Creating Single Groups and Group Sets

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Last updated: Mar 15, 2023 by Yoonjeong Yoo
7 min read

Faculty and staff can use the Groups function in HuskyCT and create multiple group sets for groups of students in their courses.

For Ultra Course View, refer to:

Single Groups

With Single Groups, instructors are able to distribute their students into groups so that they may collaborate with each other. The Single Groups feature allows instructors to create groups one by one. Instructors have the option to set the group as Self-Enroll in which students must join the created groups on their own or Manual Enroll in which the instructor chooses group members. For Self-Enroll groups, instructors must create a group link in their course content to allow students to sign up for the group.

  1. Navigate to your course and select Course Management in the menu on the left.

  2. Under Course Management, select Users and Groups, and then select Groups.

    users and groups

  3.  On the Groups page, select Create. 

  4.  To create a single group, select either Self-Enroll or Manual Enroll under Single Group.

    self enroll or manual enroll under single group

    1. Self-Enroll gives you the option to provide a sign-up sheet for students to enroll themselves in a group.

    2. Manual Enroll gives you the option to customize groups and enroll each student individually.

  5. Arrange the general settings of each group.

    1. Give your group a Title and a Description.

    2. Customize the Tool Availability section to determine what tools are available for use in each group. 

    3. For Self-Enroll, customize the sign-up sheet. Add a title and a description. Select Submit at the bottom of the page to save your settings.

    4. For Manual Enroll, scroll to the bottom of the page and select Add Users. 

      1. Select the check box to the left of the Relevant Users Information and select Submit.

    5. Select Submit to save your settings.

Group Sets

With Group Sets, the instructor can create multiple groups at once with the same settings. This function is useful for group project assignments, group work, or for creating groups that are all set the same way. The different settings include:

  • Self-Enroll in which students must join the created groups on their own.

  • Random Enroll in which Blackboard randomly divides all students into the number of groups selected.

  • Manual Enroll in which the instructor manually divides the students into groups.

  1. Navigate to your course and select Course Management in the menu on the left.

  2. Under Course Management, select Users and Groups, and then select Groups.

  3.  On the Groups page, select Create. 

  4.  To create a group set, select either Self-Enroll, Random Enroll, or Manual Enroll under Group Set.

  5. Adjust the general settings of each group.

    1. Give your group a Title and a Description.

    2. Customize the Tool Availability section to determine what tools are available for use in each group. 

    3. For Self-Enroll, customize the sign-up sheet. Add a title and a description. Select Submit at the bottom of the page to save your settings.

    4. For Random Enroll, specify the appropriate number of groups and how you would like HuskyCT to distribute extra users at the bottom of the page. Select Submit to save your settings. 

    5. For Manual Enroll, scroll to the bottom of the page and specify the number of groups you would like to create. Select Submit to save your settings.

      1. On the next page, select Add Users.

      2.  Check the boxes next to the users you would like to add to the group and select Submit.

      3. Repeat these steps until all students are enrolled and the groups are filled. 

    6. Select Submit to save your settings. 

In each group setting, you can create a Smart View in your grade center. Smart View is a specific view of your grade center that only includes users in the group. This may be beneficial for large courses or instructors who would like to further organize their grade center. 

There are two ways to make Smart Views. You can automatically generate them by checking the option before creating your groups or creating them manually through the grade center. 

To generate Smart Views in group settings (automatically generated or manually created groups only):

  1. Follow the steps outlined in the previous sections to create your groups, but do not submit. 

  2. On the Group Settings page, select Create Smart View For Each Group in Set. 

  3. Select Submit to save.

To create Smart Views for groups manually through the grade center:

  1. Follow the steps outlined in the previous sections to create your groups. 

  2. Once your groups are created, access your Full Grade Center. 

  3. Select Manage at the top of the screen, and then select Smart Views.

  4. Select Create Smart View.

  5. Give the Smart View the same name as the corresponding group. 

  6. Beneath Selection Criteria, find the box that lists your course groups. Select the corresponding group. You can customize the columns included in this Smart View by selecting from the Columns to Display section.

  7. Select Submit to save. If you made this Smart View a favorite, a link with its name will appear beneath the Grade Center navigation menu item.

How to Embed Groups in a Course Content

  1. Navigate to the area in your course where you want to create the link.

  2. At the top of the screen, select Tools and then Groups.

  3. Select the type of Group Tool Link you want to create.

    1. Link to Groups Page: Gives students access to a page listing all of the groups in the course.

    2. Link to Group or Group Set: Gives students access to a specific group selected by the instructor but does not make a student a member of that group. If a student is not a member of the group which is linked, they cannot access the content. If the group is a Self-Enroll Group, and the student is not a member, the link will direct the student to a sign-up sheet for that group.

  4. Click Next.

Joining Groups As a Preview User

By default, groups will not be available to see via Instructor View because they are only available to those enrolled in the group. To view the groups as the students do, you need to enroll your student preview user in the group. 

  1. If you have not used your Student Preview User before, you need to access Student View. To do so, select the student view icon in the upper right corner of your page. 

  2. Once in Student Preview mode, select Settings in the orange bar at the top of the page. 

  3. Arrange your settings to reflect the following.

  4. Select Save, and then select Exit Preview in the upper right-hand corner of the screen. 

  5. Next, access the Groups page. 

  6. Find the group you would like to preview. Select the drop-down menu to the right of the group title and select Edit Group.

  7. Scroll to the Membership section of the settings page. Select Add Users.

  8. Now that you have a Preview User, you will see a preview user appear on the list of users. It should be your NetID with "Preview User" after it. Select this user and Submit. 

  9. Select Submit to save the changes to your settings. 

  10. To preview the group, you can now enter Student Preview mode, and you will see the group appear at the bottom of your Student Preview user's page. 

 

For further information or assistance with HuskyCT, please contact the Educational Technology Office at edtech@uconn.edu .

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