Understanding section properties

The following descriptions explain the options available on the Create Sections page and provide conceptual information on when they should be used.

1. Section enrollment types
2. Advanced Properties
3. Enrollment scenario: # of Sections
4. Enrollment scenario: Sections of #

Section enrollment types

Sections of #  Creates an unlimited number of sections with a maximum number of users in each section. Use this enrollment type when you know how many users you want in each section.

Use this option if you offer a course that is always available - you begin the course when enough users enroll to fill a section. It is also a good option when you do not know how many users are going to enroll in advance, but you need to make sure each section is a manageable size.

# of Sections  Creates a specified number of sections with an unlimited number of users in each section. Use this enrollment type when you know how many sections in total you want to create.

Use this option when you know how many assistants you have who can assist with grading or tutorials, when you have specific classroom hours available to you, or when you are using a teaching model that divides users into sets of learning levels.

Advanced Properties

Auto-Enroll New Users  Automatically adds new users to the section with the least users, or to a new section once the maximum size of all existing sections is met.

Use this option when you don’t want to manually add new users to sections.

Note  If you choose the ‘Sections of #’ option you might end up with a section that has only one or a few members in it. Click Enroll Users to manually change section enrollment and add users to full sections.

Randomize users in Sections  Adds users to sections based on a random order. If you don't select this option, the system adds users to sections alphabetically based on their order within Classlist.

Enrollment scenario: # of Sections

You create 4 sections for a course with a maximum class size of 200 users and 194 users enroll.

• Auto-Enroll New Users  Selecting this option automatically adds users to sections. The first user enrolls in Section 1, the second in Section 2, etc. Once a user enrolls in the last section of the sequence (Section 4 in this example), the sequence starts over, enrolling the fifth user in Section 1.

  In this example of a class of 194 users, Sections 1 and 2 enroll 49 users while Sections 3 and 4 enroll 48 users. If a new user enrolls later, they enroll in Section 3.

• Randomize users in Sections  Selecting this option randomizes the user enrollment list before users are added to sections. This option only works if an enrollment list exists prior to creating sections.
• If you don't seelct Auto-Enroll New Users, you must manually add new users to sections using the Enroll Users page. For more information about manually enrolling users, see Enrolling users in sections.

Enrollment scenario: Sections of #

You set a maximum section size of 25 users and 140 users enroll.

• Auto-Enroll New Users  Selecting this option distributes users evenly across the minimum number of sections possible and enrolls them before sections are defined.

• In the example of a class of 140 users, 6 groups are needed. Sections 1 and 2 enroll 24 users and Sections 3-6 enroll 23 users. If a new user enrolls later, they enroll in Section 3. If or when all of the sections reach their maximum size of 25 users, Section 7 is created. 25 users must enroll in Section 7 before Section 8 is created.

• Randomize users in sections  Selecting this option randomizes the user enrollment list before users are added to sections. This option only works if an enrollment list exists prior to creating sections.
• If you don't select Auto-Enroll New Users, you must manually add new users to sections using the Enroll Users page. For more information about manually enrolling users, see Enrolling users in sections.

See also

• Enrolling users in sections