DCAD Digital Help Guides

There are 3 types of group:

1. A Custom group where specific students can be allocated to a group.
2. A Randomly Assign group where students are equally distributed between a stated number of groups.
3. A Self-enrolment group where students select the group that they wish to join.

To Create a Group Set:

1. Click + sign to Create New Group Set from the top right of the screen.
2. Select the type of allocation from the list, i.e. manually assign, automatically assign, self-enrol or import from CSV.
3. Enter a name for the Group Set.
4. From the drop-down list on the right select the visibility. If these are tutorial groups for example the students will need to see this Group Set. If these groups are for your own use, then you can leave them hidden.

To Create Custom Groups (Manually assign):

If you have students who need to be in specific groups, for example if you have students who have expressed an interest in or have been identified as needing additional support for statistics and students who have expressed an interest or have been identified as needing additional support for maths, you may have a Group Set called Additional Tutorials with groups called Statistics and Maths.

To add students to the groups:

1. Enter a description for the Group Set by clicking on the Add a group set description.
2. Add the groups by clicking on the + sign above the Group set description.
3. Enter a name for the group and a description if required.
4. Click on the Add students button from the Members box and tick each member of the group.
5. When all members have been added, click the Assign n Members button.
6. Then click Done.
7. The students will be moved to the group. Any unallocated students will remain in the Unassigned students group at the left.

Both students and groups can be sorted. There is a sort button at the top of the Unassigned students column. Students can be sorted by first name, surname or student ID. There is also a sort button at the top of the groups list. Groups can be sorted by group size or group name.

To delete or move students between groups:

1. To remove all students from groups, click the 3 dots (ellipses) at the top right of the screen and select Unassign All.
2. To reassign a student to a different group, click the Expand details button to view the members. Hover over the student name and click the Leave group button to the right of their name. They will then appear in the Unassigned students list. Then click the 3 dots next the the student name in the unassigned students’ list and select the new group.
3. Click Save, the students in the groups should then be able to see the groups if visibility has been turned on.

To Create Random Groups (Automatically assign):

When creating groups such as tutorial groups you may wish to allocate the students randomly.

1. Ensure you have selected Automatically Assign when you create the New Group Set.
2. Enter the number of students per group in the dialog box. For example if you have 100 students to be divided into 5 groups, enter 20. You will be told how many groups will be created. If the dialog box does not appear, click Automatic enrolment at the bottom of the Unassigned students column.
3. Click Enrol members.
4. To delete or move group members between groups, follow the instructions above.

To Create Self-enrol Groups:

You can ask students to self-enrol in course groups. Only students may join. Students receive a course announcement and an activity stream notification about groups they need to join.

You can also add an enrolment period with a start and end date. Students are notified when the enrolment deadline (end date) approaches. When the enrolment period ends, students can no longer join groups, and any unenrolled students are automatically into groups.

Collaborative learning is where two or more people work together to achieve desired learning outcomes. This is typically done in small groups of three to six people, but can be done by much larger groups depending upon the topic. Group members may work at different geographical locations and may never physically meet, but this will not affect outcomes if carried out efficiently. 

1. Ensure you select Self-enrol when you create the group set and make this visible to the students.
2. Create the number of groups needed.
3. You can add an enrolment start and end date. Select the arrow next to Advanced options to collapse the enrolment section.
4. You can set the Maximum number of members per group. To allow unlimited members per group, leave the Maximum number of members per group field blank. Students see the maximum number allowed when they make their group selections. If you allow an unlimited number per group, students see the total number of students in their class.
5. Select Hide enrolled members if you don’t want students to see who’s already joined.
6. Edit each group name if you want to change the default naming.
7. Add optional group descriptions. You can add information to help students choose a group. You have no limit on the number of characters.
8. You can open the menu next to a group to access the management options.

Uploading Group Sets from a CSV File

If there are a large number of group sets and groups to upload, this can be done from a CSV file. A template can be downloaded from Blackboard to enable quick population.

• Group Code – this is the code of the individual group within the group set.
• Title – give the group a suitable name.
• Description (optional) – if this helps, add some information about the group, for example if the group is a seminar or tutor group then add the time and location, if this is to be a field trip, add the details of the trip. if the group is to be members of a group assignment, then add a brief assignment or case study outline.
• Group Set – add the group set name, this should be the same for all group codes in column A (see the example below).
• Self Enroll – if the groups in the group set are to be allocated manually by the department then put N for no.

Clicking on the expand button on the right will reveal the seminar groups which have been imported. Note these are currently showing no students have been allocated to the groups. This needs to be done as a separate step.

Populating Group Sets from a CSV File

Once all of the Group Sets have been created they can also be populated from a CSV file which has been created offline.

Click into the new group set, the unassigned students will be listed on the left. Click the ellipses at the top right of the screen and select Import groups or members.

Note that the Groups can be created here if they have not already been created as in the step above using the Create groups tab. To assign members to the individual groups that exist already from the CSV file, click the Assign members tab. If the file has already been created then click Upload File. If you require the template then click the Download members template.

Check your Downloads folder for the template and save a copy.

Populate the CSV file:

• Group Code – this is the group code (SG1, SG2 and SG3 from the example above).
• Username – this is the student username, usually found on the student card, e.g. abcd12.
• Student ID (optional) – Banner ID/Z number.
• First Name – Student’s first name.
• Last Name – Student’s last name, be careful with hyphenated last names.
• Group Set – this is the group set name (Seminar Groups 2024 from the example above).

When you have completed this for all group sets and all groups, save the CSV file.

Return to the Assign members tab and click Upload File and select the CSV file containing the student names. Click Upload.

Once this has been uploaded an email confirmation will be sent. Go back into the Group Set and check to see if any students are still in the unassigned area at the top. If there are, this is most likely due to an error in the CSV file, i.e. the student has been missed or the username has been added incorrectly. This individuals can be then manually placed in groups as described above.

Exporting Group Sets

Group Sets you have previously created can be exported. Click on the Export Groups button.