Group Formation

Once you have added the assessment settings and set up the instructions, you will need to divide the students into groups. You can also create student groups by clicking on Group Formation under the Instructions tab.

In this article, we learn how to:

1. Assign students to groups at random
2. Assign students to groups manually
3. Assign students within section
4. Allow students to join groups on their own
5. Import student groups
6. Monitoring groups after group creation

Assign students to groups at random

1. Click on the Create Groups option.
2. Select Assign Groups in the dialogue box that opens up, and click Create Groups.
3. Select the Divide Equally option and specify the number of groups you wish to divide students into. 
4. Click the + Add Group button to add another group. This will redistribute the total number of students as per the new total number of specified groups. 
5. Once the students are divided equally into the specified number of groups, click on the optional dropdown corresponding to a group to add markers.
6. Click on Create Groups.

Assign students to groups manually

1. Click on the Create Groups option.
2. Select Assign Groups in the dialogue box that opens up, and click Create Groups.
3. Select the Divide Manually option, then specify the number of students you wish to add to a group and add a marker to that group.
4. Click on the + Add Group button to add more groups. Repeat the step above until all the students in the class are added to groups.
5. After all students from the class have been assigned to groups, click on Create Groups.

Assign students within section

Sections help ensure students are assigned to the correct group within an assessment, whether they enrol themselves or are assigned automatically. This is particularly useful when an assessment is shared across multiple campuses or when students need to be organised into specific tutorial groups.

To import groups from Canvas:

1. Click Sync Canvas Groups.
   
   
2. If prompted, authorise Cadmus to access your Canvas data.
3. Select the sections and groups you want to import. Selecting a section selects all the groups in it.
   
   
4. Click Import.

Allow students to join groups on their own 

1. Click on the Create Groups option.
2. Select Self Enrolment in the dialogue box that opens up, and click Create Groups.
3. Specify the minimum and maximum number of students allowed per group. The total count of groups will be the class size divided by the specified minimum number of students. Each group will have at least the specified minimum and at most the specified maximum number of students.
4. Select a self-enrolment deadline date and time for students to complete group selection. Note that unassigned students will be randomly assigned to groups after the deadline passes.
5. Click on Start Self Enrolment to begin the group enrolment process.

Import student groups

1. Click on the Import Groups from File option.
2. You can import files in .csv or .zip formats. Click on the Import File option and select the file containing student groups to import.
3. Click on Create Groups.

Group Formation Tab

1. Once group formation is complete or while the self-enrolment is in progress, you can go to the Group Formation panel under the Instructions tab to check the status of the groups.
2. You will have the option to view the incomplete groups and the number of ungrouped students. You can also Reset Groups to start over the group formation process.
3. Under the Groups section, you can use filters to view available/full/overfull groups, rename a group by clicking on the edit option next to the group name, and assign markers to groups. Click on the three dots and click on the Delete Group option to remove an existing group.
   
   
4. Under the Students section, you can use the filters to view particular students added to each group. You can also select students to either add them to a new group or move them to an existing group.
   
   
   1. When you move several students at once, or move a student out of their current group, Cadmus asks you to confirm first. If any of those students have started writing, the confirmation message explains that their work stays with their old group.
   2. When you move a student to another group, remove them from their group, delete their group or reset groups, the student sees a message and is taken back to the assessment home page. When you add a student to a group, they see a message telling them their group has been updated.
      
      
5. When self-enrolment is in progress, you'll see the available groups and the status of group formation in the Progress column. Full groups (groups that have at least the minimum specified number of students) will be indicated in green, and incomplete groups will be indicated in red. 
   
   
6. In some cases, students may request a group change. This will be notified in the Group Formation section in the Instructions tab. You may review these requests in the Group Formation panel. Click the groups that have the tag Group Change Requested and find the same tag in front of the student names in the group. Click the checkbox next to the student name, then move them to an existing group or create a new one.