This article talks about a BETA version of the tool. If you're not a part of an institution that participates in the testing, please refer to the other article.

Introduction

In this article we'll walk you through how to set up Group Formation from the perspective of a teacher.

If you'd like more information on how this tool works, check out these articles:

• Group Formation: For Teachers (Active Assignment)

• Group Formation: For Students

• Group Formation: Overview

• Group Formation: Algorithm Explainer

Tool In Action

How this article is structured

Setting up an activity now follows three stages, shown in the bar at the top of the activity whenever you're in edit mode:

1. Build activity: get an overview of your activity and add or remove steps.
2. Edit steps: configure each step one at a time (instructions, survey questions, and group size).
3. Setup activity: set what applies to the whole activity, such as deadlines and which students or groups take part.

This article follows the same order. Everything below describes what you can configure before the activity is published. Students cannot access the activity at this stage. You can still edit some settings after publishing. However, once students start making progress, certain options lock to protect their work and data, and we'll note wherever that applies.

Note: When you open a published activity, you'll land on the Active Assignment view by default. To return to setup, click Edit in the upper-left corner. See the Active Assignment article.

Accessibility

We're devoted to making our tools as accessible as possible for all learners. To read more, see Accessibility: Within FeedbackFruits Tools.

How it works

Group Formation gives students a short survey that you design, asking about things like their group work preferences, availability, and skills. Based on their answers, the algorithm places each student with peers who answered similarly (for compatibility) or differently (so they complement each other), depending on how you set up each question. Read more about the algorithm here.

Stage 1 — Build activity

This is your starting point. Here you see every step in the activity in order, and you can shape the activity before configuring the details.

A default Group Formation activity contains:

1. Instructions (Read instructions)
2. Group formation (Answer the survey)

When your steps are in place, move to Edit steps to configure each one.

Stage 2 — Edit steps

Here you set up the activity step by step. Each step shows its own settings and a Student preview, so you can see what learners will see.

Step 1: Instructions

Write any guidance students need before they start the survey, for example why you're forming groups and how their answers will be used. Type directly into the instructions field, and the student preview updates alongside it.

Step 2: Group formation

This is where you build the survey and tell the algorithm how to form groups.

Questions

If you haven't added any questions yet, the panel shows No questions added. Click Start creating questions to open the survey editor, then add a question and choose a type:

• Multiple choice question
• Open question

See the Question types reference below for how to set up each type. Looking for inspiration? Check out our sample questions.

Form groups within

Choose which students the algorithm forms groups from:

• All students in the course: groups are formed from everyone enrolled.
• The selected groups: groups are formed only within the LMS groups or sections you choose.

Number of students per group

Use the – and + buttons to set how many students each group should have.

Keep in mind:

1. Inactive students (those who never open the activity or don't answer the questions) are grouped together with the other inactive students.
2. Remaining students (for instance, when the class size doesn't divide evenly) need to be assigned to a group manually. Alternatively, return to Edit mode, change the group size, and form the groups again.

Stage 3 — Setup activity

The final stage gathers the settings that apply to the whole activity. These are the ones you'll most often revisit. On the left you keep the step overview; on the right you set activity-wide options: Deadlines, Grade weighting, and Advanced settings.

Deadlines

Turn on the deadlines toggle to decide when students start and stop having access, even during class. Pick a date and time for when the survey opens and closes. If you prefer, you can leave deadlines off and start and end the process manually once you exit Edit mode.

Groups

Select the group set for this activity and choose which groups/sections participate. Where your LMS supports it, sync sections and groups directly. For configuring groups inside Blackboard, Brightspace, or Canvas, see this article; to create groups on the platform, see this article.

Reminder: collaboration options (hand-in and review) must be set before students participate. Once a student makes progress, those configurations can't be changed.

When everything looks right, you can Save and publish the activity.

Question types reference

Multiple choice questions

Type the question at the top of the card. Click the paper clip icon to attach a graph, image, or document to display with it. Click Add answer to add answer options, each of which can have its own attachment, and use the bin icon to remove one. Click Save when you're done.

Each multiple choice question has its own settings:

• Multiple answers can be selected: lets students choose more than one option.
• Group students based on answering this question similar/dissimilar: decides whether students who answered this question alike are put together or spread apart. This applies to this question only, not the whole survey.
• Question importance: set a weight from 0 (ignored) to 5 (highest). Higher-importance questions have a bigger impact on how groups are formed. Students can see each question's importance while answering.

Open questions

Type the question in the text box and, if you like, attach a file with the paper clip icon. Click Save when you're done. Open questions have no extra settings.

Note: The algorithm can't process open-question responses. They're intended for you to read and assess.

Good to know

• Group Formation can be used in every LMS compatible with FeedbackFruits.
• You can also sync groups with D2L/Brightspace, Canvas, Moodle, and Blackboard. Ask your FeedbackFruits partner for more information on setting this up.
• Read more about how groups are formed in the Algorithm Explainer.