This article explains how to adjust activity and assessment settings in Buzz to meet the needs of students working in groups.
TIP: Click here for written directions.
Click the Play button below to view Using Groups Part 2: Assigning Work by Groups Video.
Run Time: 03:36
WHY ASSIGN WORK BY GROUPS?
Buzz allows you to make changes and apply them only to a specific group of students. For example, student groups may include specific students who should only complete odd numbered questions in an assessment. Another group may include a certain set of students who are required to complete an assessment.
GROUP SETTINGS
To quickly excuse a group of students from a folder, activity, or assessment, start by selecting the GROUP SETTINGS tab within the Editor page of your course.
IMPORTANT: Groups must first be set up before you can use the GROUP SETTINGS tab appropriately.
Next, select your desired Group Set from the Grouping drop-down menu (if your course has more than one Group Set). You will see a column for each subgroup within that Group Set.
WARNING: Naming of your Group Set (Grouping/Group Prefix) and individual Groups is important. As you will see, Buzz may only show the Group name rather than the Group Set name.
Excusing Work Through GROUP SETTINGS
To excuse a group of students from an activity or a folder, click the eye icon next to that item in the column of that specific group. Once you see the red eye with a slash, your selection will not be visible, thus excusing the students from the activity. Use the Folder Title list to navigate through the course.
REDUCING THE NUMBER OF QUESTIONS ON ASSESSMENTS
If you have a group of students who only needs to complete even/odd numbered questions, or 50% (or another percentage) of the given questions on an exam, you can accomplish this by going to the SYLLABUS tab of the Editor.
Start by locating the first assessment you need to adjust.
NOTE: Browse the course folders in the SYLLABUS tab or use the Find activity tool in the upper right to search for an item by name.
Once you have located the assessment you want, click the Edit icon.
IMPORTANT: You must use the Filter by group icon to select a group from the drop-down menu before you make and save your changes. Otherwise, the changes that you make to the assessment will be applied to all students, not just the students in one group.
Once you have selected a group, the name of that group will appear next to the Filter by group icon.
WARNING: When editing any item in the Syllabus, the Filter by Group option will only show Group names. They are not organized by Group Sets. Therefore, it is important to use a specific name for each group. Examples may include a name based on specific usage (Fewer Questions) or a specific student (Kelvin and Madison). Avoid general names for groups within a Group Set, such as Group A.
Next, go to the SETTINGS tab of the assessment.
NOTE: The name of the group you selected is now displayed beside the Filter by group icon. For this example, the group name is Fewer Questions.
In this tab, you can make changes to the weight, visibility, and accessibility of the assessment. This example will demonstrate how to reduce the questions of the assessment by 50% (which also applies to students only completing the even/odd questions of an assignment).
Go to the Assessment pool settings tile and click the drop-down arrow. The desired number of questions field displays how many questions are currently in the assessment. To change the number of questions, simply type in a new number. (Therefore, when making a 50% reduction in questions, change 50 to 25). For information on the Assessment pool settings key, review the Assessment Adjustments in Buzz article.
TIP: If the assignment has an odd number of questions, we recommend rounding up. If there is no number in the Desired number of questions field, go to the Questions tab at the top of the screen to see how many questions are included in the assessment. If reducing by 50%, cut that number in half and put that number in the desired number of questions field.
Click SAVE when you are finished making changes. Remember, these changes will only be applied to your selected group.
TIP: To adjust settings for another group, you must repeat these steps, choosing a different group from the Filter by group icon. You would also complete this same process for any other assessment item that needs to be reduced for this group.
ASSIGNING WORK TO ONLY ONE GROUP
If you have content that needs to be accessed by only one group within the course, try the steps below.
- Hide the content from the entire course by clicking the Eye icon in the SYLLABUS
- Edit the item and select the appropriate group from the top right
- Go to the SETTINGS tab and locate Visibility and access
- Change the selection in the Activity is visible to field from Teachers Only to Students, teachers, and observers
Save your changes.
IMPORTANT: Completing these steps will cause the activity, folder, or assessment to show as invisible within the SYLLABUS; however, it will remain visible to the individual Group you selected. Review the additional resources listed below for more tips.
PUSHING NEW CONTENT TO GROUPS
Buzz also allows you to send additional content, assign tasks, or send messages to any of your groups. For more information, watch the Personalized Learning: Clipboard video.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Editor
For additional information on visibility options and activity settings, please review these resources.
| Visibility | This article explains how to use the visibility settings within the Editor to change what is visible in the course for all users. |
| Activity Settings | This article is designed to help you apply settings to an activity in the course. |
| Adjusting Visibility and Gradebook Settings | This video shows you how to control the visibility of content and activities in your Buzz courses. |
Groups
| Creating Groups | This article is designed to help you learn how to use Buzz to establish set groups within individual courses. By using this feature, you can add or hide folders, activities, or assessments from set groups to differentiate learning. |
| Group Filtering | This article explains how to use the filtering options in the four main areas of Buzz. |
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