Further testing of the gradebook (Moodle 1.9 Beta 2 (2007101000)) has revealed some calculation errors in the Course total. I made three offline assignments worth 100, 100 and 200 pts. I assigned some scores and manually set the range of the Course Total to 400. There must be some problem with the calculation of the scores reported in the Course total. Notice that in some cases the sum is correct but in others is off ?????.
Midterm 1 Midterm 2 Final Exam Course total
Range 0.00-100.00 0.00-100.00 0.00-200.00 0.00-400.00
Test MCDB293 Student 50.0 80.0 160.0 280.0
Test Student1 20.0 60.0 80.0 160.0
Freshman Student 90.0 90.0 186.0 364.0
Overall average (Submissions) 53.33 (3) 76.67 (3) 142.00 (3) 268.00 (3)
If I define the Course total using =sum([[midterm1]],[[midterm2]],[[Final Exam]]) then the calculations are correct. This explicit approach is way to complicated and cumbersome for most users - we need an easier way of reporting the sum of point values in the course total.
I suggest the following modifications:
1. A grade book setting which will automatically set the range of categories and the course total to be the sum of the individual components.
2. A simple option to set the number reported in the categories and course total to be the sum of the components.
3. An easier way to set the max points for an assignment to a value above 100 pts. Currently, we have to hack the php code to allow this.
The vast majority of faculty here (UCSB) report scores as raw points and sums. It is confusing to report % scores which represent variable percentage contributions to their overall total. Reporting raw scores make it very clear the value of each assignment towards their grade. Some assignments are worth 10 pts and others are worth 200 pts or more. The raw point scores make that very clear.