Instructors can use Group modes to control how groups of students interact with an activity and what students can see from other groups.
Moodle has three Group modes available: No Groups, Visible Groups, and Separate Groups
Image from UMass Amherst site: https://www.umass.edu/it/support/moodle/group-modes-moodle
Set a Default Group Mode for Your Course
Instructors can set a default group mode for activities within the course in the course settings. When you set a default, each activity will show the default group mode but you can still change the group mode for activities if needed. Follow the instructions below to apply a default group mode for your course.
1. On your course page,Click on the settings tab below the course title/name.
2. Navigate to the Groups section.
3. From the Group mode drop-down menu, choose a default group setting: No groups, Separate groups or Visible groups.
4. Next, click the Force group mode drop-down menu and select Yes. Forcing group mode will apply the group mode to every activity.
5.Scroll to the bottom of the page and click Save and display
Note: Force group mode is usually used when more than one Academic Assistant is used in a course.
If group mode is forced to yes, students cannot participate unless they are assigned to a group. Click here to learn how to create groups in Moodle. In addition, see Assigning Students to Groups Manually for how to add students to groups already created.