Creating Group Sets

Owned by acrochel@umass.edu (Unlicensed)
Last updated: Oct 25, 2022 by Timothy Sheaffer

Creating Group Sets

Group Sets allow you to create a multiple groups with the same settings at once.

Self-enroll groups allow students to assign themselves to one or more of the groups in the Group Set.

  Self-Enroll Group Sets (Click here to expand...)

Self-Enroll Group Sets:

  1. Access the Groups Tool on the Course Management Menu.
  2. Click Create on the Action Bar. 
  3. Select Self-Enroll from the drop-down menu.

    Create groups dropdown menu, group set

  4. On the Create Self-Enrollment Group Set page, enter a name for the group set, along with a description for the group set.
  5. In the Tool Availability section, select the tools that you wish to be available to the groups, and add points possible to graded items such as blogs, wikis, journals, and group discussions.

    Create self-enrollment group set data entry fields

  6. In the Group Set Options section, type in the Number of Groups.
  7. Optionally, create smart views for each group in the set.
  8. When you are finished, click Submit.

    Group set options page


Manual enrollment groups have the instructor assign students to the groups in the Group Set.

  Manual Enroll Group Sets (Click here to expand...)

Manual Enroll Group Sets:

  1. Access the Groups Tool on the Course Management Menu.
  2. Click Create on the Action Bar.
  3. Select Manual Enroll from the drop-down menu.

    Group sets create options, manual enroll circled

  4. On the Create Group Set page, enter a name for the group set, along with a description for the group set.
  5. In the Tool Availability section, select the tools that you wish to be available to the groups, and add points possible to graded items such as blogs, wikis, journals, and group discussions.

    Create group set data entry fields

  6. In the Group Set Options, type the Number of Groups
  7. Optionally, create smart views for each group in the set.
  8. Click Submit.

    Number of groups data entry fields

  9. On the Edit Group Set Enrollments page that appears, add students to each group by clicking the Add Users button.
  10. When you are finished, click Submit.

    Edit group set template options, add user buttons circled


Random enrollment groups automatically assign students to groups randomly. The instructor can choose options for the random assignment, such as having four students in each group.

  Random Enroll Group Sets (Click here to expand...)

Random Enroll Group Sets:

  1. Access the Groups Tool on the Course Management Menu.
  2. Click Create on the Action Bar.
  3. Select Random Enroll from the drop-down menu.

    Create groups, random enroll option circled

  4. On the Create Random Enrollment Group Set page, enter a name for the group set, along with a description for the group set.
  5. In the Tool Availability section, select the tools that you wish to be available to the groups, and add points possible to graded items such as blogs, wikis, journals, and group discussions.

    Create random enrollment group set data entry fields

  6. In the Membership section, choose to generate groups by the number of students per group, or the number of groups. 

    Membership section of page, and submit button

  7. Determine how to enroll any remaining members.
  8. Click Submit.