Moodle 4.0 Resources for Faculty

Managing Your Course - Resources from MoodleDocs

Below are links to common inquiries about Moodle features. Hover over the link for a brief description.

• Teacher Quick Guide

• Editing Text - how to use the text editor and what the icons mean

• Activities - how to involve students actively in their learning.

• Resources - how to add static materials to your course.

• Blocks - how to add extra items and information to the sides of your course page.

• Questions - how to create questions for use in quizzes and Moodle's lesson module

• Quiz Quick Guide

• Quiz Activity Module (4.0)

• Grades Quick Guide (4.0)

• Grades - how to use the gradebook, scales and advanced grading methods.
• Tracking progress - how to control and display progress through a course.

  There are several ways to track student progress in Moodle. This page outlines what is available to teachers in a course - grades, competencies, activity completion, course completion, course reports, other ways to track progress.

• Import Course Data (4.0)

Combine Course Sections into a Metacourse

When an instructor is registered to teach multiple sections of a single course, he or she may want to share content across all sections of that course with Moodle.  Moodle has options for sharing content across sections. 

Enrolling Course Sections in a metacourse

Moodle has a feature in which a "parent" course receives registrar information from the "child" sections the instructor is teaching. An instructor may use this feature in several different ways to share content between sections in Moodle. Reference the illustration below to see how "child" course (section) enrollment feeds into the Moodle "parent" course(metacourse). 

Requesting a Metacourse

Metacourses in Moodle are currently created only by request. 

1. Complete the TDX form to request a Metacourse.

2, Provide the following information to request a metacourse to share the same content in all your sections:

• Name of the course
• Number of sections teaching (and you would like paired)
• Instructors
• The Major/Department under which the ticket falls. 
• The direct URLs for every course requested (Providing a part of the course title is not sufficient for resolving a metacourse request)

Metacourses are identified by having "-All" or a similar "1&2" marking within the course name when it is displayed on your Moodle Dashboard.  please allow a few days for turnaround and completion of this request. 

Please note the following:

If you are requesting a metacourse to combine sections that are taught by multiple instructors, we will need permission from all involved instructors before proceeding with the metacourse creation.

If additional sections of your course are added in Workday and Moodle after your metacourse was created in Moodle, please contact the Help Desk so that the Moodle team can add the additional sections to your meatcourses's setup. 

Options for a Metacourse and Sections

1. Do you want to share course resources between sections?

Choose a metacourse option if you want all students in all sections to see the same content.  All students are enrolled in the Metacourse and can all access the information uploaded there. 

2. Do you want students to communicate within their section?

Choose a metacourse opton if you want to show the same content to all the course sections through the metacourse, but also want to use the section courses for section-specific discussions and other interactive features.  Ensure the metacourse setting indicates "Hide" and explain to students that they find content in the metacourse and interact in the specific section course(1,2, or 3). 

Add Course Editors and Graders in Metacourses and Sections

Grading TAs cannot be added at the Metacourse level, they must bed added in each section individually. 

Requesting an Independent Study Course

• Course Provisioning occurs roughly 4 months prior to the start of classes for a given academic term. Courses are automatically provisioned for instructional formats identified in Workday such as Lecture, Seminar, Studio, and Research.
• Independent Study courses  are not included in automated course provisioning to avoid adding extra, unused courses to instructor dashboards.
• Upon request, independent study courses can be provisioned in Moodle. This a manual process requiring several steps, so please allow for additional turnaround time. To facilitate a rapid response, provide as much information as possible from the Workday record for that course section, including the full course name and section number. Please note that we cannot create Moodle course shells for ad hoc requests that don’t already match a Workday record. 

To request an Independent Study Course be provisioned with a Course Shell in Moodle, please email help@brandeis.edu, and be certain to indicate that you need an Independent Study format Workday course to be converted to an actual Moodle course shell. To avoid confusion and delay it is helpful to distinguish the request from to more numerous ad hoc course shell requests (which get routed to the Brandeis Communities instance). 

Using the "Switch role to" Feature in Moodle 

The "Switch role to" feature in Moodle allows instructors to view their courses from a student's perspective.  This tool is invaluable in confirming that content, assignments, and activities appear as intended for students.  By switching roles, instructors can ensure the accessibility and clarity of course materials, verify settings, and anticipate potential issues students might encounter. 

Steps to use "Switch role to"

1. Access the "Switch role to" option:

• Log in to Moodle and open the course. 
• In the course dashboard, look for the profile icon at the top right of the screen, select it to open the dropdown menu.
• Select "Switch role to" from the Menu Options.

2. Select the Student Role:

• In the role selection menu, choose "Student".  This changes your view to simulate what students see when accessing the course.  

3. Navigate the course as a student: 

• Browse through each section of your course to verify availability of activities:
  • Assignments:  Verify that instructions are clear, due dates are visible, and submissions types are accurate.
  • Quizzes: Confirm that quizzes are accessible, with correct timing, question visibility, and feedback settings. 
  • Forums: Check that discussion forums are open for posting and that the subscription options align with course expectations. 
  • Files: Verify that all posted files are available for viewing or download. 
• Use this view to test navigation and ensure that all resources are easy to locate. 

4. Exit the "Switch role to" Mode:

• To return to your normal instructor role, go back to your profile menu and select "Return to my normal role". 
• You are now back in your instructor view, where you can make any necessary adjustments based on your student-view findings.