Moderated Assignments
Moderated assignments allow up to three individuals to grade and comment on student assignment submissions.
Generally, moderated assignments include two reviewers who add their comments and provisional grades. The moderator then submits the final grade and comments.
The reviewers and moderator each have to be added to the course as a Teacher or TA to participate.
There are several steps to this process and they need to be completed in this order.
Step 1: Create a Moderated Assignment
Go to the Assignments section and click on +Assignment (if you have already created the assignment, click on the assignment title instead and then select Edit).
Check the box next to “Allow a moderator…”
Save and Publish the assignment.
Step 2: Assign Moderators
Once you save the assignment, click on the Moderate button in the top right-hand corner.
Check the box next to all students [2] and click on “+ Reviewer” [3].
You should now see a space for two reviewers and a moderator. If you don't, refresh the page or click on +Reviewer once more.
Step 3: Mute the Assignment
(Complete this step if you don't want students to see reviewers' comments and provisional grades)
Go to the Grades section, click on the drop-down arrow next to the assignment name, and click on “Mute Assignment”.
Step 4: The First Reviewer Grades the Assignment
With moderated assignments, it's important that the first reviewer grades the assignment before the second reviewer. The moderator should wait to input any grades or comments until the two reviewers have completed their assessments.
To submit an assessment, the first reviewer should click on the Assignment title, then click on Moderate.
Next to each student's name will be a link to SpeedGrader. The first reviewer should click on one of these SpeedGrader links.
They can then post comments and their provisional grades next to each student's submission using the SpeedGrader.
Step 5: The Second Reviewer Grades the Assignment
Once the first reviewer has finished their assessment, the second reviewer should go to SpeedGrader by either:
- Clicking on the assignment title, Moderate, and then the SpeedGrader link under the 2nd Reviewer column.
- Going to the Grades section, clicking on the drop-down arrow next to the assignment title, and choosing SpeedGrader.
The second reviewer should click on “Add Review” [1] near the top and then “Add 2nd Review” [2].
The second reviewer can now add their comments and provisional grades to each student’s submission.
Step 6: The Moderator Reviews the Provisional Grades and Adds Their Own Grades and Comments
The moderator should go to SpeedGrader and review each of the reviewer’s grades and comments. They should NOT hit Select yet. They should just click on 1st Reviewer or 2nd Reviewer.
Once they have reviewed the other comments and provisional grades, the moderator should click on “Add Review”.
The moderator should select “Add Moderator Review (new)” if they just want the students to see their comments.
The moderator should click “Add Moderator Review (Copy 1st)” if they want students to also see the first reviewer's comments or "Add Moderator Review (Copy 2nd)" if they want students to see the second reviewer's comments [Note: You can only choose to show one of the reviewer’s comments, not both].
The moderator should now add their own comments and a final grade.
Once they are finished, they should click on “Select” next to Moderator. The moderator section should now have a check next to it.
Step 7: The Moderator Publishes the Final Grade
The moderator should now go to the Assignments section, click on the assignment title, and then select Moderate.
They should double-check that the correct grade is showing in the final grade column because once the moderator clicks on Post, the Grades cannot be changed.
When the moderator is ready to post the grades, they should click on Post.
Step 8: Unmute the Assignment
Finally, the moderator should return to the Grades section, click on the drop-down arrow next to the assignment name, and select “Unmute the Assignment”.