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Forum Grading in Moodle: Whole forum vs Rating

Summary

In Moodle forums, you can grade student participation using either Whole Forum Grading or Ratings. Whole Forum Grading allows instructors to assign a single grade for a student's entire forum activity (all posts and replies), whereas Ratings allow instructors to grade individual posts or replies within the forum. 

This guide will help you to:

Choose between two options for grading forums in Moodle.

Whole Forum Grading
Choose from Two Options to Grade Whole Forums
Ratings
Overall Grading Comparison
Tips

Whole Forum Grading

Suitable when you want to assess the overall quality and contribution of a student's forum engagement rather than individual posts.

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  • Provides a single, overall grade for a student's participation in a specific forum.
  • Instructors can view all of a student's forum posts and replies on one page and then assign a single grade.
  • A rubric can be easily integrated into the Grader 
  • Includes a dedicated "Grade Users" button to access the grading interface. 
  • Drawback - the specific feedback options are be limited compared to ratings. There is currently no option for providing specific feedback within the Grader forum.

Choose from Two Options to Grade Whole Forums

  1. How to Grade Post in a Whole Forum
  2. Attaching Rubrics to Forums (Whole) 

Ratings

Suitable for providing detailed feedback on individual contributions and when you want to track performance on specific posts.

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  • Allows for grading of individual posts or replies within the forum.
  • Instructors use a rating scale/rubric to evaluate each post or reply.
  • Ratings directly feed into the gradebook.
  • The gradebook calculates a grade based on the chosen aggregate type (average, sum, maximum, minimum, count) for the ratings.
  • Individual feedback is easily provided during reading/rating of posts using the Private Reply option.

Overall Grading Comparison

  • Whole forum grading assesses the overall contribution, while ratings assess individual posts/replies. 
  • Ratings typically offer more detailed feedback options compared to whole forum grading. 
  • Both methods integrate with the Moodle gradebook,
    • Ratings are automatically entered into the gradebook as they the posts are rated in the forum allowing the instructor to read and rate posts at anytime during the discussion.
    • whereas Whole Forum posts must be graded after students have made all of their required posts, typically this means waiting until after the end date for the forum to grade.
  • Whole forum grading provides a consolidated view of a student's participation, while ratings are applied to individual posts/replies. 

Tips

  • Choose one or the other type of grading for each forum, as using both methods in one forum will create duplicate entries in the gradebook.
  • The best choice depends on your grading style and what you want to emphasize (overall contribution or individual posts). 
  • Whatever method you choose, provide students with a discussion rubric that helps them to understand what is required for an exemplary forum participation including the minimum number of posts and criteria for posting.

 

Seek Further Assistance


For additional assistance please contact, Clarkson OIT Help Desk;

Email: helpdesk@clarkson.edu
Call: 315-268-HELP (x4357)

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