Managing Team Wo k Submissions in La ge Moodle
Cou ses in O de o Gene a e Cou se Po olios
A mando Sousa
INESC TEC ( o me ly INESC Po o) and
Facul y o Enginee ing, Uni e si y o Po o
Po o, Po ugal
[email p o ec ed]
Rodol o Ma os
Compu e Cen e (CICA)
Facul y o Enginee ing (FEUP), Uni e si y o Po o
Po o, Po ugal
ma os@ e.up.p
Abs ac — Massi ica ion o highe educa ion ins i u ion p omo es
he impo ance o pee educa ion and eam wo k as impo an
educa ional ools. As such, eams equen ly p oduce se e al
deli e ables ha should be o ganized and e alua ed h oughou a
gi en cou se. Some submissions should hen be a ibu ed o he
eam a he han he indi idual and sea ching o a gi en ype o
deli e able om a gi en eam becomes an impo an conce n in
e ms o o ganiza ion and ease o usage in e alua ing
assignmen s. The cou se “P oje o FEUP”, used as case s udy and
su ely many o he s bene i om an a -leas pa ially au oma ed
p oduc ion o an o ganized se o all deli e ables om a gi en
cou se in a gi en yea – a cou se po olio, a ask made easie by
he usage o he p esen ed ideas and he p o o ype implemen ed
in he Moodle Lea ning Managemen Sys em. This a icle shows
de ails o he implemen a ion and he lessons lea ned. The
p o o ype was es ed in he men ioned es cou se ha has abou
one housand s uden s en olled and a cou se po olio was
success ully c ea ed.
Keywo ds- Massi ica ion; La ge Cou ses; Lea ning
Managemen Sys ems; Assignmen c ea ion; Moodle; File
Submission; Team Wo k; Po olio; Cou se Po olio
I.INTRODUCTION AND CONTEXT
Teaching la ge cou ses p esen s se e al challenges ha a e
mo e and mo e equen in cu en days. Team wo ks a e also
essen ial o p esen day o all Enginee ing deg ees and a e
hough o as an in e es ing me hod o p omo e so skills and
pee lea ning. Team wo ks a e also essen ial o cope wi h la ge
cou ses because o he wise he (manual) e alua ion o
submissions would be un hinkable – as would he numbe o
deli e ables o g ade manually he numbe o s uden s en olled
in he cou se di ided by a e age eam size.
The wo k p esen ed he e was inspi ed in a single e y
la ge, c oss p og am cou se named “P oje o FEUP”, a Facul y
o Enginee ing o he Uni e si y o Po o, Po ugal [1]. The es
occu ed in he i s ( all) semes e o school yea 2012/13 and
he cou se had abou 1020 s uden s spli in o 146 g oups o 6 o
mo e s uden s.
Gi en such massi ied cou ses, Lea ning Managemen
Sys ems (LMSs) a e essen ial o help educa ional e o s by
p o iding s a ic and in e ac i e da a o he s uden s. Such da a
and ac i i ies may ange om indi idually accessing ( iewing)
a ideo o comple ing a quiz o maybe an educa ional (se ious)
game.
The e a e many lea ning managemen sys ems (LMS)
a ailable. Howe e , in 2012 he ma ke is domina ed [2,8] by
BlackBoa d (44.8%), Moodle (20.1%), Desi e2Lea n (11.1%)
and Sakai (6.1%). LMSs ypically o e bo h pedagogical and
e alua ion capabili ies in he same package. This in eg a ion o
unc ionali y p esen s se e al bene i s. Fi s ly, use s become
mo e amilia wi h he use in e ace o bo h sys ems – as he
same in e ace is used o bo h eaching and examina ions, his
makes i easie and less s ess ul o s uden s o comple e
examina ions and mo e likely ha s a will no make e o s
when cons uc ing examina ions. Secondly, ope a ional cos s
(due o ins alla ion, main enance and licensing) a e gene ally
less o a single so wa e package han o wo packages.
Finally, by in eg a ing pedagogy wi h e alua ion, i should be
simple o moni o he p og ess o s uden s and so be e a ge
u u e eaching esou ces.
One o he mos use ul and used LMSs is Moodle [2, 3, 8]
ha is ee, open, and i s code is eleased unde a well-known
GPL 3 (in o he wo ds, a ee copy igh license). O he
ea u es include ease o expand, web in e ace, da a p o ec ion,
use class, s uden g oups and g oupings o g oups, e c. Moodle
is he de ac o s anda d solu ion o inexpensi e LMS and
ea u es a a ie y o pedagogic ac i i ies and me hods [4, 9]
ha a e e y in e es ing o la ge cou ses. Fu he mo e, he es
cou se would be al oge he un hinkable wi hou he aid o
LMSs – in his case, he Moodle pla o m as quizzes would
quickly become imp ac icable o awkwa d o simply
excessi ely ime consuming.
This a icle will ocus on submissions made by eams in he
Moodle pla o m in o de o gene a e an o ganized lis o all
submissions. This lis can be easily ans o med in o a cou se
po olio. A cou se po olio [3, 5] is in e es ing o a numbe o
easons [5] including: o ewa d and mo i a e he s uden s, o
con inuous imp o emen o he cou se, o be a pa o he s a
o uni e si y’s po olio. The gene a ion o he po olio o
qui e a la ge cou se is especially challenging and his was one
o he mo i a ions o he ideas behind his a icle. Na u ally, a
cou se po olio is much la ge han a simple collec ion o he
wo ks p oduced by he s uden s bu he ideas p esen ed in his
a icle ela e only o he gene a ion o he o ganized collec ion
o he s uden 's submissions. O ganizing his collec ion o
submissions is e y ime consuming o e y la ge cou ses as
he es cou se, whe e he p esen ed ideas a e essen ial.
II.PROBLEM STATEMENT
While LMSs and pa icula ly Moodle a e essen ial o
suppo la ge cou ses like he men ioned ones, Moodle i sel
could bene i om he imp o emen s p oposed and pa ially
p o o yped he e.
A.Needs
As men ioned he es cou se has abou 150 g oups and
each eam submi s 3 deli e ables a he end o he cou se, while
some o he ac i i ies a e indi idually g aded.
As men ioned, he aim is o make he p oduc ion o he
cou se po olio easie and i is also e y in e es ing, a eading
and o g ading ime, o ha e an adequa e lis ing o he
deli e ables ( u ned in o missing), espec i e on-schedule
s a us and o he ele an obse a ions.
B.Requi emen s analysis
The ollowing equi emen s we e es ablished o
submission o deli e ables:
• Suppo o la ge numbe o s uden s
• In eg a ion wi h school's in o ma ion sys em
• Flexible numbe o s uden s o e eams
• Changing g oups o e ime
• Changing eams along he e alua ion pe iod
• Sa e, con i med submissions o (la ge) iles whils
keeping he up-loade ’s iden i y, imes amp, e c.
• Abili y o easily manage mul i- o ma ecei ed
deli e ables (allowed and no allowed lis – example:
by lis ing admissible MIME con en )
• Abili y o gene a e and o limi allowable ile/da abase
en y submission names (name o he ile whe e he
deli e able will be kep and can be sea ched o ):
o Au oma ically gene a e name om a gi en
se o ules in ol ing: deli e able o ma
ype, Moodle ac i i y name, Moodle g oup
name, Moodle g ouping name, Moodle
cou se name (/id/sho name),
submi e _name
o Res ic allowable names o a gi en lis ( o
example, coming om an ex e nal ex ile)
o Abili y o check o alidi y gi en a se o
ules he name mus comply wi h and no
o end
• Suppo o e sion and eedback commen s
• Mul iple deli e ables (o se e al deli e able_ ype)
submi ed by eams
• Ease o use plug-ins ega ding plagia ism de ec ion
Moodle e sion 2.X manages g oups and g oups o eams
in an in e es ing way: “g oups” (o s uden s) a e o ganized in
“g oupings” (o g oups). A s uden may be in any gi en
numbe o g oups bu can only be in one g oup o a g ouping
which allows he s uden o wo k in di e en challenges wi h
di e en colleagues simul aneously o sequen ially o e ime.
C.Views o s akeholde s (ac o s)
LMSs and pa icula ly Moodle clea ly iden i y oles in he
cou se such as: Teache s, Non-Edi ing-Teache s and S uden s.
These oles a e gi en speci ic capabili ies in he cou se
enabling hem o submi , iew o edi ac i i ies o esou ces.
Aside om oles, he e is he no ion o g oup ha sha es a
gi en submission. The Moodle LMS pla o m al eady
implemen s his issue adequa ely as i is possible o ha e any
numbe o simul aneous (o no ) eam wo ks whe e s uden s
may wo k in di e en eams on di e en ac i i ies.
Na u ally eache s and non-edi ing eache should be able o
see all submissions and s uden s may o may no be allowed o
iew submissions o he han ha o hei own eam(s).
Fo simplici y, he e was a choice o no add essing he
issue o s uden s o a gi en yea being able o e ie e
submissions om a p e ious yea because his issue would
mos likely be be e sui ed o be ea ed in an ex e nal
eposi o y (as da a om p e ious yea s become s a ic da a).
The p oblems wi h such endea o a e a numbe o conce ns
ega ding comple eness, accu acy, pe mission o access, da a
sa e y (in eg i y), e c.
When aking in o conside a ion la ge cou ses wi h se e al
submissions, i is mos likely in e es ing o conside ha each
in e es ed pa y (s akeholde ) will be in e es ed in a di e en ,
speci ic iew o he lis ing o he submissions.
Fo any kind o eache / adminis a o , i should be
possible o sea ch / lis / download:
• (All) submissions o a gi en cou se
• Submissions o a gi en s uden
• Submissions o a gi en g oup
• Con igu able subse o submissions (example classes
X o Y)
Fo s uden s, a cou se adminis a o should be able o
con igu e any o he ollowing:
• Access all submissions made by he s uden
• Access all submissions o he eams o he s uden
• F eely access all submissions o o he eams o a
gi en deli e able_ ype
• Access a subse o he submissions
One o he impo an implica ions o his p ocess is ha i is
now possible o build he po olio o he deli e ables o he
cou se o eam o s uden in an au oma ed way ha is easily
expo able, example, o an ex e nal eposi o y. I aken o he
limi , i would be possible, o ins ance, o lis all submissions
o a gi en s uden h oughou his o he s academic jou ney ha
would be he ounda ion o an au oma ed po olio o he
s uden .
III.PROTOTYPE
As hin ed in he equi emen s, he gene al s a egy o he
p o o ype is o limi o au oma ically gene a e ile names o
p edic able ields, hus making he name o he ile submi ed
by he s uden egula , p edic able and easy o ind (and hus
gene a ing au oma ed lis ings). The ad an age o his s a egy
is ha he managemen o he exis ing “ iles” ( ha we e
allowed o be submi ed) is s aigh o wa d and no addi ional
in o ma ion is kep on he ile i sel bu a he all ele an
in o ma ion is clea ly displayed in he ac ual ile name.
Addi ionally, all modi ica ions a e enclosed in a single place
and o e all cou se modi ica ions a e minimized. Na u ally, all
subsequen que ies and code in ol ing hese “ iles” will wo k
wi hou modi ica ions.
Figu e 1. E-R Model o he ele an da a o be added o Moodle
I should be men ioned ha in e nally, Moodle 2.x
ans o ms iles in o da abase en ies. The wo d “ ile” in his
a icle ela es o he unc ional idea o a use ile being
submi ed in answe o a Moodle assignmen and, as such, is
no ela ed o any echnological mean o a chi ing he esponse
(inside Moodle).
A.Da a Model
The p oposed da a model, shown in Figu e 1, is addi ional
o wha is inhe en o a common LMS and speci ically he
images shown and he p o o ype p oduced is based on Moodle
e sion 2.3 [6,7].
In o de o en o ce co ec ilenames, i is necessa y o add
con igu a ion da a ha mus be asked o he use a he ime o
he c ea ion o he ac i i y. The da a o be added is ela ed o
he ype o es ic ions allowed o he ile name in he
submission p ocess. I can be seen ha da a model is ela ed o
he equi emen s p e iously shown: he ype a ibu e selec s
he ypes o es ic ions o check a submission ime; he e is a
lis ing o allowed ilenames; he e is he se o ules o
au oma ically gene a e ilename o a pe son/g oup/cou se
(e c.), and he e is he possibili y o allow o manda o y pa s
o he ilename as well as o p e en ce ain names. The da a o
be s o ed is in e p e ed a un ime and no ex a ela ions a e
needed.
B.Implemen a ion
The p o o ype p esen ed he e uses he ounda ions o a co e
Moodle ac i i y named “Assignmen s (2.2) / Upload Single
File” and builds upon ha PHP code ha needs o be pa ched o
include he ideas p esen ed.
The new ac i i y is shown in he usual lis , shown a e
p essing he amilia Moodle “+Add an ac i i y o esou ce”
link. The chosen name o he new ac i i y is “Submission”.
As men ioned ea lie , he “Submission” p o o ype is based
on he “Assignmen s (2.2) / Upload Single File”. The p o o ype
ha was used in he all (1s ) semes e o yea 2012/13 only
wo ked o en o ce ha he ile name should be in a lis gi en by
he Moodle eache a con igu a ion ime.
The eache , upon selec ing “Submission” will be aken o a
amilia con igu a ion page wi h a single added ield, whe e he
admissible ile names a e lis ed sepa a ed by whi e-spaces
(please see sec ion 4). Du ing he implemen a ion o his
p o o ype, he Moodle pla o m was al eady in p oduc ion
s a e, meaning ha modi ica ions o he code ha was being
used elsewhe e we e no allowed. The only wo ka ound was o
ha e s uden s check he alidi y o he submi ed ile names
manually, a e comple ing he submission p ocess – al hough
admi edly no he bes solu ion, i was he only possible
solu ion a he ime o opening he p o o ype o gene al
p oduc ion usage. A be e solu ion would be ei he o
au oma ically gene a e he submission ilename o a leas
es ic i o a alid ange o op ions (as men ioned in he
equi emen s sec ion).
Figu e 2. Con igu a ion page o he p o o yped
“Submission” ac i i y lis ing allowed ile names
When he ac i i y is con igu ed and open o s uden s, he
ac ual submission p ocess is shown in Figu e 3 (show in i s
o iginal, Po uguese language). The ins uc ions simply ell he
s uden s o submi 3 PDF iles on he oo di ec o y, wi h he
shown p e ixes acco ding o submission ype se and he g oup
name as he es o he ilename, ending wi h he “.PDF” su ix.
Figu e 3. Ins uc ions o submissions ( o s uden s)
One o he issues o he cu en implemen a ion is ha a
gi en use (s uden ) may submi a ile ha complies wi h a
name ha is no des ined o him o his g oup. I his was done
on pu pose wi h w ong ul in en ions, e hical issues would be a
s ake bu un o una ely, wi h such many s uden s, a s uden
acciden ally exchanging his g oup name is no un hinkable
(and has, in ac , happened). Na u ally he au ho o he w ong
upload was displayed clea ly and was asked o emo e he
submission wi h he w ong ilename ( ela ing o a w ong
g oup).
Rega ding he p e en ion o w ong ilename and mis akes,
such issues a e sol able by he p oposed au oma ic gene a ion
o ilenames. The es cou se was unable o use such s a egy
because Moodle g oups, al hough in e es ing, we e no used –
he lis ing o g oups we e ins ead s o ed in he uni e si y's
in o ma ion sys em.
Figu e 5 shows he sample sc een o he submi ed iles.
Filenames in he lis a e hype linked o he ac ual ile unde
Moodle, wi h he secu i y and pe missions as Moodle
implemen s. The link is ound wi h a que y inside he Moodle
da abase.
Any Moodle use en olled in he cou se in ques ion can
iew a lis o p esence o absence o all submissions, o he
names con igu ed in he lis ing supplied in con igu a ion page
o he “submission” ac i i y.
Figu e 4. Sample lis ing o Submissions classi ied
as OK and NOK
C.Gene a ion o he lis ing o s uden 's submissions as a
pa o he cou se po olio
The lis ing o 5is essen ial o easily access all links o he
iles on he same page, in an o ganized ashion. Since HTML
syn ax inhe i s XML in e es ing cha ac e is ics, i is possible o
use XML echniques o con e among lis ings.
To p oduce he ele an lis ing o submi ed iles, he
uploade 's names and imes and NOK iles we e emo ed
because such de ails a e no ele an in e ms o cou se
po olio.
The lis ing shown in Figu e 5 was i s p oduced by a
speci ic code in PHP language because i was ound o be
in e es ing o g oup submissions wi h he same 3 le e p e ix
in o columns o a line. A he lis ing gene a ion ime, he es o
he lines a e clea o in o ma ion excep o ile links. In o de
o p epa e he lis ing shown in Figu e 5, semi-au oma ed icks
we e used o ga he in o ma ion om he uni e si y
in o ma ion sys em and some o he in o ma ion added
(manually). The ull lis ing o he cou se submissions would
be 146 g oups long ac oss he 9 in ol ed enginee ing deg ees.
The in o ma ion shown is o cou se pa o a much bigge
lis ing, accessible ia [10].
Figu e 5. Sample sc een sho o he lis ing o submissions, o ganized in o a
web page - he lis ing shown is a pa o he cou se web page and will be a
pa o he cou se po olio (sample om [10])
IV.PLANNED FEATURES AND FUTURE WORK
The p o o ype is being ex ended o deli e all he ea u es
men ioned in sec ion IIB and he planned in e ace is shown in
Figu e 6. The shown in e ace is hough o be sel -explana o y,
o be used a ac i i y con igu a ion ime. The plan is o ha e he
new submission accep only a single ile, hus esul ing in ine
uning equi emen s. A ac i i y con igu a ion ime, he eache
is gi en he choice o: au oma ically gene a e he ilename o
he submission o he s uden ; en o ce ha he ilename will be
one o he lis ed allowed names (chosen a submission ime by
means o a d opbox ha he uploade s uden mus choose
om); ask he uploade s uden o supply a ilename ha is
es ed o ules ha he ilename mus comply wi h and
op ionally mus no o end. The p oposed codes will be
in e p e ed a submission ime in he con ex o he s uden and
i s g oup and g ouping. P o ision mus be made o e en ually
allow no using Moodle g oups.
Figu e 6. Submission ac i i y con igu a ion sc een showing
new con igu a ion a ea
( ollows no mal con igu a ions o ile upload)

In o de o easily implemen a “gen le p essu e” o e
s uden s o comply wi h deadlines, easy emailing is o be
implemen ed o e he lis ing o OK and NOK iles, as
sugges ed in Figu e 7.
Figu e 7. Bu ons o send email o all use s in he g oups
ha submi ed success ully and ha did no do so
V.CONCLUSIONS AND LESSONS LEARNED
As men ioned, he p o o ype was used in a es cou se wi h
1020 s uden s and 146 g oups unde se e al p og ams. Due o
he dimension o he cou se, Moodle g oups we e no used.
Each g oup should submi 3 iles submissions nea he end o
he cou se. Al hough he au ho s we e unable o pe o m a ull
g own use (s uden and eache ) su ey, sample s uden use s
om di e en p og ams had e y di e en a i udes owa d
such a guided submission ask: use s om he in o ma ics
p og am we e used o such asks (guided submissions) and
complied easily wi h he equi emen s. Use s om o he
p og ams had a ying expe iences bu a numbe o issues we e
lea ned: s uden use s a e no always awa e o ailing
ex ensions and ga e he pd ex ension o he ilename and did
no unde s and ha he ilename became ilename.pd .PDF (by
de aul he Windows ope a ing sys em hides ex ensions);
s uden use s we e also no used o ilenames being case
sensi i e (e en i wa ned abou i , some use s end o minimize
he issue); gene alized eache eedback was ha i was easie
o ind submissions in he lis ing (using b owse ex sea ch, o
example) han in egula Moodle pla o m – meaning ha his
e o is also in e es ing a g ading ime; i was also men ioned
ha his lis ing made i easy o compa e submissions
(plagia ism conce ns among s uden s sha ing simila wo k
opics).
Moodle secu i y was ound o be adequa e because ile
access wi hin he cou se is au ho ized by no mal Moodle
pe missions sys em: on clicking he o line e sion o he
lis ing p oduced by he p o o ype (shown in 5), a Moodle ile is
eques ed and deli e ed depending on log-in and cou se
au ho iza ions, which is e y con enien . Fo public access, he
Moodle cou se would ha e o be iewable o gues s o he iles
would ha e o be emo ed om he se e . In he es cou se
case, he la e is he chosen solu ion as iles a e o be kep
eely accessible in a web se e (and do no need o
o e bu den he Moodle da abase).
Addi ional eedback is ha some eache s el ha hey
needed a ool o communica e wi h s uden s unde hei
supe ision and did no comply wi h he submission p ocess.
Un o una ely, as Moodle does no suppo ha in o ma ion
(g oups unde he supe ision o a gi en p o esso ), ha ea u e
is, o he ime being, no easy o implemen .
The expe ience om using he p o o ype p o es he
impo ance o his “guided” submission p ocess, much mo e so
o he p oduc ion o public submissions lis ings o he cou se.
The p esen ed p o o ype success ully gene a ed he lis o
submi ed iles in he cou se (e en hough Moodle g oups we e
no used) and a e ha ing manually inse ed missing
in o ma ion, he web page ha lis s all s uden s’ wo ks is
a ailable a [1,10]. This in o ma ion will be included in he
cou se po olio.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This wo k is pa ially inanced by he ERDF – Eu opean
Regional De elopmen Fund h ough he COMPETE
P og amme (ope a ional p og amme o compe i i eness) and
by Na ional Funds h ough he FCT – Fundação pa a a Ciência
e a Tecnologia (Po uguese Founda ion o Science and
Technology) wi hin p ojec «FCOMP - 01-0124-FEDER-
022701».
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