do I set the 'Calculation of Final' and 'Grades Analysis of Assessments' in order to get something close to this evaluation of students' performance. Is it possible that I have set up the workshop incorrectly (see image at the top of this message)?

Any advice or suggestions will be much appreciated.

Having had a quick look through previous discussions, I am aware that attempts are being made to make the Workshop module compatible with groups. (groups forumid:124). However, it is not clear to me if and to what extent the workshop module recognises groups.

This week I will have two cohorts of 40 students grading each others' work. I would prefer it if students in 'group A' only get to evaluate the work of students in their same group, and not that of students in 'group B'.

The course has been set up with 'Group mode = separate groups', so will it be the case that 'group A' students will only be able to evaluate the work of 'group A' students, or will they also be given work by 'group B' students to evaluate, and vice-versa?

I am using moodle 1.4.3 + (2004083131).

Any advice will be much appreciated.

Thanks Mark, another reason to upgrade.