What is the Checklist activity and how do I use it?

Purpose

Checklists are a great way to manage workload and ensure that everything that needs to get done, gets done! The checklist activity on Moodle can help students to navigate through modules or tasks. You can set items as required or optional. The checklist activity enables:

1. Teachers to monitor student progress
2. Students to update and keep track of their own progress

Students can check off each item in a checklist and get a visual representation of how they are getting on, as the checklist activity displays a progress bar that shows what percentage of a list has been completed.

What checklist options are there?

There are three main checklist options:

1. List manually populated by teachers: In this instance, teachers manually add items to the checklist for students to check off. Teachers can also check these items off if the list is set up in that way.
2. List automatically populated by Moodle: In this instance, teachers create a checklist that Moodle automatically populates based on the activities and resources included in the module or selected section.
3. List manually populated by students: In this instance, teachers allow students to add their own items to the checklist. These items are visible only to the student that created them and only they can check them off.

How do I add a checklist?

1. On your module page, select Turn editing on.
2. Go to the section where you want to add your checklist and select Add an activity or resource.
3. In the Activity chooser pop-up, select the Checklist option.
4. On the Adding a new checklist screen, in the Checklist field, give your checklist an appropriate name and, in the Introduction field, provide your students with a rationale or some instructions.
5. Next, under the Settings area, adjust the following settings to reflect your needs:
   • • User can add their own items: Do you want to allow students to add their own items?
   • • Updates by: Who should be allowed to add updates? Note: The Student and teacher option requires teachers to confirm student input.
   • • Add due dates to calendar: Do you want due dates appearing in the calendar for manually created items?
   • • Teachers can add comments: Do you want to allow teacher comments?
   • • Maximum grade: If you want to make the checklist ungraded, set this value to zero (0) and make sure the grade category doesn’t aggregate by Mean.
   • • Email teachers when checklist is complete: Do you want to receive an email whenever the checklist is marked as complete? 
   • • Show course modules in checklist: Do you want to automatically add all course items to the checklist? Or just those in the current section? You must choose one or the other in order for items to be displayed.
   • • Check-off when modules complete: Do you want completed items to be automatically checked off?
   • • Lock teacher marks: When this setting is enabled, once a teacher has saved a ‘Yes’ mark they will be unable to change it.
6. Under the remaining areas, adjust the settings to suit your needs.
7. Finally, select Save and return to course or Save and display.

How do I edit a manually populated checklist?

1. To edit a checklist that you have manually added items to, select the title of the checklist. This brings you to the Edit checklist tab where you can add items one by one. Repeat this step until your checklist is complete.
2. You can add a URL to each item for more information (this is optional). We recommend ticking the Open in a new window? box.
3. You can also set due dates for each item by selecting the Edit dates option. Note: This option is only available for manually added items).
4. Once you’ve finished adding the items, you can then edit their settings in the following ways:
   1. Mark the item as required, optional, or set it as a heading.
   2. Change the colour of the text.
   3. Edit the item’s text.
   4. Indent or move the item.
   5. Delete the item.
   6. Add a new item after the current one.

How do I edit a checklist that Moodle has automatically populated?

1. To edit a checklist that Moodle has automatically populated, select the title of the checklist and then select the Edit checklist tab. Here you can:
   1. Mark the item as required or optional.
   2. Change the colour of the text.
   3. Hide or show the item.
   4. Add a new item after the current one.
   5. See what activity is associated with the checklist item.

Further Information

For more information on the Checklist activity, check out the following article: Checklist quick guide