Tracking attendance in Moodle

There is a Moodle attendance Activity that can be used to keep track of class attendance. To add the attendance module, go to your course in Moodle and turn editing mode on.

Set Up Attendance Activity

1. Turn editing on
2. Click "Add an activity or resource" in the desired section on your Moodle page
3. Select Attendance. If desired, you can change the name and grade total
4. Click on "Save and return to course"
5. You should see a new attendance item in your course
6. Click on the attendance icon to set up your preferences

Set Up Attendance Sessions

Sessions are the times you want to keep track of attendance.

1. After you've clicked on the attendance icon to set up your preferences, click the "Add Session" tab
2. Set the start of session date, time, and duration
3. Under the "Multiple Sessions" section, select "Repeat the session above as follows"
4. Select the days of the week your class meets
5. Select the end session date/time
6. If you want your students to record their own attendance, check the box that says "Allow students to record own attendance"

Review the days and times you have set up. You may need to click the "All" link at the top of the sessions table to see all your sessions.  From here you can delete sessions (for Fall or Spring break for example) or modify meeting times by clicking on the update button for a session.

Set Up Attendance Status Sets

1. Click on the "More" tab at the top center and select "Status Set" from the drop-down menu to configure the attendance codes (e.g. present, late, excused, etc.) along with grade point values
2. When done, click "Update"

Taking Attendance

Click on the attendance activity from the main page and click on the "Sessions" tab.  Click on the green circle to take attendance for the corresponding session.  There are options to view a listing or a grid of students.

Other Notes

A gradebook entry is automatically created for attendance.  If you use the gradebook, but don't want to count attendance as a grade it is possible to assign a zero weight to attendance.

When a student clicks on the attendance block, they can see a record of their own attendance.  They cannot modify the attendance or see other students' attendance records.

It is possible to use the attendance block to keep track of class participation for a class meeting by replacing attendance codes with participation levels.

Troubleshooting

If the number of points that attendance is worth is changed, sometimes the gradebook does not recalculate.  To force an update, change a point value in the attendance settings area (e.g. change present from 2 to 3 points) and then set the point value back to the desired value.  This forces a recalculation of the grades.