Moodle

Grade item disappearing after student takes quiz

Details

  • Type: Bug Bug
  • Status: Closed Closed
  • Priority: Major Major
  • Resolution: Won't Fix
  • Affects Version/s: 1.9
  • Fix Version/s: None
  • Component/s: Gradebook, Quiz
  • Labels:
    None
  • Environment:
    Windows, XAMPP
  • Database:
    MySQL
  • Affected Branches:
    MOODLE_19_STABLE

Description

The problem I have is that after a student takes one of the quizzes, that quiz's results then get hidden in the gradebook.

It seems to be specific to just the first of the quizzes (there are three), but it happens with any student.

I can't see what's different between the quizzes that would make it behave this way.

I've attached the sample course that I'm using to test this. You'll see that the quizzes each take random questions from two of four categories. I use this course to demonstration the random question capability.

I'm using Moodle 1.9+ build 20080423.

Forum thread: http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=101573

Issue Links

This issue will be resolved by:
MDL-18301 Hidden Quiz Grade not working Critical Open

Activity

Ascending order - Click to sort in descending order
Hide
Permalink
Gary Anderson added a comment -

I found the problem on this today; it caused us much confusion at the end of the year, and is likely to cause more confusion as more people start using 1.9.

The issue is that if a teachers uses the default settings for a quiz (something they are inclined to do if they don't understand every option), then grades will always be hidden from students the gradebook.

The problem is that if a ending date is not set for the quiz, and the option for showing scores during a quiz is not enabled, then the gradebook item is hidden.

This may make sense from an algorithm perspective, but it means that in many cases, grades will never show up in the gradebook, or will seem to be suddenly hidden. By default, teachers and students expect for an item visible in the gradebook if it is visible in the course (at least until their mental model of the gradebook becomes more sophisticated).

I would suggest, as a practical matter, changing line 366 of /mod/quiz/lib.php from 1 to 0. That is what we will do at our school.

The thinking is that if there is no closing date, then the quiz is treated as graded when the student completes it. If the teacher actually wants to set a closing date, then it will have the current behavior.

I will put Tim Hunt in the watch list on this as I know he has spent much time on the module and may have an even better solution.

--Gary

Show
Gary Anderson added a comment - I found the problem on this today; it caused us much confusion at the end of the year, and is likely to cause more confusion as more people start using 1.9. The issue is that if a teachers uses the default settings for a quiz (something they are inclined to do if they don't understand every option), then grades will always be hidden from students the gradebook. The problem is that if a ending date is not set for the quiz, and the option for showing scores during a quiz is not enabled, then the gradebook item is hidden. This may make sense from an algorithm perspective, but it means that in many cases, grades will never show up in the gradebook, or will seem to be suddenly hidden. By default, teachers and students expect for an item visible in the gradebook if it is visible in the course (at least until their mental model of the gradebook becomes more sophisticated). I would suggest, as a practical matter, changing line 366 of /mod/quiz/lib.php from 1 to 0. That is what we will do at our school. The thinking is that if there is no closing date, then the quiz is treated as graded when the student completes it. If the teacher actually wants to set a closing date, then it will have the current behavior. I will put Tim Hunt in the watch list on this as I know he has spent much time on the module and may have an even better solution. --Gary
Hide
Permalink
Tim Hunt added a comment -

Further discussion of how this should work in http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=101573.

And I am going to assign this to me, becuase it is more of a quiz issue than a gradebook one.

The current behaviour was explicitly asked for by the OU. If the student's can see their grade through the gradebook, why should they not also be able to see it in the quiz interface.

Also, remember that the defaults for what students are allowed to review is set on admin/module.php?module=quiz, and as far as I can see, reviewing of grades in the quiz is on by default, so the problem you have does not happen with a default install.

Show
Tim Hunt added a comment - Further discussion of how this should work in http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=101573. And I am going to assign this to me, becuase it is more of a quiz issue than a gradebook one. The current behaviour was explicitly asked for by the OU. If the student's can see their grade through the gradebook, why should they not also be able to see it in the quiz interface. Also, remember that the defaults for what students are allowed to review is set on admin/module.php?module=quiz, and as far as I can see, reviewing of grades in the quiz is on by default, so the problem you have does not happen with a default install.
Hide
Permalink
Gary Anderson added a comment -

Tim:

Thanks for looking at this. You are right, on the "Later, while the quiz is still open" setting scores are only by default. On our local site that was changed in the preferences (or maybe there was a different old default that stuck). That explains why we have not seen this more often.

Still, I think the issue is how to handle this case when there is NO Close the quiz time set, which is the default. It seems to me that if the auto show/hide feature is to work, that there should be a way for the quiz to close.

One thing that was especially a mystery for us was that when we say these quizzes hidden, we went in and made them visible from the gradebook. But, if a change was then made to the quiz, it suddenly was hidden again, so it seemed like we had ghosts.

In any case, I think that the line I suggested does address the problem, which is to have it be visible unless a close date is set. It is not the best solution, but it does avoid the issues that did show up as an area for confusion while still allowing the feature (by setting a close date). There is proablbly a better way, however.

Show
Gary Anderson added a comment - Tim: Thanks for looking at this. You are right, on the "Later, while the quiz is still open" setting scores are only by default. On our local site that was changed in the preferences (or maybe there was a different old default that stuck). That explains why we have not seen this more often. Still, I think the issue is how to handle this case when there is NO Close the quiz time set, which is the default. It seems to me that if the auto show/hide feature is to work, that there should be a way for the quiz to close. One thing that was especially a mystery for us was that when we say these quizzes hidden, we went in and made them visible from the gradebook. But, if a change was then made to the quiz, it suddenly was hidden again, so it seemed like we had ghosts. In any case, I think that the line I suggested does address the problem, which is to have it be visible unless a close date is set. It is not the best solution, but it does avoid the issues that did show up as an area for confusion while still allowing the feature (by setting a close date). There is proablbly a better way, however.
Hide
Permalink
Cristian Alvarado added a comment -

We have this happening to one particular instructor on our installation as well.

At first we thought that it was just the settings, but it only happens to 4 of the I think 8 quizzes he has in his course. I checked over the settings for the 4 that continuously become hidden, and they both have start and stop dates, as well as "Scores" ticked off in all three columns in the quiz settings.

Show
Cristian Alvarado added a comment - We have this happening to one particular instructor on our installation as well. At first we thought that it was just the settings, but it only happens to 4 of the I think 8 quizzes he has in his course. I checked over the settings for the 4 that continuously become hidden, and they both have start and stop dates, as well as "Scores" ticked off in all three columns in the quiz settings.
Hide
Permalink
Barry Oosthuizen added a comment -

I've also been experiencing some ghost-like activity with quizzes in the Gradebook. All our quiz grades are currently visible to students (through clicking on the eye in the gradebook). When I update a quiz the eye in the gradebook is automatically closed.

My settings:
1. The Review options for 'Scores' in each quiz are not ticked.
2. I don't have any close dates on my quizzes

Expected behaviour:
I would expect that 'open eye' in the gradebook would continually override the 'Scores' settings of the quiz.

Actual Behaviour:
The gradebook (hide/show) and quiz review settings take turns in overriding each other (depending on which was updated last) if 'scores' are not ticked.

Show
Barry Oosthuizen added a comment - I've also been experiencing some ghost-like activity with quizzes in the Gradebook. All our quiz grades are currently visible to students (through clicking on the eye in the gradebook). When I update a quiz the eye in the gradebook is automatically closed. My settings: 1. The Review options for 'Scores' in each quiz are not ticked. 2. I don't have any close dates on my quizzes Expected behaviour: I would expect that 'open eye' in the gradebook would continually override the 'Scores' settings of the quiz. Actual Behaviour: The gradebook (hide/show) and quiz review settings take turns in overriding each other (depending on which was updated last) if 'scores' are not ticked.
Hide
Permalink
Nicolas Connault added a comment -

Linked this issue with MDL-18301. The proposed fix here may help, but ultimately the solution will lie in centring the grades in the gradebook and out of quiz, which is scheduled to be done in 2.0. This way the logic for hiding/showing will not be split between modules and gradebook.

Show
Nicolas Connault added a comment - Linked this issue with MDL-18301. The proposed fix here may help, but ultimately the solution will lie in centring the grades in the gradebook and out of quiz, which is scheduled to be done in 2.0. This way the logic for hiding/showing will not be split between modules and gradebook.
Hide
Permalink
Michael de Raadt added a comment -

Thanks for reporting this issue.

We have detected that this issue has been inactive for over a year has been recorded as affecting versions that are no longer supported.

If you believe that this issue is still relevant to current versions (2.1 and beyond), please comment on the issue. Issues left inactive for a further month will be closed.

Michael d;

lqjjLKA0p6

Show
Michael de Raadt added a comment - Thanks for reporting this issue. We have detected that this issue has been inactive for over a year has been recorded as affecting versions that are no longer supported. If you believe that this issue is still relevant to current versions (2.1 and beyond), please comment on the issue. Issues left inactive for a further month will be closed. Michael d; lqjjLKA0p6
Hide
Permalink
Michael de Raadt added a comment -

I'm closing this issue as it appears to have become inactive and is probably not relevant to a current supported version. If you are encountering this problem or one similar, please launch a new issue.

Show
Michael de Raadt added a comment - I'm closing this issue as it appears to have become inactive and is probably not relevant to a current supported version. If you are encountering this problem or one similar, please launch a new issue.

Dates

  • Created:
    Updated:
    Resolved:
Atlassian JIRA (v4.4.3#663-r165197) | Report a problem
Powered by a free Atlassian JIRA open source license for Moodle. Try JIRA - bug tracking software for your team.