Using Groups in Canvas

Groups in Canvas are a great way to facilitate collaboration and peer learning in your course. Groups can be used for assignments, discussions, and more. Groups can be automatically populated based on the number of students you want in the group; they can be manually assigned; or you can allow students to self-enroll in their desired group.

In this article, we'll guide you through the process of setting up and managing groups, so you can take advantage of this feature and enhance your students' learning experience.

Creating Groups

Groups are created and organized in a Group Set.  You can have multiple Group Sets if you have several different group activities planned throughout the semester. If you only have one group activity, you only need one group set that contains all your groups.

  1. In Course Navigation, click the People link.
    Screenshot of the Canvas course menu with People highlighted
     
  2. Click +Group Set.
    Screenshot of the "+Group Set" button on the Canvas people page.
     
  3. Enter a Group Set Name and decide how you want to create the groups.
    Screenshot of the Create Group Set window in Canvas. The fields are "Enter Group Set name" "allow self sign-up" and creating the groups later or automatically

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Allow Self Sign-up

  1. To allow students to choose their own groups, check Allow self sign-up.  If you've merged your courses and want students to only be grouped with others in that section, check Require group members to be in the same section.
  2. Choose how many groups you'd like to create and set any membership limit.  A group leader is not necessary.  Click Save.
    Screenshot of the create group set window in Canvas. The self sign-up has been selected, number of groups to create is set to 5 and membership is limited to 3.
     
  3. The number of groups selected will be created.  You can edit or delete a group by clicking the ellipsis next to any group.  If you need to add more groups, click the +Group button.
    Screenshot of the +Group button
  4. If required, you can manually assign or move a student to a group by dragging their names into the group.
  5. Students join groups from the People link, Groups tab.  If the People link is hidden, see this article on how to enable it for students.  They can see a list of the groups and the names of any students that have already joined.  They click the Join button next to their desired group.

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Automatically Assign Groups

  1. To automatically assign students, choose an option from the Group Structure drop-down menu. If you've merged your courses and want students to only be grouped with others in that section, check Require group members to be in the same section.
    Screenshot of the Create Group Set page in Canvas. The group structure drop-down is selected, showing the options: "create groups later" "split students by number of groups" and "split number of students per group"
  2. Choose the number of groups you want or the number of students per group you want.  You can also manually create groups later.
  3. Click Save.
  4. The groups will be created.  You can edit or delete a group by clicking the ellipsis next to any group.  If you need to add more groups, click the +Group button.
    Screenshot of the +Group button
  5. You can manually move students into another group by dragging their name into the group.
  6. If you manually create your groups and want to randomly assign students, click the ellipsis button and then Randomly Assign Students
    Screenshot of the more options button on a Canvas Group set page. The "Randomly assign students" option is highlighted.

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Creating Group Assignments

With a group assignment, one student submits on behalf of the entire group and all students in the group will see the grade and your comments.

  1. In Course Navigation click the Assignments link.
  2. click +Assignment to begin creating a new assignment and give it the normal options like name, point total, and submission type.
  3. Check the This is a Group Assignment box.
    Screenshot of the Group Assignment option in a canvas assignment.
  4. Select the Group Set this assignment applies to; you can also make a new group set.  Check the Assign Grades to Each Student Individually box if you need to enter different grades for group members. 
    Note: if after assignments have been submitted the need arises to grade a particular group individually, you can grade all the other groups first, then edit the assignment and turn on the setting.  It will give you a warning, but you can just click continue.
  5. Set any other desired options like Due Date or Availability dates and click Save or Save and Publish if ready to publish.

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Creating Group Discussions

Group discussions can be graded or ungraded and allow students to have discussions within their own group.

  1. In Course Navigation click the Discussions link.
  2. Click +Discussion to begin creating a new discussion.  Give it a name and your question prompt, and decide if it's graded or ungraded.
  3. Check the This is a Group Dsicussion box.
    Screenshot of the Group Discussion option in a Canvas discussion
  4. Select the Group Set this discussion applies to.
  5. Set any other desired options like Due Date or Availability dates and click Save or Save and Publish if ready to publish.

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How Students Interact with a Group

Once a student has joined or been assigned to a group, they will see a Groups link in the Global navigation.  Clicking that link will show them their list of groups and clicking the name of a group will bring them to that group's home page where they can view any group Pages, Discussions, or Files.

Screenshot of the Canvas global navigation with the Groups link highlighted, showing a few groups this student is a member of.

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