how to create group assignments in canvas

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Getting Started with Groups in Canvas

• Last modification date Updated On February 16, 2022
• Categories: Canvas , Groups
• Categories: collaboration , communication , content differentiation , Getting Started

Canvas  Groups  are a way for instructors to organize students within a course for group assignments, group discussions, or other collaborative work. The Groups tool creates course-like areas in Canvas that include the following navigational options:

• Announcements
• Discussions
• BigBlueButton (Formerly Conferences)
• Collaborations

Managing Group Sets

Managing groups, managing group enrollment, managing group activities & content.

A  Group Set  is a collection of groups. A new Group Set is needed for every assignment that calls for a new grouping of students. When getting started with Group Sets, learn to:

• Create a Group Set with the Canvas guide  How do I add a group set in a course?
• Edit a Group Set with the Canvas guide  How do I edit a group set in a course?

Do not delete a group set after submissions have been made by any group in that set.

Use unique group names in order to ensure students can identify which course the group is from, as all of their groups are listed in a single place outside of the course.

Do not delete a group after a submission has been made by that group.

Groups  are the specific groupings of students within a Group Set.  When getting started with Groups, learn to:

• Automatically create groups in a group set with the Canvas guide  How do I automatically create groups in a group set?
• Manually create groups in a group set with the Canvas guide  How do I manually create groups in a group set?
• Create self sign-up groups in a group set with the Canvas guide  How do I create self sign-up groups in a group set?
• Allow students to create groups with the Canvas guide  How do I allow students to create their own student groups?

Students can only belong to one group in a group set. This precludes them from taking part in group work or group discussions in Canvas in multiple groups for the same assignment/activity.

Do not change membership in a group after a submission has been made by that group.

When enrolling students in Groups, learn to:

• Automatically enroll students in groups with the Canvas guide  How do I automatically assign students to groups?
• Manually enroll students in groups with the Canvas guide  How do I manually assign students to groups?
• Assign a student leader to a group with the Canvas guide  How do I assign a student leader to a group?
• Change group enrollments with the Canvas guide  How do I move a student into a different group?
• Prevent students from changing self sign-up group enrollment with the Canvas guide  How do I prevent students from switching groups in self sign-up groups?

While students can manage their Group spaces in Canvas, instructors are able to generate activities for groups and view group content. When managing group activities and content, learn to:

• Grade Group Assignments in the SpeedGrader with the Canvas guide  How do I grade group assignments in SpeedGrader?
• Create a graded Group Discussion with the Canvas guide  How do I assign a graded discussion to a course group?
• View a group’s files with the Canvas guide  How do I view group files as an instructor?
• View a group’s content and student group activity with the Canvas guide  How do I view content and student activity within a group as an instructor?

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How to Create Groups in Canvas

Canvas allows the creation of groups for various uses. Instructors can create groups for students to collaborate on group assignments, pages, collaborations, and more. Instructors can also allow students to create their own groups.

Canvas has two types of groups: student groups and group sets. Student groups can be created by either an instructor or a student and are self-organized by students. Group sets are groups that you create to use for graded assignments.

To learn more about Groups, check out  How to Manage Canvas Groups

What are Group Sets?

Group sets house the different groups within a course and allow an instructor to create different groups for different purposes or assignments. For example, a course could have groups of 5 students for a term project and groups of 2 for weekly labs.

How to Create a Group Set

Click the People link in the Course Navigation Menu [1].

Click the Add Group Set button [2].

Name the Group Set by typing into the Group Set Name field [1]. 

You can allow self sign-ups by selecting the Allow self sign-up checkbox [2].

In the Group Structure drop-down menu [3] you can choose to:

• Create groups later . Use this if you want to import a CSV file or manually add students to groups.
• e.g., I want 5 groups with an equal number of students.
• e.g.,  I want 7 students per group and it doesn't matter how many groups there are.

When you select "Split students by number of groups" or "Split number of students per group," you'll need to enter the number of students or groups you want automatically created [4].

You can also chose to have a Group Leader automatically assigned [5].

In this example, the instructor wanted 3 groups and chose to set a random student as the group leader. The result is 3 groups of 2 students each. The student listed after the group name is the Group Leader. The group names were automatically generated. You can edit them by selecting Edit  from the kebob menu [⋮] on the right side of the group.

NOTE: The “Require group members to be in the same section” option available in self sign-up and automatically created groups is broken. We do not have any information from Canvas on when this will be fixed. For now, you must use a CSV file to manually distribute groups across sections. Check out How to manually Create Groups Across Sections for more information.

Group Naming Conventions

When choosing a Group Set name, use a naming convention with your course's unique course code, an abbreviation, or some other easily distinguished group name rather than using generic group names with numbers or letters. Once a student is a member of a group, a  Groups  button appears in their Global Navigation Menu, which lists every group in which the student is a member. Groups with generic names (e.g. Group A, Group 1) may result in confusion or duplication of group names across courses. To help students clearly identify their groups between all of their courses, create group names specific to your course.

When using the automatically create group functions, Canvas will use the Group Set name, along with the number of groups.  For example, naming a Group Set BI 201 and choosing to create 6 groups will result in groups named BI 201: Group 1, BI 201: Group 2, etc.

If you would like to give groups more unique names, you can choose to manually create groups.

For further assistance, UO Online & Canvas Support are available.

• In-Person: Room 68 PLC
• By phone: (541) 346-1942
• By email:  [email protected]
• Submit a  Service Portal Ticket  ( opens in a new tab) . This form can also be accessed in Canvas from the  Help  button at the bottom of the  Global Navigation Menu . 

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Canvas How-To: Groups

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Understanding Group Sets and Groups

Groups and Group Sets help instructors organize students into teams. At least one Group Set must exist before any Groups can be created.

A Brief Analogy

Group Set = A filing cabinet Group = A drawer in the filing cabinet Member = A hanging folder in the drawer

Important: Group activities in Canvas are assigned and associated with the filing cabinet , not the individual drawers (see below). Just as an office can have many filing cabinets, a Canvas course can have many Group Sets. Students can be members of multiple Group Sets but can be a member of only one group per set.

Create a Group Set

Open the People page  [1] . Next, click the "+ Group Set" button  [2] . Configure the group set.  It is not necessary to create the groups at this point.  The groups can be created later if necessary by returning to the People page and clicking the name of the Group Set above the course roster.

How do I add a group set in a course?

How do I manually create groups in a group set?

How do I manually assign students to groups?

Creating Groups and Assigning Students Automatically

Use the  Group Structure  area to specify how the groups will be structured, and where the students will be placed.

How do I automatically create groups in a group set?

Enabling Self-Sign Up Groups

Enabled students to join the group of their choosing by ticking the checkbox and setting the maximum number of people per group.

How do I create self sign-up groups in a group set?

Making an Assignment a Group Assignment

You can create a group assignment by using the  Group Assignment  checkbox. Canvas uses group sets to assign group assignments, and each group within the group set that is assigned to the assignment is required to complete the assignment.  All groups will complete the assignment using the same due date.

Note:  It is not possible to use individual groups as the basis for differentiated assignments, such as assigning an activity only to a single group or configuring unique due dates for specific groups.  Only Group Sets can receive special settings in assignments. 

How do I assign an assignment to a course group?

Making a Discussion a Group Discussion

You can create a single prompt and have groups to discuss it, either as a graded or ungraded activity.  Simple associate the discussion with an existing Group Set (or create a new one on-the-fly).

Be sure the Group Set has Groups before you open the discussion activity to students!

How to Create a Group Discussion

On the settings page of the discussion, check the box "This is a Group Discussion"  [1] . Then, open the Group Category menu to select the Group Set that will govern the group organization for the activity  [2] .  Alternatively, click the "New Group Category" button if you would like to create the Set to be used by the discussion.

Important:  Students must be placed into a Group in order to properly participate. Students who are not in a group can still post, but the posts are only visible to the instructor and other students not in a group.

How Students Participate in a Group Discussion

To participate, students click the link for the Discussion activity and begin posting.  They are automatically participating in their group and do not need to do anything special to "enter" or "join" the discussion.  Students cannot view other groups' posts.

How Instructors Monitor a Group Discussion

Instructors can get an overview of activity in the groups by opening the discussion activity link and viewing the information at the top of the page. New posts are indicated in the badges on the far right.  To view a group's discussion, click the link for the group on the left.

Viewing Another Group

After reading one group's discussion, click the "Home" link in the left navigation menu and then click the breadcrumb link for the course at the top of the page to return to the home page.  Find the main link for the discussion and re-enter it.  Sorry, this is really an area where Canvas could be improved.

Viewing and Monitoring Group Activity

As an instructor, you can view what is happening in groups by viewing each user group from the  People  page of the course. You can view student activity within the group and view group-created content. You can also access student groups to create group collaborations and add other group-specific content if necessary.

How do I view content and student activity within a group as an instructor?

Updated: October 11, 2022

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Create and manage student groups in canvas - knowledgebase / teaching learning and research / canvas / communication and collaboration - oit service center.

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Create and manage student groups in canvas.

• ej edwin jeng
• TK Theodore Kalaitzidis
• rt rebecca taub
• Last updated: Jul 3, 2023 by Claire Streckenbach

The  Groups  tool allows for smaller group interaction within a course. Instructors may use Groups to organize small group discussions, group assignments, and group grading. Students can use Groups to work collaboratively on projects and assignments, and have/ participate in discussions. Within each group, students can create pages, announcements, collaborations, discussions, and calendar events. It is like a personal Canvas site for a set group of people. 

Create Group Sets

Group sets house the different groups within a course. 

• Log in to Canvas at canvas.brown.edu.
• Select your course from the Global Navigation menu on the left.
• Click People in the Course Navigation menu.
• Click + Group Set to add a set of groups to your course. 
• Enter a group set name in the Group Set Name  box.
• Customize the Group Structure section based on how students will be added to the groups.
• You may Automatically assign a student group leader . When students are assigned to be a group leader, they can manage members of the group and edit the group name. However, they cannot change the number of members in the group.
• Click Save after you've selected your settings.

Make Groups Manually

• Within your Group Set, click + Group to create a group. Name the group (i.e. Group 1 ). You may enter a maximum participant number, but it is not required.
• Once the groups are created, you may click and drag students listed in the Unassigned Students box into groups or click on the +  symbol next to the students' names and assign them to one of the groups.

Make Groups Assigned Randomly

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