Best Practices: Advanced Grading With Checklists

Our recent Summer 2012 release of Joule included two advanced grading methods: Moodle™ core’s Rubric and our Joule Checklist. If you were already using Joule’s marking tables, they were automatically upgraded to Moodle™ core rubrics. If you were using the Joule checklist, they were upgraded to the Joule checklist.

Both of these advanced grading methods that allow you to evaluate performance in any classroom. Currently, instructors can only add advanced grading methods to assignments with Moodle™ core. However, Joule users can use advanced grading methods for assignments and advanced forums!

In this article, we focus on checklists and how to use them in your Moodle™-based learning management system (LMS).

Creating Checklists

Like rubrics, you can create checklists from scratch, or by using a predefined template you can grade within the checklist itself. Also, the process for creating one and grading is very similar. The checklist method allows instructors to identify items (i.e. criteria) and correlate point values to each. The maximum value of the checklist is equal to the sum of all items.

JUST FOR YOU | ‘Best Practices With Marking Guide: Providing Fuller, Faster, and More Frequent Feedback’

Grading With Checklists

When an instructor grades activities using a checklist, they award students with either all or no points for each item. Students will be able to view the checklist after an activity is graded, but they may also view it before completing activities if instructors allow for it. To do this, instructors must check the “Allow users to preview checklist used in the module” settings within the checklist options area when creating it. We recommend that you enable this setting so that students are aware of how they will be evaluated before completing activities.

We also recommend that instructors grade using the new Joule Grader to save time in grading. To learn about the Joule Grader visit the blog post “Spend Less Time Grading with Joule Grader”.

I hope you are enjoying the new features in our latest release. They sure are exciting and can save you time! Don’t forget to check out our Open LMS training offerings which have been updated to include all of these great new features.

MORE ON GRADING | ‘Best Practices: Videos and Tips for Grading Moodle™ Quizzes’