Group of groups

A group of groups is a grouping — more flexible than an alignment — of several groups coming from the same class or from different classes.

Available as a basic grouping mechanism in Omniscol.

Key difference from an alignment

An alignment is frozen at creation: the list of aligned groups is fixed, and taking a group out of it requires cloning the group.

A group of groups, by contrast, can be modified after creation. You can add or remove groups without having to recreate the structure. This is what makes it valuable in higher education, where the composition of groupings often evolves over the year (a new track joining a shared course, a subgroup splitting off for a project).

When to use it

• Courses shared by several tracks (engineering or business school),
• Cross-cohort lectures, transverse seminars,
• Core-curriculum courses in continuing education,
• Open educational events (a visit, an outside speaker).

A course assigned to a group of groups is visible (and editable) from each of the parent classes of the member groups.

Distinctive point

The group of groups is most useful when the composition of the audience evolves over the year or when you want to avoid the symmetry constraints of an alignment.