In this article we have collected our most commonly asked questions and other important information regarding the creation, editing, and use of Coursework activities in Moodle.
Coursework setup
All my assignments are submitted through Turnitin. Will this still work in Coursework?
Yes, Coursework has been designed to work with Turnitin and can display the originality report. The integration with Turnitin also allows you to access Feedback Studio and use the Turnitin marking tools from within Coursework.
How do I create Coursework activities and assessment dropboxes in Moodle?
You do not need and will not be able to create Coursework dropboxes in Moodle. All Coursework activities and submission dropboxes will be created for you automatically at the beginning of each semester and will be hidden from students.
When will the Coursework activities be deployed for all courses?
In the initial rollout of Coursework, the Coursework activities are only being deployed to Moodle courses that start in Semester 1 2025-2026. This is a process that has already been completed so all Coursework activities should already be in the ‘Assessment’ section of your Moodle courses for your Semester 1 Moodle courses.
Why are the automated Coursework activities not appearing in my Course?
For modules that are already in progress (i.e. a module that runs from Semester 2,3 and 1 2024-2025), you will need to manually create Moodle Assignments or Turnitin dropboxes as you have in the past to collate and mark student submissions. The rationale is that these Moodle courses are already in progress and ideally should retain the familiarity of content/process that students will have already experienced while the module is in prorgress. The downside for you is that there will be no automatic mark upload for these modules so you will need to manually upload marks to Banner as you have previously done once marks are finalised at the end of this term.
All future runs from Semester 2 2025-2026 onwards will be adopting the new approach for summative assessments (using Coursework activities) from the beginning.
How can I create a separate dropbox for draft submissions?
To create a separate dropbox for draft submissions (e.g. to check for plagiarism or for academic integrity purposes), you will need to use the Turnitin activity in Moodle. We have prepared guidance on how to do this: How do I set up draft submissions in Turnitin?
If you need help with setting up Turnitin dropboxes for draft submissions, please contact your Faculty Digital Media and eLearning Developer.
When should I use an event Coursework in Moodle?
Event Courseworks in Moodle are dropboxes that have been set up to accept marks but don’t require a submission from students. These can be used for:
- Assessment that requires students to just present their work in front of the class (without submitting it as a file)
- Assessment that requires students to perform in front of the class (e.g. in Drama or other Art modules)
- Assessment that requires students to exhibit their work in front of an audience.
- Assessment that requires students to take one or more Moodle quizzes, supplementary activities or other collected submisssions or works.
Managing student submissions
Can a student submit their assessment before the ‘Start date’ for submissions in a Coursework activity?
No, students and staff (i.e. when submitting on behalf of the student) can only submit their assessment after the start date/time for submission has passed and the assessment dropbox has opened. Anyone who attempts to submit a file before the date/time for submission has passed will receive an ‘Access denied’ error message.
Can I manually adjust a student’s exceptional circumstances extension after it has been awarded?
In usual circumstances, the answer is no. As exceptional circumstances extensions are controlled by a central team, once an initial exceptional circumstances extension has been awarded and added as a mitigation in a Coursework activity any updates should be processed automatically.
Yet, there are some circumstances where a manual change or edit to the extension may be necessary. For example, if the original approved extension is subsequently rejected for any reason and the student is then offered new choices for when and how to submit, the module leader can manually adjust the extension to reflect the agreed upon maximum while the student decides.
Where do students see their Turnitin Similarity Score after submitting their work to a Coursework activity?
Students will only see their Similarity Score in a Turnitin-enabled Coursework activity after the grades have been released to students. We recommend that Module Leaders create a draft Turnitin dropbox in their course to allow students to check similarity before submitting to the final dropbox.
What should I do if I see a ‘Resubmit to Turnitin’ error message against an individual submission in a Coursework activity?
This error message usually indicates that there is an underlying issue with the submission that has prevented it from being sent through to Turnitin and therefore caused the submission to fail. There are several reasons that the submission could have failed and these include that the submission is in the incorrect file format (usually an issue with submissions from .pages or Google documents); or the file is too large or does not include text.
The original file is not recoverable as the submission process has failed. Unfortunately the submission will need to be deleted and resubmitted. If you require further support or more information please contact your Faculty Digital Media and eLearning Developer.
Is there a way to allow a student to resubmit their work after they have finalised their submission in a Coursework activity with Turnitin enabled?
Yes, a Module Leader can unfinalise the student’s submission (by clicking ‘Unfinalise) underneath the submission in the Coursework activity in the ‘Submission file(s) / Online text / Submission ID’ column and then remove the unwanted submission. The student should then be instructed to resubmit their work. The Module Leader should not submit the new work on the student’s behalf. If the deadline for submissions has passed, the student can be given a manual extension to allow for the new submission to be processed correctly.
Is there a way to allow a student to resubmit their work after marks have been released to the students?
No, once marks and feedback are released to students their mark is finalised and there is no way to allow students to resubmit their work. There is not currently a way of deleting grades and feedback in Coursework once the status is released to students.
Marking
Can I open multiple student submissions simultaneously?
No, unfortunately the integration with Turnitin only allows one submission at a time to be opened in Feedback Studio.
Why does the mark entered in Turnitin Feedback Studio not immediately appear in the ‘Feedback and Grading’ column in the Coursework dropbox?
The mark you enter in Turnitin Feedback Studio should automatically update and be copied from Feedback Studio to the Coursework dropbox in the ‘Feedback and Grading’ column with a notation underneath the mark that says ‘Assessed in Grademark‘. Sometimes, however, this can take a longer period of time and may not be immediate as the sync slows during heavy loading times. The best path is to wait for this process to finish. If the Grade has still not appeared after several hours, please submit a query/ticket Coursework – Assessment Life Cycle.
Can I turn off anonymous (blind) marking to deanonymise one student and then turn it back on?
Please, do not deanonymise the students during the marking process. If you become aware of a potential breach of the Academic Conduct regulations and need to report the matter to the Student Investigation and Resolution Team (SIRT), please contact your Faculty DMeLD, and they will let you know who the student is.
What do I enter if a student has not attempted the assessment?
If a student has not attempted the assessment, please put 0 (zero) as their mark and from the Comments drop-down in the Comments column select Not Attempted.
What do I need to do if a student is receiving a zero grade?
If the mark is a 0, first add a Grade Reason such as Deferred Disciplinary or Not Attempted for submissions that have been flagged for plagiarism.
Moderation
Can I deanonymise the students after the moderation (or do I wait until the marks are released)?
After marking is complete and the marks are ready to be uploaded to Banner, you can deanonymise the submissions by clicking the button ‘Reveal Student Identities’. You should not reveal student identities prior to marks being ready to be uploaded and all marking processes having been completed.
Releasing grades and feedback
When I release the marks of students who submitted by the original submission date, will the Coursework activity deanonymise the names of students with extensions who haven’t been marked yet?
No, the Coursework activity will not deanonymise the names of students with extensions who haven’t been marked yet unless you click ‘Save and Finalise’ to save their mark and feedback.
Will a student with DD (Deferred Disciplinary) see that they have been referred to Student Investigation and Resolustion Team (SIRT) in a Coursework activity?
Yes, if you have added the plagiarism flag, the student with DD (Deferred Disciplinary) will see a ‘Referred to SIRT (marks will be withheld)’ flag next to their assessment submission. This means that their submission has been referred to SIRT for investigation.
Can I change grades if the grades have already been released to students?
Yes, it is possible to change a grade but you cannot remove a grade from Coursework.
If Turnitin is enabled, go into Feeback Studio and change the grade (top right). On exiting, the new grade should be reflected in Coursework.
For non-Turnitin Coursework activities, edit the grade via the pencil icon () in the ‘Feedback and Grading’ column.