How do I set up Groups for students who are self-organizing into topics I choose?

In this scenario, you want students to select the group that you want them to work in. Perhaps you have a series of groups that are to do some research topics of instructor’s choice, but you don’t mind students self organizing into their own groups. To do this you’ll need to do two distinct steps: setup the groups, and then rename the individual groups from what Avenue assigns (Group 1, Group 2, etc.) to something distinct.

To setup the groups:

1. Go into the course and under Communication, select Groups.

2. Select New Category.

3. You are required to give the Category Name.

4. The Enrolment Type option you’ll select is # of Groups – no Auto Enrolments. You need to not have automatic enrolment because you wish to have students choose their own groups.

5. Enter the number of groups you require.

6. Under Advanced Properties, (you may have to click Show Advanced Properties) check Make category and group descriptions visible to group members.

7. (OPTIONAL) Under Additional Options (you may have to click Show additional options) you can choose to create a discussion or setup an assignment folder. If you are assessing groups using an Assignment Folder, we strongly suggest that you click Set up assignments.

The video below demonstrates how to rename the groups to indicate their subjects:

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Students who do not form their own groups

For this type of group assignment, you may have late registrants or students who do not form their own groups. You will need to enroll them into groups.

1. In the Groups tool, click on the name of an individual group.

2. Click Enrol Users

3. From the drop down select All Groups

4. Click on the checkbox to enroll users into groups.

5. Click Save when finished.