Grade Calculation in Moodle

• While Moodle has preset calculations, custom formulas can also be used for the course total and individual category totals.

  Grade calculations are configured on the Gradebook Setup page in the Moodle gradebook. We highly recommend organizing grade items before choosing aggregation methods so that items are in the correct category.

• For advanced calculation options, including how to drop the lowest items from a category.

Configure Grade Calculation

Grade calculations depend on how grade items and categories are arranged on the Gradebook Setup page. To configure how grades are calculated, you will first need to choose an aggregation method in the Category Settings. Once applied, aggregation methods will calculate the course total and subtotals for categories (if any).

By default, a grade category will calculate all items in that category. If a category contains a sub-category, then the sub-category total value will be used in the parent-category calculation.

To set a calculation method for a category:

1. On your main course page underneath the course name, hit Grades, and then in the drop-down menu on that page, navigate to Gradebook Setup.
2. Locate the row that contains the title of the category. In the Actions column (at right), click Edit. The Edit settings drop-down menu will open.
3. Click Edit settings (︎). The Edit category page will open. ​
4. Note: The Edit category settings for the course total can be found in the top row of the Gradebook setup table.
5. Select a calculation method from the Aggregation drop-down menu. Options include:
   • Mean of Grades
   • Custom Weights
   • Natural
6. At the bottom of the page, click Save changes. The Gradebook Setup page will open.

Aggregation Methods

To configure how grades are calculated, choose a calculation method by editing Category Settings. The three aggregation methods are described below.

Mean of Grades

What it does:

• Calculates the average of all grade items in the category (the sum of all grades divided by the number of grade items).
• If items in the category have point values different from the Max Grade of the category, grades will be adjusted proportionately.
• Does not allow grade items to be marked as Extra Credit.