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Groups

Use Groups to organize students for group assignments. Groups are arranged into group sets: a group set is one complete arrangement of the course's students, such as Project 1 or Lab Partners. Each set contains its own groups, and a student belongs to at most one group within a given set. A student can be in different groups across different sets.

A group assignment is tied to exactly one group set, so you can keep separate arrangements for separate projects.

Create a group set​

  1. Select Create group set.
  2. Enter a name, such as Project 1.
  3. Optionally, enter how many empty groups to start with. They are named Group 1, Group 2, and so on, and you can rename or add more later.
  4. Select Create group set.

Set names must be unique within the course. After the set is created it opens automatically.

Work with a group set​

When a course has more than one set, use the Group set selector to switch between them. The selected set's group and assignment counts appear in its summary below.

The selected set shows summary counts (groups, eligible students, assigned, and unassigned), a searchable list of unassigned students, and a card for each group.

Only active students on the course roster are eligible. A student who is inactive or not enrolled is not listed.

Add and manage groups​

  • Add group creates an empty group in the set.
  • Use a group card's menu to Rename group or Delete group. Deleting a group returns its members to the unassigned list.
  • The set's own menu (top right) lets you Rename set, Duplicate set, or Delete set. Deleting a set removes all of its groups.

Assign students to groups​

You can assign students two ways:

  1. Check one or more students in the unassigned list or in any group card.
  2. Use Move to and choose a target group, or Remove from group to send them back to unassigned.

Or drag a student by the handle on the right of their row onto a group card, or onto the unassigned panel to remove them from their group. If the student you drag is part of a current checkbox selection, the whole selection moves with them. The drag is a convenience only; the checkboxes and Move to menu do everything the drag does, so you can also assign students entirely from the keyboard.

Moving a student into a group also removes them from any other group in the same set, since a student holds at most one group per set. Only active students can be moved; inactive students in a selection are skipped.

Assign students randomly​

Random assign distributes students across the set's existing groups, so add the groups you want first.

  1. Add the groups to fill.
  2. Select Random assign.
  3. Choose which active students to include. By default the currently unassigned students are selected.
  4. Optionally turn on the reassign option to also shuffle students who already hold a group.
  5. Review the balanced preview, then apply it.

AFCT distributes the included students as evenly as possible. Review the result afterward, especially when accommodations or existing partnerships matter.

Use a group set for an assignment​

Create the groups you need before configuring a group assignment. On an assignment of type Group, you pick one group set and assign the work to all of its groups or to specific groups; each group submits and is graded together.

Membership decides which group a student submits with, so be careful when changing it after an assignment is configured. The group shares one submission set and one submission limit for each problem: any member can submit, every member sees that submission, and a limit of 5 means 5 attempts for the group rather than 5 each. The resubmit cooldown is shared the same way. A student who is in the set's course but in none of its groups submits on their own, with their own limit. Once any group in the set has submitted work or received a grade, the set is locked: its groups and memberships can no longer be changed, though you can still rename or duplicate it. To make a new arrangement from a locked set, duplicate it. Plan the groups before students begin submitting.

Archived courses are read-only. Restore the course before changing group sets, groups, or membership.