FAQs

By default, the Moodle Gradebook is set to ignore blank "empty" grades (displayed as a hyphen "-" ). Unless the instructor changes the setting, a blank grade will not be calculated into the Course total for that student.  This is referred to as "excluding" the empty grades.

For example, if three tests have been given, and a student earns 100, 100, and a hyphen (for a test that was not completed), Moodle will give the student an average of 100 instead of 67. It has "excluded" the blank grade. In this scenario, you must add the "0" in place of the hyphen in order to obtain the correct average. 

To set your gradebook to exclude (or include) empty grades in grade calculations:

1. Click the Setup tab in the Gradebook.

2. Click the Edit link to the right of the Course title. This is usually the first Edit link in the Actions column.

3. Select Edit settings from the dropdown list. The settings screen will appear. 

4. In the Grade Category section at the top, click Show more..." 

5. Beside Exclude empty grades: 

   1. check the box to have Moodle ignore the empty grades. You will need to add "0" for missed work. (RECOMMENDED)* 

   2. uncheck the box to have Moodle automatically calculate a "0" for every empty grade. (This will give students a failing grade for most of the semester.)

6. Save changes at the bottom of the screen.

*On the main gradebook screen, you can bulk insert 0 grades into all the missing grades in a column by clicking the pencil to the right of the column title and using Perform bulk insert the bottom of the screen.