In this post, we will explore how to setup an assignment in Moodle. As with most features in Moodle, how to setup assignments comes with an endless array of options and ways that can become exceedingly confusing for people. As such, we will not look at all of the options but rather try to look at the basic steps need to complete this process.

1. Once you are logged in to Moodle and your course as a teacher you need to turn on editing in order to see the options for adding resources and activities. Once editing is on you need to click on the link that says “add an activity or resource.” After clicking on this link you should see the following.

2.Select the “Assignment” button and click “add” and you should then see the following

3. You need to type a  name for the assignment in the “assignment name” box as well as a brief description of the assignment in the “description” box. These are required.
If you look closely at the many different options you will see little question marks in many places. Clicking on these will give you a brief explanation of what the feature does. This is important to know as there are too many features to explain them all clearly.

Explanation of the Various Sections

Additional Files. This section allows you to upload files the students may need to complete the assignment. It is shown in the picture above.

Availability and Submission Types. Availability allows you to setup time frame in which the assignment can be completed. The submission type allows you to determine how the students can submit the assignments. Below is a visual of these two sections.

Feedback Type and Submission Settings. The feedback type is how you can communicate with students about their grade for the assignment. Submission settings allows you to use one of several options for allowing students to turn in their work through Moodle. Below is a picture of what these sections look like.

Group Submission and Notifications. Group submission is useful when a team of students submit something together. Notification settings provide options for how Moodle communicates with teachers and students when assignment are submitted and marked. Both of these settings are shown below.

Grade Settings. Grade settings provides options for how papers are marked. Again, further details, you need to click on the question marks for additional information. Below is a screenshot of the grade options.

The final section is common module sections. These can mostly be ignored unless you are working with students in groups. After determining your settings you need to click either “save and return to course” or “save and display”.

Conclusion 

There really is no simple way to explain when to use the various features available when using assignments. What to use depends on such factors as the needs of the students, the learning environment, the goals and objectives of the course, etc. As such, for you as a teacher the best advice to be given is to look at the context in which you are teaching and try to find the right combinations of options to use for that particular assignment.