Creating a Rubric in Moodle 2.x
When to use a Moodle rubric
In general educational rubrics are documents that define standards of performance, both for students and
for faculty. For more on creating rubrics (and some templates to adapt), see, for example, Authentic
Assessment Toolbox at http://jfmueller.faculty.noctrl.edu/toolbox/rubrics.htm
In Moodle 2 “rubric” is the term used for a scoring matrix tool. These generally take some time to create and
allow you to define what characteristics of the work being graded would qualify for how many points in
what categories (grammar and style, use of MLA standards, etc.). Both faculty members and students benefit.
If you have a rubric that you hand out to students already, even as a PDF file, these can be quickly adapted
into a Moodle rubric often by just using “copy-and-paste.”
How to Create a Moodle Rubric
Begin by either creating a new assignment or advanced forum (HINT: remember, regular forums cannot be
graded, only rated), or you can edit a current one. When you get to the section called “Grade,” for the Grade
type, select “manual” and then select the number of points your assignment or advanced forum will be
worth. For “Grading method” select “Rubric.” (HINT: If you have set up Categories in your course, don’t forget
to select one.) Complete the rest of the settings for the assignment or advanced forum as best fits your
course.
At the bottom select “Save and display” (not “Save and return to course”).
You will now be provided with two options:
Since this is your first rubric and you do not yet have any templates, you will select “Define new grading form
from scratch.”
Give your new rubric an identifiable name and a description.
[HINT: consider setting up either a Word or Excel document to save all of your rubric, marking guide, and
checklist names so that later you can use these as templates for new ones. Store this file in your “My private
files” block for easy access.]
Moodle 2 uses a grid pattern for its rubric (you may know it as a scoring matrix). You will now begin to build
your rubric defining each criterion and level.
Criterion: a criterion is an area that you grade. These could include, for example, content, collaboration,
grammar and style, etc.
Level: a level describes stages of accomplishment or successfulness. You may build these from weak to strong
or strong to weak, and you will assign points to these.
The first line is ready for entry. Click on “Click to edit criterion” and type or paste in a short description of the
criterion. For example, in a rubric for grading forums, you might have “Use of concepts” as a criterion. You
would then describe each level. In this example, there are five levels from 0-5 points for Use of concepts. If
you need more levels than provided, click on the “Add level” button. You can remove extra with the red X.
Add the next criterion by clicking on the “Add criterion” button:
Continue until you have built your rubric, one criterion at a time. At the bottom of the page, set up your
rubric options, for example whether students can view it before submitting the assignment or whether or
not comments can be added.
If you need to edit this rubric in the future, click on the assignment, use Settings block to select “Advanced
grading” and then “Define rubric.” You can then edit the rubric or options and save.
How to Grade with a Moodle Rubric
When it is time for grading a Moodle “Assignment” with a rubric, simply click on the assignment on your
main page. The box will show you how many students you have in the course, how many have submitted,
and how many need to be graded. Click on “View/grade all submissions.”
You will see a chart with all students and their submissions. When you are ready to grade a student, click on
the little grid box in the column “Grade.” You can read the student’s submission and the rubric will be at the
bottom (you might need to scroll down). Simply click in the box that describes their performance for each
criterion. The box will turn yellow. If you enabled comments when you created the rubric, you will see a box
to the right where you can type specific comments. There is also a box at the bottom for feedback. Click on
“Save changes” or “Save and show next” if you are grading a series of students.
The student can click on the assignment to see the completed rubric with specific comments and the grade
and feedback. If they go to their gradebook/User Report, they see their grades and whatever was entered in
the Feedback box at the bottom.
When it is time for grading a Moodle Advanced Forum (HINT: regular forums are not gradable), click on the
link for that Advanced Forum. You will see the discussion. Use Settings block and then “Course
Administration,” select joule Grader. Near the upper right you will see a place to select assignments to be
graded and a place to select students. Be sure the forum you want to grade is showing and begin grading. You
will see that student’s post, as well as any replies this student made to other students. Click on the gray box
that says “Grade with rubric.” When grading with joule Grader, there is no “Feedback comments” section. Click
on each appropriate box in the rubric and “Save.” Use the blue arrow in upper right to move to the next
student.
Students will see their grades in their gradebook/User Report. To review the rubric to see what they
received points for, they must click the forum link, then on joule Grader under “Course Administration” and
then the gray box in the upper right that says “View grading rubric”:
For a video on creating rubrics, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tdWqHBAH6XAAdd
Add an existing rubric (template) to an assignment/forum
Begin by either creating a new assignment or advanced forum (HINT: remember, regular forums cannot be
graded, only rated), or you can edit a current one. When you get to the section called “Grade,” for the Grade
type, select “manual” and then select the number of points your assignment or advanced forum will be
worth. For “Grading method” select “Rubric.” (HINT: If you have set up Categories in your course, don’t forget
to select one.) Complete the rest of the settings for the assignment or advanced forum as best fits your
course.
At the bottom select “Save and display” (not “Save and return to course”).
You will now be provided with two options:
If you select “Create new grading form from a template,” you can then select one of your own rubrics as a
template. Check the box that says “include my own forms” and then type in the name of one of your rubrics
that is closest to what you need for your new rubric and “Search.” You will see your rubric and a gray box to
the left that says “Use this form as a template.” It will ask you to confirm. Click on “Edit the current form,”
give it a new name, make any needed changes and save. This is now ready for use.