Assignment Settings

Owned by Stephen Tosh
Last updated: Apr 23, 2021
6 min read

While the focus of Lessons is typically around learning and the focus of Assignments is assessment, the two share many similar settings. This page will cover how to open an Assignment to edit, give a brief description of what is in the Assignment editor, and highlight some of the important settings that exist for Assignments. If a setting in the Assignment editor is not explained here, check the https://uwaterloo.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/MOBIUS/pages/1950122253 page for more information.

Contents:

Editing an Existing Assignment

  1. From your Möbius Class Homepage, in the navigation bar click Content Repository.

  2. Navigate to your Assignment, click on the Assignment name, and then click the Edit button in the following column that appears.

  3. You will now be in the Assignment editor, consisting of three main areas:

    1. The Choose Name tab allows you to set the name of your Assignment, set a description of your Assignment, and set text that can appear on each page of your assignment or upon completion of the Assignment.

    2. The Select Questions tab shows which questions are part of the Assignment, and allows questions to be grouped in order to pull one or more randomly from a group.

    3. The Properties tab allows you to change the settings associated with this Assignment.

Highlighted Assignment settings

Click on the Properties tab to review the following Assignment settings.

Keep Variation and Keep Correct Answers

The Keep Variation and Keep Correct Answers settings are found in the Type of Assignment section and are associated with the Homework or Quiz option. If you are using algorithmic questions in your Assignment or are pulling questions from a group, the Keep Variation setting ensures that on subsequent attempts of the Assignment, the student will receive the same version of the algorithmic questions or the same question from the group, assuming the student is allowed multiple attempts. Keep Correct Answers will only keep the same variation of a question on a subsequent attempt if the student answers that question correctly; the setting will also have their previously correct answers already filled in.

If either of these settings are activated, a major side-effect is that any updates made to the assignment or questions within the assignment will not appear to any student who has completed at least one attempt of the assignment. Examples of things students might miss if an update was made between their first and second attempt could be a typo fix, but they would also not be able to see if an additional question was added to the end of the Assignment. Therefore, it is recommended that your Assignments be in their final form should you wish to use one of these options.

Maximum Attempts

The Maximum Attempts setting is found in the General Properties section. This setting allows each student a specific number of attempts at the Assignment. It can be set as Unlimited (default) or can be set to a whole number between 1 and 5 inclusive.

It is worth noting that Maximum Attempts are actually enforced through Advanced Policies; the Maximum Attempts setting is simply provided as a convenience so users do not have to manually set up these Advanced Policies themselves. Just be aware that a warning message will be displayed stating that there are Advanced Policies on the Assignment if Maximum Attempts is set to a number between 1 and 5.

Time Limit

The Time Limit setting is also found in the General Properties section and is used to set the limit for how long students have in minutes to complete an Assignment. Please note that once a student starts the Assignment, their time continues to elapse, even if the student chooses to Save & Quit.

Advanced Policies

The Advanced Policies button is found under the General Properties section title. In Advanced Policies you can add additional requirements a student must fulfill before they are able to take the Assignment. It is recommended that any policies that involve a number of attempts be set by using the Maximum Attempts setting in the Properties tab. Other options that can be set from Advanced Policies include passing a different Assignment first before attempting this one, or receiving special permission to take the Assignment outside of set dates/times. If you use the pass requirement, make sure the Passing Score is set to your liking on the required Assignment.

Passing Score

The Passing Score is the Grade the student must achieve on an Assignment to pass it. The Passing Score must be set to a whole number, and is assumed to be 0 if the field is left blank. Passing an Assignment is used in two main ways.

  1. If the student has access to the Class Homepage and passes an Assignment, a checkmark will appear beside the Assignment on the Class Homepage. If the student has made an attempt at the Assignment but has not passed it, an X will appear beside the Assignment on the Class Homepage.

  2. Passing (or not passing) an Assignment can be used as an Advanced Policy to restrict access to another Assignment in the course.

Launch Page

The Launch Page setting is found at the end of the General Properties section. This setting when enabled brings students to a screen with summary information about their Assignment before starting the actual Assignment itself. This can be very useful for Assignments with time limits, and a Launch Page is mandatory when any Advanced Policies are in place (including a limited number of attempts).

Visible (Master)

The Visible (Master) setting is the first setting in the Scheduling & Visibility section. If this setting is disabled, the Assignment will no longer be visible on the Class Homepage. It is recommended that you disable this setting if you intend to create an LTI link from LEARN so that the Grade from Möbius can be transferred to LEARN automatically. Should a student happen to take the Assignment by clicking on it from the Class Homepage instead of the LTI link in LEARN, the Möbius Grade will not transfer to LEARN automatically.

Start Date and End Date

The Start Date and End Date settings are also found in the Scheduling & Visibility section. To set a Start Date or an End Date, click on the calendar icon beside the date field. The hour and minute at which you wish to start/end the Assignment can be set by clicking and dragging the hours or minutes left and right. The desired date should then be selected to finish setting the Start/End Date.

Note that once a Start Date or an End Date are set on an Assignment, even taking the Assignment as an instructor (e.g., for testing purposes) will not be possible if you are currently outside the allowed window.

Restrict Feedback Until and Schedule Force Grading On

The Restrict Feedback Until and Schedule Force Grading On settings are the last two in the Scheduling & Visibility section. The date given in the Restrict Feedback Until setting will prevent students from looking at any of their completed attempts of this Assignment in the Möbius Gradebook until after the specified time. What is shown as Feedback when viewing these attempts in the Möbius Gradebook is determined in the Feedback (After) section of the Assignment Properties.

Schedule Force Grading On sets a specific time when any active version of the Assignment will be forcefully submitted. Typically this is set to be at or shortly after the End Date.

Setting these dates is similar to setting Start/End Dates. However, if an End Date has already been set, Restrict Feedback Until and Schedule Force Grading On will be set to the End Date by default when first enabled. That being said, you are welcome to change the dates from their defaults.

Allow Resubmit

The Allow Resubmit setting is found in the Feedback (During) section. In an assignment, when Allow Resubmit is turned on, students have the option to return to a question after having given an answer. When turned off, the Prev button and the Question menu are disabled, forcing the student to complete each question in order. Turning this option off could be useful in a situation where questions are building upon one another, or if you decide to Show Current Grade during the Assignment.

How Did I Do?

The How Did I Do? setting is also found in the Feedback (During) section. This setting allows students to check whether an answer is correct or not. Since the primary purpose of Assignments is assessment, it is recommended that this option is left off for Assignments. The three settings following this option affect how the How Did I Do? setting functions, including whether the correct answer is shown each time, or whether feedback is shown.