Moodle Help

How can I tell which responses are correct?

After final submission of your Moodle test or quiz, your work is automatically graded. Access the test attempt that you want to review from the Moodle grade book. Under the test information heading, just below the list of page numbers, click on Show all questions on one page (click for instructions). Now you can scan through the items to see which are marked as correct and which are marked as incorrect.

Correct items are usually highlighted in light green and incorrect responses are usually highlighted in light red. Multiple response items may have SOME correct answers—these are usually highlighted in yellow. So you may want to first quickly scan for red and yellowhighlights to see what was marked wrong.

Here is a multiple choice item that is correct:

Here's a MULTIPLE RESPONSE item that is correct:

Here's a MULTIPLE REPONSE item that is marked as partially correct. Because it's set for "all or none" grading, no points points are earned for this item.

Here's a MULTIPLE CHOICE item that is incorrect:

 

How do I find the correct answers to test items?

Look them up!

I do not automatically provide correct responses to items that you got wrong. That's because this is a learning experience and I expect you to take the opportunity to figure out what went wrong. If I just hand you the correct response, you'll have learned little—if anything.

If after trying, you aren't sure about an item, feel free to contact me for advice.

What is "Partially correct?"

You will see Partially correct when a multiple response or matching item has SOME correct responses within it, but not all responses are correct.

How can you tell which responses within the item are correct and which are incorrect? You can't.

However, you CAN possibly deduce something from the score reported for that item (just under the graded item). For example, If you received 3.33/1, they you know that you got one response correct out of three correct responses (or two correct out of six required). If you received .4/1, then you know that you answered 2 out of 5 correct (or 4 out of ten). So you need some math skills for this.

Of course, you may be wishing that Moodle would just mark each response as to whether its correct or not! Moodle CAN do that, but I have set your tests to NOT reveal the correct responses. That's because we are using these tests as learning opportunities . . . and learning is more effective if you actively investigate the reasons for errors yourself.

Odd scoring

Very rarely, multiple responses add up oddly in Moodle, then are rounded up or down, which can create an odd effect. I've set each Moodle test to avoid this issue, so if it happens, please report the Test Number/Name, Attempt Number, and Item Number and I'll investigate.

Here's an example:

Suppose there is a multiple response item in which you must select five items for full credit of one point. Each item is then worth .2 points (.2 x 5 =1). But let's say that you only answer with three correct responses. So you should receive .6 points out of 1 (.2 x 3 = .6). So Moodle is correct is stating Partially correct for that item. However, Moodle then rounds the .6 up to 1 and reports an item score of 1/1. It appears that you have full credit, but Moodle will still calculate the item score at .6 when it totals your whole test.

Here's yet another example:

Suppose there are six correct responses required for an item worth 2 points. Moodle assigns a value of .33 to each item. If you get all six correct, Moodle adds this up as 1.98 points and that MAY trigger the Partially correct label. Oddly, the "Marks for this submission" shows "2/2" which is 1.98/2 rounded up to be 2/2.

What do I do if Moodle incorrectly grades an item?

That happens. But rarely. The usual cause is that I have not correctly set the correct response in Moodle. But it could be that your are mistaken.

Either way, you should contact me about it. When you do, email in Moodle and tell me the Test number, Attempt number, and Item number. Without that information, I cannot find the item in question. Really.

However, also consider these points:

• You must spell items EXACTLY correctly. Moodle won't "get it" even if it's close.
• Responses must be grammatically correct.
  • That means that plural responses will not be accepted if the item calls for the singular form of a term (or vice-versa).
  • It also means that the verb tense must be correct.
  • Don't "fill in" more than needed. For example, if you put "white blood cell" in the item, "The type of cell that performs immune functions is the _?_ blood cell." it's wrong! Why? Because "The type of cell that performs immune functions is the white blood cell blood cell" is grammatically incorrect.
  • If you add a space before, after, or in the middle of a term, Moodle will score it as incorrect.
• You should stick to the terminology and usage of this course. Don't select responses that are outside the content of the course (such as alternate usages).

If you disagree with my grading of an item, please submit a Test Item Challenge