Be aware of the following when allowing for multiple attempts on a manually-graded assignment:
  • Previous attempts may need to be graded before a student can make an additional attempt
  • Grade to Pass affects the availability to make an additional attempt

You may want to allow students to make multiple attempts at a manually-graded assignment. Keep in mind, your participation (action) will likely be required while the assignment is open.

Allowing for Multiple Attempts

The two settings categories that greatly affect multiple attempts are Submission Settings and Grade Settings. See below for details.


Caveats

When allowing for multiple attempts...

  1. Previous attempts submitted by a student must FIRST be graded (most cases) before a student can make another attempt.
  2. Student will only be allowed to make an additional attempt if the Grade to Pass has NOT been met by prior graded submissions.

Submission Settings > Additional Attempts

Automatically until pass

When Additional Attempts is set to Automatically until pass, a Grade to Pass above the default of 0.00 must be set under the Grade Settings.

Instructor will need View Submissions regularly while assignment is open.
  • Instructor will need to grade any submissions before an additional attempt can be considered.
  • Recommended to check the box to Notify Student that submission has been graded.
  • Student will need to have earned below the Grade to Pass for an additional attempt to be made.
  • If student earns a grade equal to or higher than the Grade to Pass, additional attempts will not be allowed.

Example 1: 3 attempts allowed; Grade to Pass = 75.00

Student earns 62.00 on first attempt; Second attempt allowed.

Student earns 73.00 on second attempt; Third attempt allowed.

Example 2: 3 attempts allowed; Grade to Pass = 75.00

Student earns 62.00 on first attempt; Second attempt allowed.

Student earns 84.00 on second attempt; Third attempt NOT allowed.



Manually

To allow for additional attempts without having to grade prior attempts OR to have the option to actively decide for which students to allow additional attempts, set Additional Attempts to Manually. 

Instructor will need View Submissions regularly while assignment is open.
  • When viewing submissions, you will see the most recent submissions from each student.
  • Check the box(es) for student submissions for which to allow an additional attempt.
  • Select Allow another attempt from the With selected... dropdown menu.  Go.

When grading a submission

  • The attempt number will be indicated under Attempt settings in the lower/right corner of the grading screen. 
  • You can view/grade other submissions made by the student by clicking the gray View a different attempt button.

An Alternative

If you want to allow for multiple attempts, but do not want to actively grade submissions while the assignment is open, there is a work-around. This works if the only graded portion is in the form of uploaded files.


  1. Under Submission types, set the Maximum number of uploaded files to the number of "attempts" desired.
    The student will have the opportunity to turn in multiple "attempts" as additional file uploads.
  2. Under Submission settings
    • Set Additional Attempts to Manually. This setting allows you to add additional attempts for  a student if needed later.
    • Set Maximum attempts to 1. Students are actually only making one attempt, but you are allowing for multiple files to be uploaded (effectively multiple submissions within a single assignment attempt). 

As long as Students keep their submission in DRAFT form (i.e., don't Submit for grading), they will be able to reenter the assignment to upload additional files up to the limit allowed (3 in example above).


If using this method, it is recommended to include instruction to student in the Assignment Description and check the box to Display on course page so students receive instruction before entering the assignment. See below as an example.
 

Once submitted for grading, student will not be able to add additional files unless the Instructor manually allows for another attempt (see "Manually" section above).