Marking Students' Work in Moodle
Several workflows are possible when marking. Two main options are described here, but feel free to vary yours. Contact IT support if you have any technical questions about using Moodle to mark work.
Changes for 2024-25
Grades are now recorded directly in Moodle, rather than separately in TMS.
We have also enabled the "Annotate PDF" feature, which allows you to mark PDF files directly in the browser instead of downloading the files, marking them locally, then uploading them again. This is entirely optional - you can use whichever method you prefer.
Preparation
A Note About Timings
Wait until after the submission deadline has passed before starting to mark work, as students are allowed to modify their submissions until then.
Please ensure you release feedback to students at least one hour before the start of the class, to give them time to review your feedback and make the most of the class.
Software/Hardware Requirements
It is now possible to mark work directly in your browser, so no extra software should be required if you use Option 2a.
If you prefer to mark work locally/offline (Options 1 or 2b), you will need software that can annotate PDFs - see Digitally marking students' work for some options and guidance.
In either case, if you would like to borrow a Wacom graphics tablet to assist with this, please email @email.
It is also possible to print the work, mark it on paper, and then scan it back in.
Option 1: Marking in Bulk
In this workflow, you download all submissions at once, mark them offline, upload the marked papers in bulk, enter the grades and overall comments in bulk, and finally release the marks to students.
Downloading Submissions
Go to the Courses site and make sure you are logged in - click "Log in with SSO" in the top-right corner if not.
Navigate to the relevant course - either using the "Courses" list on the homepage, the "Search courses" search box, or the "My courses" page in the top menu. If you use the search box, make sure you select the course for the current academic year.
Click the assignment you want to mark.
Click the "View all submissions" button.
If you are the Tutor/TA for multiple classes, select the appropriate class from the "Separate groups" dropdown.
Click the "Download all submissions" button to download the submissions as a zip file. (Alternatively, to download a subset, tick the submissions you want to mark, then select "Download selected submissions" and click "Go".)
Mark Submissions
Create a new, empty directory wherever you like to grade and unzip the file into it. There will be one subfolder for each submission, clearly marked with the student's name and some other identifiers. Do not rename or reorganise the folders - Moodle uses them to match files with students.
Directly edit each PDF file, add your feedback, and save the changes. (As noted above, there is some guidance available for how to digitally mark work. If you would like to borrow a Wacom graphics tablet to assist with this, please email @email.)
Upload Feedback in Bulk
Once all the work is marked, zip the folders up again, retaining the previous structure.
Return to the "View all submissions" screen.
From the "Grading action" dropdown, select "Upload multiple feedback files in a zip".
Upload the zip file as indicated. You can either use drag and drop, or click "Choose a file" then "Upload a file".
Then click "Import feedback file(s), followed by "Confirm" then "Continue".
Enter Grades & Comments in Bulk
You should be back on the "View all submissions" screen.
Scroll to the bottom of the page, make sure "Options" is expanded, and tick "Quick grading". (You only need to do this once, as it is remembered.)
Tip: You may also want to change "Assignments per page" to a higher number. Also check the "Filter" and "Workflow filter" fields to ensure you are seeing the correct students and not missing any.
For each student, fill in the "Grade" dropdown and the "Feedback comments" text field. (Note: Unlike the PDF files, these may be shared with college tutors and others, in addition to the student.) You may need to scroll to the right to see "Feedback comments" - you may need to hover the mouse over the table to see the scrollbar on a desktop, or swipe the table left on a tablet/touch screen. Hiding the left and right sidebars (if open) may also help.
If you want to immediately release the feedback to the students, set Status to "Released". Also make sure Notify student is set to "Yes".
Click the "Save all quick grading changes" button to save the changes.
Release Feedback to Students in Bulk
If you haven't already released the feedback:
Tick all the submissions you wish to release.
Next to "With selected...", select "Set marking workflow state" and click "Go", followed by "OK".
Set "Marking workflow state" to "Released" and "Notify student" to "Yes".
Click "Save changes".
Option 2: Marking Individual Submissions
In this workflow, you mark one submission at a time - either directly in the browser, or by downloading/marking/uploading one submission at a time.
This may be used as your primary workflow if you prefer, or it can be used occasionally to mark late submissions. You can also mix the two workflows - e.g. mark submissions individually, but release them to students in bulk.
Go to the Submission
Go to the Courses site and make sure you are logged in - click "Log in with SSO" in the top-right corner if not.
Navigate to the relevant course - either using the "Courses" list on the homepage, the "Search courses" search box, or the "My courses" page in the top menu. If you use the search box, make sure you select the course for the current academic year.
Click the assignment you want to mark.
Click the "View all submissions" button.
If you are the Tutor/TA for multiple classes, select the appropriate class from the "Separate groups" dropdown.
Find the submission you want to mark - or just start at the top of the list - and click the "Grade" button.
Option 2a: Mark the Submission in the Browser
The PDF will be displayed on the left of the screen, allowing you to directly view and mark the work. There are controls along the top that allow you to:
- Navigate between pages
- Type comments
- Draw on the page in varying colours
- Highlight sections of text in varying colours
- Stamp a tick/cross or smiling/frowning face
As noted above, if you would like to borrow a Wacom graphics tablet to assist with this, please email @email.
Your changes will be automatically saved as a draft (as long as you are online), so you can leave and return to the submission at any time. You can also open multiple submissions in different tabs/windows if you prefer to mark/review multiple submissions at once.
Option 2b: Mark the Submission Locally
If you prefer to annotate the PDF locally (or you have any problems with the online editor):
Click the name of the file that was submitted to download it, or right-click then "Save link as" (or similar depending on your browser). Make sure you know which file it is. You may prefer to download files into an empty directory to avoid confusion.
Edit the PDF file, add your feedback, and save the changes. (As noted above, there is some guidance available for how to digitally mark work. If you would like to borrow a Wacom graphics tablet to assist with this, please email @email.)
Then upload the annotated PDF file in the Feedback files field. Be careful to upload the correct file for the correct student!
Enter Grades & Feedback
Select the appropriate Grade from the dropdown, and enter your overall comments in Feedback comments. (Note: Unlike the PDF files, these may be shared with college tutors and others, in addition to the student.)
If you want to immediately release the feedback to the student, set Marking workflow state to "Released". Also make sure Notify student is ticked.
Click "Save changes" (or "Save and show next" to move to the next student).
After you finish marking, you can click "View all submissions" to go back to the list.
Release Feedback to Students
If you didn't already release the feedback to the students individually, you may want to do that in bulk - see "Release Feedback to Students in Bulk" above.
To manually release feedback for an individual student, click "Grade" to return to the grading screen, then set Marking workflow state to "Released", make sure Notify student is ticked, and click "Save changes". You will remain on the same page, so click "View all submissions" to go back to the previous page.
Advanced Options
There is no requirement to use the "In marking" and "Marking completed" statuses, but you may use them to keep track of your progress if you find it useful.
Similarly, there is no requirement to lock submissions (prevent students making changes) after the deadline, but it is available. If you do use that feature, however, make sure you don't lock submissions until after the submission deadline.
As an alternative to "Quick grading", it is possible to download the list of students as a CSV, enter their grades and your comments offline, then upload the CSV back to Moodle. This is not documented above because it is more complicated than Quick grading, but you can find it in the "Grading action" dropdown under "Download grading worksheet" and "Upload grading worksheet". You will need to update the "Grade" and "Feedback comments" fields, and generally should not touch the other fields. The easiest way to enter the α/β/γ symbols is to copy them from the "Scale" column.
Need Help?
If you need any technical assistance with Moodle, please contact IT support.
If you have any questions about the material or marking criteria, please contact the course lecturer.
You can also contact the academic admin team (@email).