assignments

Grades are passed from Turnitin to the Moodle Gradebook via a secure “handshake.” While this is generally more reliable than older versions, you may occasionally find that a grade appears in the Turnitin Inbox but is missing from your Moodle Gradebook. Below are the most common causes and the steps you can take to fix them.

1. The “Self-Fix”: Resend Grades to LMS

If a specific grade (or the whole class) is missing from Moodle, your first step should be to manually trigger a sync. This “pokes” Moodle to look for new data from Turnitin.

Enter the Turnitin Assignment Inbox in Moodle.
Look for the Sync Roster icon (circular arrows) or the Resend Grades to LMS button in the top right header.

Click the button and wait for the “Success” notification.
Check your Moodle Gradebook to see if the marks have appeared.

2. Max Grade Conflict

A sync failure occurs when the maximum possible points in Turnitin and Moodle are different values.

If Turnitin has a “Max Grade” of 100 but the Moodle Activity is set a Max Grade of 0, the sync will fail.

Go to Edit Settings for the assignment in Moodle. Check the Grade section. Ensure the “Type” is set to “Point” and the “Maximum grade” matches the value you set in the Turnitin settings.

Be sure to “Save” and then Resync.

3. Anonymous Marking & The Release Date

If your assignment has Anonymous Marking enabled, grades are intentionally blocked from syncing to Moodle to protect student identities during the grading process.

Grades will not sync with Moodle until the Feedback Release Date passes. If you need the grades in Moodle sooner, you must set the Feedback Release Date in Turnitin to a time in the past. This will force all student names to be revealed and push all grades to Moodle.

4. The “Refresh Roster” Trick

Sometimes a student is enrolled in Moodle but hasn’t been “seen” by Turnitin yet, which prevents their grade from being assigned a value.

In the Turnitin Inbox, click the Refresh Roster icon (usually next to the Sync button).
This forces Turnitin to check the Moodle participant list.
Once the student’s name appears correctly in the Turnitin list, their grade should sync within a few minutes.

Bulk Downloads via Turnitin assignments

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February 10, 2026

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Navigate to your Moodle course and click on the Turnitin Assignment.
In the Assignment Inbox, look for the Download button located in the top right corner of the submission list.

Choosing the Right Export Type

Turnitin offers five distinct ways to download your class data.

Grade Report: Download an XLSX file, so you can keep track of grades in your own way.
Submission List: A CSV file that contains the student names and whether or not they submitted
Original Files: Creates a ZIP file of all submissions in their original format, and appends the student’s name to the associated file included in the ZIP.
Standard PDF’s: Takes the original submission and converts it to standard PDF files, appends the student’s name and compresses all PDFs in a ZIP file.
Grademark PDFs: Creates PDF files from the original submissions, adds the Grademark report to the PDF, and compresses all the files in a ZIP file for download.

The Download Process

When you initiate a bulk download (especially for “All Reports and Files” or large classes), Turnitin processes the request in the background.

Compression: You will see a notification stating that your files are being compressed into a ZIP file.
Stay on the Page: For LTI 1.3, it is best to keep the browser tab open while the “Preparing Download” message is visible; however, the message also says you can close the window. But “best results” suggest keeping the window open.
The Zip File: Once ready, the ZIP file will automatically download to your computer’s “Downloads” folder.
- Note: For large classes (500 students), Turnitin may split the download into multiple ZIP files.

Using Match Groups & Match Overviews in Turnitin

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February 10, 2026

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In the latest Turnitin LTI 1.3 update, the traditional “Match Overview” has been replaced by a more sophisticated system called Match Groups. Instead of just showing you a list of sources, Turnitin now automatically categorizes matching text based on how the student has used citations and quotation marks.

This allows you to quickly distinguish between accidental plagiarism, poor paraphrasing, and correctly cited work.

Understanding the 4 Match Groups

When you open the Similarity Report in the Next-Gen Feedback Studio, the right-hand panel (red icon) will display the Match Groups tab. The overall similarity score is now broken down into four distinct categories:

Not Cited or Quoted (Red): The most critical group. This highlights text that matches a source but has no citation and no quotation marks. These are high-priority areas to review for potential plagiarism.
Missing Quotation (Orange): Text that has an in-text citation but is not enclosed in quotation marks. This often indicates a student who has copied verbatim but forgot the quotes, or who has paraphrased too closely to the original.
Missing Citation (Yellow): Text that is enclosed in quotation marks but lacks an in-text citation. This is usually a formatting error where the student attributed the words but forgot the source reference.
Cited and Quoted (Blue): The “Safe” group. This highlights text that is correctly enclosed in quotes and has a corresponding citation.

Refining the Similarity Score

The most powerful feature of Match Groups is the ability to “clean up” the similarity score to see the true area of concern.

How to refine the report:

In the Match Groups panel, you will see a percentage next to each of the four categories.
Click the Eye Icon (Hide/Show) next to the Cited and Quoted group.
The overall similarity percentage at the top of the screen will instantly recalculate, excluding the correctly cited material.

Tip: By hiding the “Cited and Quoted” and “Bibliography” groups, the remaining percentage reflects only the problematic areas (Not Cited or Missing Quotes), giving you a much more accurate “integrity score” at a glance.

Navigating Source Cards

Clicking on any of the Match Groups will open a list of Source Cards related to that specific category.

Ranked List: Sources are ranked by the amount of matching text within that specific group.
Navigation Arrows: Use the < and > arrows on a source card to jump directly to each instance of that match within the student's paper.
Match Details: Each card tells you the total word count and the percentage of the paper that matches that specific source.

Match Groups vs. The "Sources" Tab

While Match Groups is the best tool for checking integrity and finding teachable moments, you can still access the traditional view:

The Sources Tab: Located next to the Match Groups tab at the top of the sidebar.
What it does: It provides a simple, descending list of every source found in the paper, regardless of how it was cited. Use this if you want to see if a student has over-relied on a single source (e.g., if one source accounts for 40% of the entire paper).

Uploading on a Student’s Behalf

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February 10, 2026

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Navigate to your Moodle course and click on the Turnitin Assignment.

In the Assignment Inbox, locate the name of the student you are submitting for.

On the far right of the student’s row, click the Options menu (three dots).

Select Submit File.

Choose a student to upload a file for.

Click Continue to proceed.

Choose a file to upload, or copy and paste text. Click Upload and Review.

After this is complete, you will see that this upload can be accessed again for grading via the link in the assignment inbox.

Importing and Exporting Rubrics in Turnitin

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February 9, 2026

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Watch the following video to see how Feedback Studio can import rubrics or export them for use in other courses.

Or follow the instructions below.

Exporting a Rubric

Use this when you have built a rubric and want to give the file to a fellow instructor.

In the Rubric Manager, click the menu icon in the top left and select the rubric you wish to share.

Click the Export/Import icon (box with an arrow) in the top right corner.
Select Export.

An .rbc file will download to your computer. You can now email this file to your colleague.

Importing a Rubric

Use this when a colleague has sent you a rubric file or you have a saved .rbc file from a previous semester.

Launch the Rubric Manager from any Turnitin assignment.
Click the Export/Import icon in the top right and select Import.
Drag and drop the .rbc file into the upload area or click “Select files” to browse your computer.
Once the green checkmark appears, click the Back arrow to view your newly imported rubric.

Using Rubrics with your Turnitin Assignments

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February 1, 2026

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One of the significant aspects of Turnitin is the ability to create Rubrics for your assignments. Rubrics allow you to keep the grading consistent throughout the grading process. It is beneficial if you have graders helping you mark the assignments.

You still can provide specified feedback, but the grade category descriptions in the rubric offer you and any graders a consistent and well-identified criterion for those grading and the students.

NOTE: With the transition to Turnitin LTI 1.3, the way you manage and share your rubrics has moved from the Moodle-specific “plugin” settings into the central Turnitin Rubric Manager. This shift means your rubrics are now tied more closely to your Turnitin instructor profile, allowing you to access them across different courses or even different institutions.

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Using Peermark Within a Turnitin Assignment

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January 13, 2026

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PeerMark is a peer-review tool that allows students to read, review, and evaluate one or more papers submitted by their classmates. In the updated LTI 1.3 integration, the workflow for setting up PeerMark and syncing those grades to Moodle has changed significantly from the older Direct V2 plugin.

Setting Up a PeerMark Assignment

Unlike the old version, where PeerMark was an “Assignment Part,” in LTI 1.3, it is a sub-tool enabled within a standard Turnitin assignment.

Create your Turnitin Assignment in Moodle (using the Turnitin Assignment activity).
Click Save and Display to launch the Turnitin Inbox.
Click the Settings (gear icon) in the top right.
Scroll down to Optional Settings and check the box for Enable PeerMark.
Click Submit. A new tab labelled PeerMark Setup will now appear at the top of your inbox.

Grade Passback

PeerMark generates its own distinct data set that must communicate with the Moodle Gradebook via the “LTI Advantage” protocol.

Critical Note on Grade Syncing: PeerMark grades do not always automatically sync to the Moodle Gradebook in the same way regular paper grades do. Because the LTI tool primarily “owns” the main assignment grade, the secondary PeerMark score requires specific conditions to pass back successfully:

The Feedback Release Date: Grades will typically sync only after the Feedback Release Date for the PeerMark assignment has passed.
Manual Trigger: If grades are missing from Moodle after the release date, you must use the “Resend Grades to LMS” button found in the PeerMark inbox to force a sync.

IMPORTANT: Mapping Issues

LTI 1.3 creates one primary grade column. If you want a separate column for the paper and a separate column for the peer review, you may need to create two distinct Turnitin assignments: one for the submission and one specifically for the PeerMark exercise.

Step-by-Step Sync Troubleshooting

If your student’s peer review scores are not appearing in Moodle:

Open the PeerMark Inbox.
Verify that you have assigned a grade to the student’s review.
Ensure the PeerMark Feedback Release Date has passed.
Click the Sync Grades icon (circular arrows) or the Resend Grades button.
Refresh your Moodle Gradebook Setup to see if the column has updated.