Assessments

At Monash, assessments are more than just essays or exams — they’re designed to help you learn, show what you know, and develop skills for your future. Many of your assessments will be submitted using Moodle. The most common assessment types are assignments and quizzes.

Assignments

Submitting an assignment in Moodle 4.5 may involve uploading single or multiple files, copying and pasting from a document, typing directly into Moodle, or simply reading the instructions in Moodle but completing the assignment outside it.

When preparing your assignment for submission always make sure that you:

carefully read and follow all assignment instructions and requirements
upload your submission well in advance of the deadline in case of any technical difficulties.

Most assessments at Monash are due at 11.55 pm. If yours isn’t, you can see the reason in Moodle

Most assessments are due at 11.55pm to help make planning easier. Sometimes though, there is a specific reason why it’s due at a different time. Here’s how you can see the reason in Moodle.

Go to your Activity Page and look for the “Reason for different submission time” (see image below).

Image of a screenshot on Moodle with the title "Reason for overriding" along with the corresponding reason highlighted in a red box.

This update won’t change your assessment due date. You’ll just see why a different submission time has been chosen. Always double-check the due date and time for each assessment in Moodle.

Note about late penalties

Assignments submitted after the due date will receive a late penalty of 5 per cent of the available marks in that task per day that the assignment is submitted overdue. This is calculated from the due date, with any part of 24 hours counted as a day. If your assignment is submitted 7 or more days late, it will not be marked. This means that if you submit:

40 minutes late, this is counted as 1 day late and incurs a 5% deduction (late penalty waiver may apply if submitted late due to a technical issue)
24 hours and 5 minutes late, this is counted as 2 days late and incurs a 10% deduction

Depending on how late your work is submitted, it may not be marked.

If you need an extension, apply for one as soon as possible. For more information, see Extensions and Special Considerations.

Note about late penalty waiver due to technical difficulties

If your assignment was submitted up to 1 hour late because of technical issues, a late penalty waiver may apply (Marking and Feedback Procedure 1.12.1). This means that if you submitted:

45 minutes late due to technical issues, the late penalty waiver applies. Contact your chief examiner with supporting details to waive the 5% mark deduction.

1 day and 1 hour late (counted as 2 days), the late penalty waiver does not apply and does not reduce the late penalty to being counted as 1 day.

Review the Marking and Feedback Procedure to learn more about late penalties.

View the slides below for instructions regarding the unique steps involved in submitting an individual assessment on Moodle 4.1.
View the slides below for instructions regarding the unique steps involved in submitting a teamwork assessment on Moodle 4.5.
If you are experiencing any difficulties in uploading your work or submitting your assignment, contact your unit coordinator by email as soon as possible.
Common issues include:
- Unsupported file types
  Check your assessed task instructions to see if there is a specific requirement for filetype (e.g., .DOCX or PDF, etc.). If your file is in an unsupported filetype, resave it in a support type and try again. If your filetype matches the requirements outlined in your assessed task instructions, and you are still experiencing issues, email your unit coordinator for assistance.
- A file that is too large
  The default maximum file size for Moodle is 500MB, however this can be increased in the settings. If you cannot make your file smaller (such as an assignment that needs to include a lot of images), contact your unit coordinator and ask them to increase the maximum file size.
- Having submitted the wrong file
  If you have accidentally uploaded the wrong file, or there is another issue with your submission after you have submitted your assignment for grading, email your unit coordinator and ask them to revert your submission to draft status so that you can edit the assignment and replace the file.
- Not being able to get in contact with group members
  If you are experiencing communication issues while undertaking a group assignment, let your unit coordinator know as soon as possible - ideally early in the project, rather than close to submission. However, even when group work goes well, sometimes people can be difficult to contact at a given time due to unexpected circumstances. It is best to organise your submission schedule with each other well in advance of the deadline, but if something goes wrong at the last minute and you cannot contact each other, email your unit coordinator for assistance.
Assignment extensions now appear in different places across Moodle
If you’re granted an extension, your extended due date will now appear in different places across Moodle.
Where you used to see your extensions
Previously, when an extension was approved, the extended due date appeared on the Assignment page next to “Extension due date.”
The original due date was still shown at the top of the page and in other areas across Moodle (such as the Task Tracker or the Assessment tab), which could be confusing.
Your approved extension now replaces the original due date on the Assignment page.
Where else you’ll see your extended due date:
- The Task Tracker on the Unit Dashboard tab
- The Schedule tab
- The Moodle Homepage Timeline.

Turnitin

Many assignments are connected to Turnitin, the text-matching software that Monash uses to help you demonstrate your academic integrity. You may also be required to submit video assignments.

See the resources linked below for more information about video and Turnitin assignments.

Quizzes

Quizzes in Moodle are often self-checking, that is, you will be able to see the results at the end of an attempt. They can be graded or non-graded, and can be in a variety of formats including, true or false, multiple choice, or short-answer questions.

When you first access a quiz, you will typically see an academic integrity notice pop-up. You must read and agree to the statement to continue to the quiz page.

Note

Please note that this page refers to quizzes in Moodle only. For information on eExams please go to the eExams page.

Example of basic quiz instructions
Before attempting to respond to a quiz, review the instructions and check the grading method and time settings.
Grading method
The grading method will give you an indication of how you will be graded in the quiz and how many attempts are allowed. There are four possible grading methods.
- Highest grade: Your final score will be taken from whichever attempt you scored highest.
- Average grade: Your final score will be calculated from the average (mean) grade of all of your attempts.
- First attempt: Your final score will be based on your first attempt. You may still be able to make additional attempts for revision purposes, but they will not contribute to the score.
- Last attempt: Your final score will be based on your last attempt.
Time settings
The time settings will indicate when you can take the quiz, and when you need to complete the quiz.
- Your quiz may have a date and time that it is opened. You will not be able to make an attempt before it is opened.
- Your quiz may have a date and time that it will close. This is the deadline for the quiz. You will not be able to make an attempt after it is closed.
- Your quiz may also have a time limit. If the time limit is reached while you are attempting a quiz, Moodle will automatically save whatever you have done. While Moodle is autosaving, do NOT click the submit button as this may interfere with the auto save and corrupt your answers.
1. Before you start a quiz, make sure you are set up in a suitable location where you can focus and will have reliable internet access.
2. After reading the instructions to double-check the quiz grading method and time settings, click the attempt quiz button to start.
3. For quizzes with a time limit, a pop-up will remind you about the length of the time limit. It is not possible to pause the timer, so make sure you have enough time to complete the quiz in one sitting, then click the start attempt button to begin.
1. Navigate between pages of the quiz by clicking on the next page button and previous page button (if enabled).
2. If the quiz has a time limit, the time limit will be displayed on the right-hand side of the page.
3. On the left side of the screen under the question number, each question lists how many marks it is worth. Together with the time limit (where applicable) you can use this information to plan your time effectively during the quiz.
4. Short answer questions that require you to type directly into Moodle can be easiest to answer if you select your preferred text editor in advance. For example, the TinyMCE editor has more formatting options, so check your editor preferences in Moodle before you start.

Finalising your answers

Feedback and grades

In Moodle, you can view your grades and feedback for assessments that you have undertaken (e.g. quizzes and assignments).

Grades and feedback for each assessed task will be available as soon as your lecturer has released the marks. For self-graded assessments such as quizzes, the marks may be available immediately after your attempt. For manually-graded assignments such as essays, it may take a couple of weeks to receive the marks.

You can view grades and feedback for a specific task, an individual unit, or all of the units that you are undertaking.

To view your grade and feedback for a specific activity once they have been released, click on the link to the activity that you originally used to access it.
Quiz marks will typically show your attempt(s), how many marks you received, and may show a grade format for the marks you received. You can click review to view the answers and feedback for each previous attempt.
Assignments will typically show your grade, and the details of who marked your work, as well as feedback comments and/or a feedback file. Make sure you download any files and look at your feedback in detail. Feedback from assignments can be extremely helpful for your future assignments and study.
You can view all your grades for a unit at once on the unit's grades page.
In the unit’s Moodle site click grades in top-left of the page, above the unit dashboard and unit information page links.
The grades page will show a list of your assessments, the grades you have received so far (if they have been released), the possible grade range that you have been marked out of, and any online text feedback if relevant.
To access detailed feedback and any attached files, you need to visit the assessment page for each individual assessment. You can access each assessment directly from the grades page by clicking on its name in the list.
You can view your grades for all of your units at once on the Moodle grades page.
To access the Moodle grades page, click on the user menu in the top-right corner of Moodle and click grades.
From the Moodle grades page you can also click through to a specific unit to access the unit’s grades page.
Note
In accordance with Monash policy, no grade is final until confirmed by the Board of Examiners.