Best Practices for Cohort Assignment Strategies#
To use cohorts in your course, you must select a strategy for assigning your learners to cohorts: automated assignment, manual assignment, or a hybrid approach. For more information, see Options for Assigning Learners to Cohorts.
Note
Although you can change the assignment method for cohorts at any time, you should have a strategy in mind as you design your course, and only make changes to cohorts while the course is running if absolutely necessary.
You must also decide whether course-wide and content-specific discussion topics should be divided by cohort or unified for all learners.
After you decide on a cohort strategy for your course, complete these configuration steps (as applicable).
Determine the method you want to use to assign learners to cohorts.
Optionally, identify the discussion topics that you want to be divided by cohort.
For information about divided discussions, see About Divided Discussions.
You complete these procedures on the Cohorts and Discussions tabs on the Instructor Dashboard.
Note
On the Cohorts tab, the number of learners shown next to each cohort name in the Select a cohort list includes only learners who are enrolled in the course. The number does not include preassigned learners who either do not yet have an edX account or are not enrolled in your course.
For an optimal learner experience, you should make sure that configuration of the cohort feature is as complete as possible before the start date of your course. If you need to make changes to the way you have configured cohorts while your course is running, be aware of the implications of your changes. For more information, see Altering Cohort Configuration in a Running Course.
Implementing an Automated Assignment Strategy#
To implement an automated assignment strategy of learners to cohorts, you enable the cohort feature for your course, and create cohorts that have the Automatic assignment method. To add learners to these cohorts, you do not need to take any action: the system automatically and randomly assigns learners to the available automatic cohorts when they first access any course content or divided discussions. Learners who access the Course page or other course pages such as a Textbook page do not receive a cohort assignment until they view course content or divided discussions.
Note
You can add learners manually to any cohort, whether it was created as an automated cohort or a manual cohort.
For a scenario using an automated assignment strategy, see Automated Assignment: Making MOOC Discussions Manageable. For a scenario using a combination of automated and manual assignment to cohorts, see Hybrid Assignment: Accommodating Small Groups Within a Course.
Automated Cohorts#
The first time a learner views course content on the Course or Discussion page, if she is not already assigned to a cohort, she is randomly assigned to one of the automated cohorts. If no automated cohorts exist, the system creates a default cohort and assigns the learner to this cohort.
Note
The default cohort is created to ensure that every learner is assigned to a cohort. To avoid having to re-assign learners from the default cohort to other cohorts, make sure you create the automated cohorts that you want before the course starts.
Implementing a Manual Assignment Strategy#
To implement a manual assignment strategy of learners to cohorts, you enable the cohort feature for your course, and create cohorts that have the Manual assignment method. Then, you manually assign enrolled learners to the appropriate cohorts.
Note
It is not a requirement that learners have enrolled in your course or registered on edx.org for you to add them to a cohort. For learners who have not yet created an edx.org account, you must provide a valid email address. For learners who have an edx.org account but have not yet enrolled in your course, you can provide either a valid email address or a recognized edx.org username.
Manual assignments should be as complete as possible before your course starts. If learners enroll after your course starts, you should assign new learners to cohorts as soon as possible. If you need to make changes to the way you have configured cohorts while your course is running, see Altering Cohort Configuration in a Running Course.
For a scenario using a manual assignment strategy, see Manual Assignment: Grouping by Common Characteristics. For a scenario using a combination of automated and manual assignment to cohorts, see Hybrid Assignment: Accommodating Small Groups Within a Course.
Altering Cohort Configuration in a Running Course#
The configuration of cohorts should be complete and stable before your course begins. Manual cohort assignments should be completed as soon as possible after any learner enrolls, including any enrollments that occur while your course is running.
If you decide that you must alter cohort configuration after your course starts and activity in the course discussion begins, be sure that you understand the consequences of these actions.
Maintenance chart
Review Date |
Working Group Reviewer |
Release |
Test situation |