In Moodle's Gradebook, weights can be used to adjust the amount that a single grade item can contribute to a category's total. They can be used in conjunction with categories to group assessments of a specific type in the grading scheme of the course, such as exams having a higher weight than in-class assignments.

This article will provide guidelines for using weights in Moodle's gradebook.

Understanding Weights and Aggregation

Weights in Moodle are applied to grade items inside of a category. Weights are relative, meaning that grades contribute more if their weight values are greater than other weights in the category. It's best to think of it as a ratio, where the contribution is dependent on two factors:

• The weight applied to a score
• The sum of all weights

For ease of use, it's best to have the sum of all weights in the gradebook add up to 100. This allows an instructor to clearly align weights as if they were percentages. For instance, a weight of 25.0 on a category would be 25% of their final grade.

Aggregation Types

Weights in the gradebook are configured differently depending on what the aggregation type of the category that holds the weighted grade items. 

The following aggregation types can use weighting in their aggregation:

• Weighted mean of grades
• Simple weighted mean of grades
• Natural

These aggregation types do not use weights at all:

• Median of grades
• Lowest grade
• Highest grade
• Mean of grades

Weights are applied to each using the same concepts, but the math works out differently for each aggregation type.

For more information on the calculation for each aggregation type, see Moodle's "Grade aggregation" documentation and the "Setting a Category's Aggregation Type in Moodle's Gradebook" article.

Using Weights

Weights can be applied in the gradebook for a number of use cases.

To apply weighting to a grade item:

1. In the course menu at the top of the main Moodle course page, select the Grades tab.
2. In the drop-down menu at the top left of the page, select Gradebook setup from the list.
3. Edit the course category to use the Weighted mean of grades or Natural aggregation type by following the instructions in the "Setting a Category's Aggregation Type in Moodle's Gradebook" article.
4. After saving changes to the course category, the Gradebook setup page will display a Weights column in the table of grade items.
5. In the Gradebook setup page, find the row with the grade item to modify.
6. In that row, in the Weights column, set the weight to the proportion it should contribute to the course total.
7. At the bottom of the page, click the Save changes button.

That grade item will now have a weight in proportion to the other grade items in the same category.

If using the Natural aggregation type with weights, ensure that all grade items in that category have a weight applied to prevent any potential miscalculation errors.

Creating a gradebook with weighted categories

Weights can be used to create a gradebook that uses a weighted categories scheme. This means that each category of assessment (such as homework, quizzes, exams, or others) has a weight that reflects the relative importance of each assignment in determining the overall course grade.

As a review, see the "Moodle Gradebook: Basic Setup, Display and Functionality" Teaching Resources article.

To create a gradebook that uses weighted categories according to that article:

1. In the course menu at the top of the main Moodle course page, select the Grades tab.
2. In the drop-down menu at the top left of the page, select Gradebook setup from the list.
3. Edit the course category to use the Weighted mean of grades aggregation type by following the instructions in the "Setting a Category's Aggregation Type in Moodle's Gradebook" article.
4. Add categories for each assessment type using the instructions in the "Adding a Grade Category in Moodle's Gradebook" article.
5. For each category, in the Weights column, set the weight to the proportion it should contribute to the course total.
6. At the bottom of the page, click the Save changes button.

After these steps have been followed, there should be a gradebook with categories for each assessment type, with weights that add up to 100 and mark each category with the appropriate ratio of points to earn in the course.

Creating a non-graded grade item or category

Weights can also be used to create grade items in the gradebook that have a score, but do not contribute to the course total.

Setting a weight of zero on an item or grade category will exclude them from contributing to the course total. For more information, see the "Using Non-Graded Items and Categories in Moodle's Gradebook" article.

Additional Resources

Overview of the Moodle Gradebook (DELTA Knowledge Base)

Adding a Grade Category in Moodle's Gradebook (DELTA Knowledge Base)

Changing Settings for a Category Total in Moodle's Gradebook (DELTA Knowledge Base)

Setting a Category's Aggregation Type in Moodle's Gradebook (DELTA Knowledge Base)

Gradebook Navigation (DELTA YouTube)

Basic Setup for Weighted Grades (DELTA YouTube)

For additional assistance, please contact the LearnTech Help Desk at learntech@ncsu.edu or (919) 513-7094, or via the Get Help form on the DELTA Knowledge Base.