Groupings: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 06:04, 9 April 2015

If you want to make an activity (such as an assignment or a quiz) visible to only one set of users within a course, you need first to put the users into a group and then put them into a grouping. A single grouping can house one group or several groups.

The administrator should also check the Available for group members only box in Site administration>Development>Experimental See Available for group members only. This allows teachers additionally to show resources (such as a folder or webpage) to just to one group and not another.

If you assign an activity to a grouping then only the group/grouping that is selected will be able to see and do the activity. It will be invisible to other groups or groupings.

Adding groups to a grouping

To add groups to a grouping:

In your course, click Administration > Course administration > Users > Groups.
Click the groupings tab:

If necessary, create a new grouping by clicking the create grouping button on the groupings page.

An optional grouping ID number (an advanced setting) may be added for matching the grouping against external systems. Grouping ID numbers are not displayed anywhere on the site. Within a course, all grouping ID numbers must be unique. Thus it's not possible to create a grouping with a duplicate grouping ID number.

Click the "Show groups in grouping" people icon in the edit column:

On the add/remove groups page, select the group(s) you want to add to the grouping from the "Potential members" list.
Click the arrow button that points towards the "Existing members" list.

Click the "Back to groupings" button. The group(s) you added to the grouping will now be listed in the table on the groupings page.

Existing groupings can be edited and/or deleted using the appropriate icons in the edit column of the table on the groupings page.

Setting the default grouping

Once some groupings have been created, a default grouping for course activities and resources may be set.

Follow the settings link in the course administration block.
In the groups section in the course settings, select the default grouping.

The default grouping is used on the Participants page.

Selecting grouping in activity

To use a particular grouping in an activity:

In the "edit settings" link of the Settings block for the activity, click the "Show advanced" button in the common module settings section.
Ensure that the group mode is set to separate or visible groups.
Select the grouping from the grouping dropdown menu.
Check the "Available for group members only" box (this is an experimental feature and must be enabled by the administrator first, see Available_for_group_members_only section for futher information).

Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.

Students will only see the activities they have been assigned to. Teachers will see the name of the grouping in brackets after the activity name on the course page. A count of activities assigned to each grouping is kept on the groupings page.

Please note that the grouping option appears by default only in activities that support group modes. If you enable Available for group members only you will be able to assign resources to specific groups also.

Restricting a whole topic to a grouping

Clicking the Restrict access button in each topic summary which allows you to select a particular grouping for that topic section. To enable this setting, you need to enable both Conditional activities and Available for group members only

Examples of groupings

It sometimes helps to think of a grouping as a Romulan cloaking device Those groups inside it know of their existence but other groups within the course cannot see them.

Example 1: Differentiation

You have course on Macbeth shared by three teachers. The activities and resources are mostly the same and used by all three classes.
However, Mr Brown’s class are a higher ability and so are set some extension assignments that must not be seen by Mrs Smith’s class who are of a lower ability. Mrs Smith’s class need some extra assistance and are set some activities which are too easy for Mr Brown's students. Ms Black’s class are middle ability and can cope with some of the higher tasks but also benefit from some of the supportive tasks Mrs Smith uses.

Groupings would allow all three teachers to share the course and yet direct activities to specific classes:

3000 word in-depth assignment - only for Class Brown. The class is added to the grouping “Class Brown” and the assignment is set to the “Class Brown” grouping. Only these students will see it.
Basic Shakespeare vocabulary –a page only for Class Smith. The class is added to the grouping “Class Smith” and the page is set to the "Class Smith" grouping (See Available for group members only for resources) Only the students with special educational needs will see it.
Quiz on the main protagonists –suitable for Class Brown (high ability) but offered to Class Black also to extend their learning. Both classes are added to a grouping “ClassBrownBlack” and the quiz is set to the "ClassBrownBlack" grouping. These two classes will see the quiz but Mrs Smiths’s will not.

Example 2: Mandatory and optional modules

A university has a mandatory module of work FS32 and two optional modules FS33 and FS34 within a single Moodle course. So all students must complete FS32 and then choose either one of the other two options. Once students have signed up to one of the optional modules they are not allowed to view the contents of the other module.
Three groups may be made: group FS32 including all students on the course; group FS33 including only those who have signed up for this optional module, and group FS34 including only those who have signed up for the other optional module.

Nothing needs to be done with the activities in the mandatory module FS32 as all students need to access them. The activities can be set to separate or visible groups but no grouping is necessary.
In order for only those students who signed up for optional modules FS33 and FS34 to view them, "Group FS33" needs to be put into "Grouping FS33". and "Group FS34" needs to be put into "Grouping FS34"
. The activities in each of the two optional modules can then be assigned to the respective groupings. With Moodle 2.3 it is possible to allocate whole course sections to groupings so it might be useful to add the activities to a particular course section to save administrative time.

One way to visualise groupings

Olympic metaphor: at the Olympics, there are different sports (gymnastics, swimming, track) and many countries. There are two ways to think of an Olympian athlete: by the sport they compete in, and by their nationality. To be part of the United States Olympic Team, you must first be a swimmer, a gymnast, or a runner. You cannot be in the US Team without first being an athlete in a specific sport. The sport is your group. Your country is your grouping. You must belong to a group before joining a grouping.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-{{Moodle 1.9}}In Moodle 1.9 onwards, [[Groups|groups]] may be organised into groupings. In a nutshell, '''groupings''' are '''clusters of groups'''. Membership to the grouping depends upon being a member of a group associated with that grouping. The teacher can use a grouping as they would a group.
+{{Grouping users}}
-==Enabling the use of groupings==
+If you want to make an activity (such as an assignment or a quiz) visible to only one set of users within a course, you need first to put the users into a [[Groups|group]] and then put them into a grouping.  A single grouping can house one group or several groups.
-To use groupings, the feature must be enabled on the site by checking the enablegroupings box in ''Administration > Miscellaneous > [[Experimental]]''. A groupings tab will appear on the [[Groups]] page.
+The administrator should also check the ''Available for group members only'' box in ''Site administration>Development>Experimental''  See [[Available for group members only]]. This allows teachers additionally to show resources (such as a folder or webpage) to  just to one group and not another.
+If you assign an activity to a grouping then only the group/grouping that is selected will be able to see and do the activity. It will be invisible to other groups or groupings.
 ==Adding groups to a grouping==
-[[Image:Groupings.png|thumb|Groupings]]
 To add groups to a grouping:
-#Follow the groups icon [[Image:Group.gif]] in the course administration block.
+*In your course, click ''Administration > Course administration > Users > Groups''.
-#Click the groupings tab on the groups page.
+*Click the groupings tab:
-#If necessary, create a new grouping by clicking the "[[Create grouping]]" button on the groupings page.
-#Click the "Show groups in grouping" people icon in the edit column opposite the grouping which groups are to be added to.
+[[File:newgroupsgroupings.png]]
-#On the add/remove groups page, select the group(s) you want to add to the grouping from the "Potential members" list.
+*If necessary, create a new grouping by clicking the create grouping button on the groupings page.
-#Click the arrow button that points towards the "Existing members" list.
-#Click the "Back to groupings" button. The group(s) you added to the grouping will now be listed in the table on the groupings page.
+An optional grouping ID number (an advanced setting) may be added for matching the grouping against external systems. Grouping ID numbers are not displayed anywhere on the site. Within a course, all grouping ID numbers must be unique. Thus it's not possible to create a grouping with a duplicate grouping ID number.
+*Click the "Show groups in grouping" people icon in the edit column:
+[[File:newgrouping.png|thumb|center|500px]]
+*On the add/remove groups page, select the group(s) you want to add to the grouping from the "Potential members" list.
+*Click the arrow button that points towards the "Existing members" list.
+[[File:groupingsaddremove2.png|thumb|center|500px]]
+*Click the "Back to groupings" button. The group(s) you added to the grouping will now be listed in the table on the groupings page.
 Existing groupings can be edited and/or deleted using the appropriate icons in the edit column of the table on the groupings page.
@@ Line 22: / Line 34: @@
 #Follow the settings link in the course administration block.
-#In the groups section in the [[Course settings|course settings]], select the default grouping.
+#In the groups section in the course settings, select the default grouping.
-==Assigning an activity to a grouping==
+The default grouping is used on the Participants page.
-[[Image:Restricting an activity to a grouping.png|thumb|Assigning an activity to a particular grouping only]]
-To assign an activity to a particular grouping:
-#On the edit activity page, click the "Show advanced" button in the common module settings section.
-#Ensure that the group mode is set to separate or visible groups.
-#Select the grouping from the grouping dropdown menu.
-#Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.
-The name of the grouping will then appear in brackets after the activity name on the course page.
+==Selecting grouping in activity==
+To use a particular grouping in an activity:
+*In the "edit settings" link of the Settings block for the activity, click the "Show advanced" button in the common module settings section.
+*Ensure that the group mode is set to separate or visible groups.
+*Select the grouping from the grouping dropdown menu.
+*Check the "Available for group members only" box (this is an experimental feature and must be enabled by the administrator first, see [[Available_for_group_members_only]] section for futher information).
-A count of activities assigned to each grouping is kept on the groupings page.
-To assign an activity to a particular grouping ONLY, in addition to the above, before clicking the the "Save changes" button, check the "Available for group members only" checkbox. This will result in only users assigned to the groups within the grouping being able to see the activity (or resource) on the course page.
+*Click the "Save changes" button at the bottom of the page.
-:''Note'': If a graded activity is assigned to a particular grouping only, it will still appear in the [[Grades|gradebook]] for all users. (See MDL-13868 for further details.)
+Students will only see the activities they have been assigned to. Teachers will see the name of the grouping in brackets after the activity name on the course page. A count of activities assigned to each grouping is kept on the groupings page.
-:''Note'': You cannot make an activity visible to only one group of students without first placing them into a Grouping. (See [[What is the difference between groups and groupings?]] for further details.)
+Please note that the grouping option appears by default only in activities that support group modes.  If you enable ''Available for group members only'' you will be able to assign resources to specific groups also.
+==Restricting a whole topic to a grouping==
+Clicking the ''Restrict access'' button in each topic summary which allows you to select a particular grouping for that topic section. To enable this setting, you need to enable both [[Conditional activities]] and [[Available for group members only]]
+[[File:groupingnew.png]]
 ==Examples of groupings==
-#One metaphor that has worked well in training is this: At the Olympics, there are many sports—gymnastics, swimming, track—and many countries. In this way, there are two levels of being categorized as an Olympian: by your sport, and by your nationality. To be on the United States Olympic Team, you must first be a swimmer, a gymnast, a runner, etc.; you cannot be on the US Team without first being an athlete in a certain sport. Your sport is your group. Your country is your grouping. You must belong to a group before joining a grouping. Does this make sense?
-#An educational example would be that perhaps in a class, you've divided your students into 4 groups, each with their own author to research. Groups A and B, while they have different authors, are both assigned to write in a forum; groups C and D, though writing on different authors, are supposed to make a wiki. You might create a Forum Group''ing'', containing groups A and B, and a Wiki Group''ing'', containing groups C and D. Then, you can make the Wiki activity available to only the Wiki grouping, but you still have your two Wiki sub-groups, as well - C and D - for an added layer of distinction between the work going on about two different authors.
+It sometimes helps to think of a grouping as a [http://en.memory-alpha.org/wiki/Romulan_technology Romulan cloaking device] Those groups inside it know of their existence but other groups within the course cannot see them.
-#Teachers in different departments might tell some students to enroll in a refresher math course.  These student might be assigned to a group associated with their primary teacher. However, each department has a math tutor.  The groups that came from a department could be placed in groupings.
+===Example 1: Differentiation===
+*You have course on Macbeth shared by three teachers. The activities and resources are mostly the same and used by all three classes.
+*However, Mr Brown’s class are a higher ability and so are set some extension assignments that must not be seen by Mrs Smith’s class who are of a lower ability. Mrs Smith’s class need some extra assistance and are set some activities which are too easy for Mr Brown's students. Ms Black’s class are middle ability and can cope with some of the higher tasks but also benefit from some of the supportive tasks Mrs Smith uses.
+Groupings would allow all three teachers to share the course and yet direct activities to specific classes:
+#''3000 word in-depth assignment''  - only for Class Brown. The class is added to the grouping “Class Brown” and the assignment is set to the “Class Brown” grouping. Only these students will see it.
+#''Basic Shakespeare vocabulary'' –a page only for Class Smith. The class is added to the grouping “Class Smith” and the page is set to the "Class Smith" grouping (See [[Available for group members only]] for resources) Only the students with special educational needs will see it.
+#''Quiz on the main protagonists'' –suitable for Class Brown (high ability) but offered to Class Black also to extend their learning. Both classes are added to a grouping “ClassBrownBlack” and the quiz is set to the "ClassBrownBlack" grouping. These two classes will see the quiz but Mrs Smiths’s will not.
+===Example 2: Mandatory and optional modules===
+*A university has a  mandatory module of work ''FS32'' and two optional modules ''FS33'' and ''FS34'' within a single Moodle course. So all students must complete FS32 and then choose either one of the other two options. Once students have signed up to one of the optional modules they are not allowed to view the contents of the other module.
+*Three groups may be made: group FS32 including all students on the course; group FS33 including only those who have signed up for this optional module, and group FS34 including only those who have signed up for the other optional module.
+#Nothing needs to be done with the activities in the mandatory module FS32 as all students need to access them. The activities can be set to separate or visible groups but no grouping is necessary.
+# In order for only those students who signed up for optional modules FS33 and FS34 to view them, "Group FS33" needs to be put into "Grouping FS33". and "Group FS34" needs to be put into "Grouping FS34"
+#. The activities in each of the two optional modules can then be assigned to the respective groupings. With Moodle 2.3 it is possible to allocate whole  course sections to groupings so it might be useful to add the activities to a particular course section to save administrative time.
+==One way to visualise groupings==
+Olympic metaphor: at the Olympics, there are different sports (gymnastics, swimming, track) and many countries. There are two ways to think of an Olympian athlete: by the sport they compete in, and by their nationality. To be part of the United States Olympic Team, you must first be a swimmer, a gymnast, or a runner. You cannot be in the US Team without first being an athlete in a specific sport. The sport is your group. Your country is your grouping. You must belong to a group before joining a grouping.
 ==See also==
+*[[Available for group members only]]
+*[[Import groups |Importing users into groupings via CSV]]
 *[[Groupings FAQ]]
 *Using Moodle [http://moodle.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=131905 Moodle Groups vs. Groupings] forum discussion including youtube video showing how to set up groupings
-*[http://issuu.com/mariamoodle/docs/groupsandgroupings Moodle 1.9 Understanding Groups and Groupings] PDF 1.9 MB
-*Curious about where 'groupings' came from?  There is some discussion here: [[Development:Groupings OU]]
-[[Category:Groups]]
 [[fr:Groupements]]
@@ Line 60: / Line 95: @@
 [[de:Gruppierungen]]
 [[ca:Agrupaments]]
+[[es:Agrupamientos]]

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