There are several assessment submission types in Moodle. The two most popular ones are Moodle Assignment and Turnitin.
Moodle Assignment can be submitted as an online text (when you have to enter text in the text field box directly in Moodle), as a file upload (when you have to upload a document file from your device) or as a media gallery (when you have to upload an image or a video from your device).
Turnitin can be submitted only as a document file (in a .pdf or .doc file format) from your device. Turnitin is an originality checking and plagiarism prevention tool that checks submitted written work for improper citation, plagiarised content or AI written text. Each Turnitin assignment is checked against other students' work, the Internet and key resources selected by your instructor.
Moodle Assignment
The Moodle Assignment activity is used as a general assignment submission box where you have to upload your written work. It can be used for group submissions or individual work submissions.
Before you upload an assignment file, ensure that:
- all files are in formats that readers will be able to access
- the file name observes any naming conventions that are current for your course.
Moodle assignment submission
The Moodle Assignment can be set up to accept different file types. Below are indicated different types of file submissions and how they look like.
Click 'Get Started' to view the step-by-step guide.
If you are completing an assessment or activity that will be graded, please use a recommended browser on a desktop or laptop computer. Tablets or phones are not fully supported for use with UNSW Moodle.
When submitting an assignment, keep in mind that if you are inactive for too long your Moodle session will time out and you will need to log in again.
What if something goes wrong?
If you receive an error, cannot upload your assignment or cannot find the submission link, the first point of contact should be your lecturer. Make sure to take recordings or screenshots of the error messages you are receiving, so you have proof to show later.
Some assignments can be restricted to be visible only from a certain date and time, so you may not be able to see the submission link due to this.
Media Gallery submissions can be done in different ways that your lecturer will explain in advance. Please follow these instructions as advised by your lecturer.
Files saved in different formats may not be readable on different devices, so it's best practice to convert them to .pdf format before submitting.
Looking for other help?
Contact The Nucleus: Student Hub
Turnitin Assignment
Turnitin is commonly used as an originality-checking service to help identify potential plagiarism by checking submissions against a wide range of databases including the web, and papers submitted to UNSW, as well as other institutions. Your papers submitted to the Turnitin database will remain in the database for some time and will be used for similarity checking. Even if you submit the same or similar paper yourself, it will be displayed having high percentage of similarity as the same work is already in Turnitin's database.
Submit a Turnitin assignment in Moodle
Turnitin assignment only accepts MS Word and PDF files. The best practice is to save your work in .pdf format before uploading. Turnitin cannot read images, so it will give an error if you try uploading a file with no readable text.
Click 'Get Started' to view the step-by-step guide.
View your assignment’s Turnitin Similarity Report
The similarity score is a percentage of your assignment's matches to other sources. The tool provides instructors and students to easily find matches or similar text within submitted work. In the Submission Inbox page, the similarity index for your submitted assignment will display almost immediately.
Note: Your lecturers may choose to allow students to view Similarity score or not. Your lecturers also may allow you to be resubmit your paper before the due date if your similarity score is too high. After the 3rd resubmission, the similarity score will take 24 hours to generate.
Click 'Get Started' to view the step-by-step guide.
For information on academic integrity issues and UNSW plagiarism policy, see Plagiarism.
Restrictions on all Turnitin submissions
The following restrictions apply to Turnitin submissions:
- All submissions must be text-based. Scanned documents must be passed through Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software prior to submission.
- Turnitin accepts electronic files in the common formats such as:
- MS Word (.doc/.docx)
- WordPerfect (.wpd)
- Rich Text (.rtf)
- Portable Document Format (.pdf)
- PostScript (.eps), HTML (.htm), and
- plain text (.txt) format.
- Some formats such as hwp, odt, wpd, ps or PowerPoint may be accepted if it contains computer readable text. No other file types are accepted.
If you need to submit uncommon file types or those not listed above, it is recommended to convert it to a PDF first.
- You can cut and paste files from other word processing programs into the Turnitin submit paper page.
- Only one file per student can exist for each assignment.
- Files must have at least 20 words
- The file size limit for text files is 100MB.
As soon as you submit your assignment, Turnitin will display a digital receipt on the screen—if it doesn't, your assignment has not been successfully submitted. Turnitin will also email you a submission receipt.
Other settings may apply
Assignment settings determine whether you can:
- make multiple submissions during a specified period, or only one submission
- receive, if multiple submissions are possible, an originality report every time you submit, or only once
- view the originality reports generated when OriginalityCheck checks your assignment against its databases.
Individual course conveners or your School policy determine these settings. If you have any questions about how OriginalityCheck is being used in your course, ask your course convener.
Access Marks in Moodle Gradebook
Your marks for all gradable activities are available in the Grades section at the top of each course.
View Marks and Grading Criteria
Grading Criteria are tables that list all the aspects of an assignment on which you will be graded, and all the levels of achievement you can reach with regard to each aspect. These are also called rubrics or marking guides.
Rubrics and marking guides tell you exactly what you will be marked on. They are generally more objective than a single mark. When you get your assignment back, you can tell exactly what you did right, and where you might make efforts to improve your work.
It's a good idea to look at the Grading Criteria your teacher has created for an assignment before you complete it, so that you can focus your efforts on demonstrating the skills specifically required by the criteria.
To look at the Grading Criteria before submitting your assignment, go to the relevant assignment and look under Submission status > Grading criteria, to find the rubric or marking guide that has been set up for the assignment.
After your submission has been graded, the awarded criteria will be displayed in the Feedback section of your assignment.
Click 'Get Started' to view the step-by-step guide.
Access Marks and Feedback in Turnitin
There are two ways to check your Turnitin submission mark. You can check it in the Gradebook or you can access it through the Turnitin submission link. If you access your grades via Turnitin submission link, you will also be able to see any feedback provided by your lecturer or tutor.
Click 'Get Started' to view the step-by-step guide.
This following video provides step-by-step instructions on accessing your mark and feedback for assignments submitted via Turnitin.
View the transcript of this video.
Created by: Mike Bogle, UNSW Arts & Social Sciences.
FAQ
Why can't I resubmit my Assignment?
A resubmit button or option may not be immediately available to students depending on the design of the assessment task and the due date. Course convenors will usually provide details about this in the assessment summary.
If you have questions, accidentally made an incorrect submission, or require a resubmission, please contact your lecturer. They will be able to allow resubmission, or delete existing submissions depending on their judgement.
Why can't I see my Turnitin grades?
Turnitin assignments have two key dates. The due date indicates the latest time and date that you can submit your paper, and the post date indicates the time when your grades and feedback will be released. You will generally only see your grades after the post date. Check with your lecturer if you believe your marks should be visible but are not appearing.
Unable to submit your Turnitin assignment?
There are a number of reasons why you may be unable to submit an assignment to your course's Turnitin Submission box, each with a recommended course of action.
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Late Submissions
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Check that you are within the advised submission dates. Late submissions may be disabled by your instructor, preventing you from submitting. Contact your teaching staff for advice.
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Incorrectly Set Submission Times
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If you have checked that you are within the advised submission dates and still cannot submit, your instructor may have incorrectly set the dates. Contact your teaching staff who can set the correct dates. (Note: as this affects all students, staff may be aware and/or already be working to resolve it)
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Incompatible Formats/Size
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Check that you are submitting a compatible format/size (as listed above, in the Restrictions of all Turnitin Submissions section). Ensure that your submission is in the correct format and size.
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Incompatible Web Browser/Computer
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Check that your web browser and computer matches the Moodle system requirements. Try using an alternate browser/computer. Otherwise, contact The Nucleus: Student Hub.
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Turnitin Service Down
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The Turnitin service may be temporarily unavailable due to planned/unplanned outages. Planned outages are rare within standard business hours, and are typically announced ahead of time on Moodle homepage. Unplanned outages are typically short and are resolved within a few minutes. If outages prevent you from submitting, advise your teaching staff ASAP. Provide a copy of your assignment on another medium (e.g. email) before the submission deadline.
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