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Learn@Illinois Moodle - Group Choice Activity
Learn how to use the group choice activity as a tool that allows students to self-select into groups.
For a permanent link to this information, please use: http://go.illinois.edu/MoodleGroupChoice
Examples of Using Group Choice Activity
- Students choose which topic they would like to do their group project on
- Students choose which time/room to take an exam
- Any time you want students to self-select or self-identify something that you want to use to separate them by in another place in the course
- Example: I want all students with a particular major to get major-specific information through Moodle.
Frequently Asked Questions
- I'm having trouble adding groups to this activity. How do I add groups?
You will need to create groups before setting this activity up. Then follow the instructions in the Group Choice Quick Guide. - What is the difference between the Choice activity and the Group Choice activity?
The Choice activity records a students selection or answer for a single question, while the Group Choice activity allows students to put themselves into a group. - Can students be graded for completing a Group Choice activity?
This activity cannot be automatically graded, but you can add a grade item to the gradebook and grade it manually. - Will students be able to see the results?
Yes, unless "Publish results" under "Miscellaneous settings" is set to "Do not publish results to students." - Can students change their selection before the deadline?
Yes! Make sure when creating the activity that you select "Yes" from the drop-down menu next to "Allow choice to be updated" under "Miscellaneous settings." - How do I set a limit to the number of students who can join a group?
Be sure the "Limit the number of responses allowed" option is set to "Enable". Once you have added your groups, click on the group name and a box will appear to the right of the "Selected Groups" section where you can enter the maximum number of students allowed for that group.
Best Practices
- Communicate dates in a way that is easy to maintain
- Rarely use hard due dates (e.g. September 22, 2017) - opt for relative dates (e.g. Tuesday of Week 1) whenever possible
- Use the year when typing hard due dates so that if it does not get updated, it will be clear that this is the wrong date.
- When you would like to collect submissions at midnight, consider using 11:55pm instead. Students are often confused when something is due on Monday at midnight, but the system says that it is due on Tuesday at 12:00am.
- Set reasonable group size limits for your activity. A large number of students may want to join the same group, but this may not be the best way to engage in this activity. If you do want to allow multiple groups to present on the same topic, you can add multiple groups with the same topic name.
- Example: If your students are doing a group project on dogs and Golden Retrievers are a popular topic you might set groups up like the following:
- Golden Retrievers Group A (limit 5)
- Golden Retrievers Group B (limit 5)
- Chihuahuas Group (limit 5)
- Poodles Group (limit 5)
- Example: If your students are doing a group project on dogs and Golden Retrievers are a popular topic you might set groups up like the following:
Groups and Groupings
- Groups with or without an overarching grouping must be used with the Group Choice activity because this activity is specifically used for students to select and enroll themselves into groups.
- See our Groups and Groupings page for more information.