Moodle manually set zeros do not automatically clear upon submission

In Canvas one could set a gradebook rule that automatically set unsubmitted assignments and tests to zero at the due date. One could then have a grace period until the end of availability (cut-off in Moodle speak). With a seven day grace period beyond the due date, the zero prompted non-submitting students to get their work submitted. 

Canvas automatic application of zero for missing submissions

For a test that was automatically marked, the zero appeared automatically at the due date. Once the student completed and submitted the test (before the end of the grace period) their score would automatically replace the zero. No instructor intervention was required. For an assignment submitted after the due date, once the instructor marked the assignment the new score would automatically replace the zero. In Canvas empty grades (null values) did not count in the overall score, only scores of zero or higher.

Moodle uses an Aggregation setting to change the behavior of empty grades, which is not the same as setting an unsubmitted assignment to zero at the due date

Moodle does not have the ability to automatically set a zero. There is an option to count empty grades as zero in the grade aggregation settings, but this counts all empty grades as a zero. Even upcoming assignments

Moodle aggregation setting impact with only the tests category setting changed

The impact on the student grades is profound. In the above image only the tests category was set to include empty grades. As a result everyone in the course is failing and failing so strongly that a student is likely to drop the course. If all categories were similarly configured, the scores would be even lower. All empty grades for the whole term, including future assignments, are being counted as a zero. 

Setting this Aggregation option does not display a score of zero to the student. The student would not see anything other than the empty (null) grade. This would not have the prompting impact that zero can have. The cause of failing the course would be invisible to the student. 

As a result, if an instructor wants missing assignments to have a zero at the due date, the instructor has to set the Override check box and manually enter the zero score.

Moodle manual override

This manual process can be expedited by using the Bulk insert grades tool.

Moodle Actions menu in Single view launched from Gradebook report

Although some cautions and caveats may apply.

Moodle bulk insert grades dialog

Moodle open and close dates for a test

In Moodle quizzes and tests can only have an open and close date and not an open, due, and cut-off date as is seen with assignments. 

A manually entered score of zero

With a number of students not having submitted a test and the closing date four days away, zeros were manually entered using the Override capability. Note that one must have Edit mode enabled to enter Override grades.

A student who received a manually entered zero takes the available test

Within 24 hours a student with a zero had submitted the test and had achieved a score of 12.

Student's grade remains zero after submitting the test

A check of the student's grade in the test single view reveals that the student still has a zero for the assignment. There was no notification that the student had submitted the test. Quizzes and tests do not have a Notification options section, at least not for quizzes and tests that have no manually marked items. The instructor did not know the student had submitted their test let alone that the student still had a zero. The student has not to date contacted the instructor to determine why they still have a zero and given the learning style of many of the students, the student might never contact the instructor. 

The problem is that the Override is performing as the label says on the can: the override mark is overriding any other mark.

Moodle Override check box deselected

The workaround is to uncheck the Override check box and then select Save at the bottom of the screen.

Moodle now displays the student's score

One might think that one can uncheck the Override box after entering the zero for the Grade and then saving this with the Override box unchecked in order to prevent the Override from overriding.

Moodle deletes the zero and returns the Grade to an empty or null value

Moodle, however, does not retain the zero with the Override box unchecked, instead deleting the zero and returning the Grade to an empty or null value, essentially right back where one started from.

The upshot appears to be that the lack of a separate due date and cut-off date for quizzes and tests, the lack of notification for quizzes and tests submitted against a manually entered zero, and the impact of including empty grades as scores of zero, means that zeros cannot be used to prompt students to get missing submissions submitted. 

Another fall out from the above is that an instructor really must run their gradebook with empty grades excluded in order to give students an accurate picture of their performance in a course. At the end of the term, in order to now count missing submissions as a zero, the instructor is instructed to uncheck the Exclude empty grades aggregation setting. From a student's perspective, if they have missing assignments, quizzes, tests, or other marked activities, their grade may drop precipitously overnight, and without apparent explanation. An A to an F is clearly possible.

Thus an instructor must manually enter zeros to keep the grade display accurate. This operation, however, has to occur after the closing or cut-off date because of the non-notification of submissions against a zero outlined above (perhaps only for quizzes and test, late assignments may still generate a notification). Yet as soon as the instructor enters zeros, students will be contacting the instructor asking to be allowed to submit the missing quiz or test. The manual entry of scores of zero, the inevitable pressure to push back a closing date, the invisibility of quiz and test submissions, and the need to manually clear the overrides as submissions occur, all add significantly to the instructors workload.

This author is surprised that a package with the age and maturity of Moodle would have no way to automatically set a "soft zero" at a due date which could be replaced by a score up until the closing or cut-off date. 

This author is also surprised that the manual gradebook does not allow for the entering of codes such as "ex" for excused or "mi" for missing in manual entry of grading from the grader or in the gradebook, features that other learning management systems have long had. Moodle depends on accessing the Single view to check an Exclude checkbox to accomplish an excused mark. And a mark of "missing" is simply missing from Moodle. There is no way to mark missing other than entering a zero. Other learning management systems allow entry of "missing" which counts a zero but also tracks that the zero is because the assignment was not submitted. Non-submission is different from an assignment that was submitted but scored a zero. 

A brief scan of other institutions using Moodle suggests that many institutions install a number of plugins including gradebook plugins, some free, some not, to provide enhanced gradebook capabilities above the base Moodle package. Whether any of these would resolve the above set of issues was unclear.