Essay Questions in Moodle
The Essay question type allows students to write an extended response, which must be manually graded by a teacher. Essay questions are ideal for assessing higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and creative expression. Unlike other question types, essay questions cannot be automatically graded by Moodle.
Creating an Essay Question
- Navigate to the Question bank and click Create a new question.
- Select Essay from the question type list.
- Configure the settings as described below.
- Click Save changes.
General Settings
- Category: Select the appropriate question bank category.
- Question name: An internal name for the question within the Question Bank.
- Question text: The essay prompt or question. Use the HTML editor to format the text, include rubric criteria, or embed images and resources.
- Default mark: The maximum marks for this question. The teacher assigns a mark up to this value when grading.
- General feedback: Feedback shown to students after grading. This can include model answers, grading criteria, or general comments.
Response Options
Moodle provides several options for controlling how students respond to essay questions:
Response Format
- HTML editor: Students use the standard Moodle text editor with formatting tools (bold, italic, lists, links, etc.). This is the default and most common option.
- HTML editor with file picker: Same as above but with the ability to embed files directly in the response using the file picker.
- Plain text: Students enter plain text without formatting. Useful for programming code or when formatting is not needed.
- Plain text, monospaced font: Plain text displayed in a monospaced font. Ideal for code submissions or formatted text that relies on character alignment.
- No online text: Students cannot type a response; they can only submit file attachments. Use this when the response must be a file (e.g., a document, spreadsheet, or image).
Required Text
You can specify whether students must enter text in the response field. When set to Require the student to enter text, the quiz will not allow submission without a text response.
Input Box Size
Set the initial number of lines for the text input box (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, or 40 lines). This does not limit the response length; it only sets the visible size of the text area.
Word Limit
In Moodle 4.x, you can set a maximum word limit for the response. When enabled, a word counter is displayed to students, and they are warned if they exceed the limit.
Attachments
- Allow attachments: Choose whether students can attach files (0, 1, 2, 3, or unlimited).
- Require attachments: Specify the minimum number of required attachments (0, 1, 2, or 3).
- Accepted file types: Restrict the types of files that can be attached (e.g., .pdf, .docx, .jpg). Leave blank to allow all types.
- Maximum file size: Set the maximum size for each attached file.
Response Template
The response template is pre-filled text that appears in the student response field when they first view the question. This is useful for providing a structure or outline for the response:
<h3>Introduction</h3>
<p>[Write your introduction here]</p>
<h3>Main Arguments</h3>
<p>[Present your arguments here]</p>
<h3>Conclusion</h3>
<p>[Write your conclusion here]</p>
Students can modify or delete the template text as they write their response.
Information for Graders
The Grader information field allows you to provide guidance to the person who will be grading the essay. This text is only visible to graders, not to students. Common uses include:
- Model answer or expected response outline
- Grading rubric or criteria
- Key points that should be mentioned for full marks
- Common errors to watch for
- References or source material
Grading Essay Questions
Essay questions require manual grading. To grade essays:
- Go to the quiz and click Attempts (or access via Quiz > Results > Manual grading).
- The manual grading interface shows each student response alongside the grader information.
- Enter a grade (from 0 up to the default mark) and add comments/feedback.
- Click Save to record the grade.
Until essay questions are graded, the quiz attempt will show as "Not yet graded" and the total score will not include the essay question marks.
Multiple Tries
Essay questions do not support multiple tries in the same way as automatically graded questions. The penalty and hint settings are not applicable because the question requires manual grading.
Best Practices
- Write clear, specific prompts that indicate exactly what is expected.
- Specify the assessment criteria in the question text so students know how they will be evaluated.
- Use the response template to provide structure, especially for longer essays.
- Include detailed grader information to ensure consistent grading, especially when multiple graders are involved.
- Set a word limit to keep responses focused and manageable for grading.
- Use the general feedback field to provide a model answer after grading is complete.
- Consider using the Assignment activity instead of an essay question in a quiz if you need more advanced grading features (rubrics, marking guide, peer assessment).