Group Projects and Collaborations with Student Groups

• Student groups can be used to set-up group projects. 
• They also give groups of students a space of their own to collaborate outside of the central course site.

Step 1.

• Click "People" in the course site navigation

Step 2.

• Click on "+ Group Set"
  • Student groups need to be bound by a set. You can have multiple sets of groups for different projects. 
  • Students cannot be in more than one group per set, but can be in multiple groups across different sets.

Step 3.

• Group Set Options
  • Self sign-up (not required):
    • Note: the "People" item must be enabled on the course navigation menu in order for students to self sign-up.
    • Opt in to allow students to sign-up for the groups themselves.
    • Choose the additional option to restrict groups to members of the same section.
  • Group Structure:
    • "Splitting students into ___# of equal groups," causes Canvas to evenly divide your course enrollees by the number of groups you set.
    • Choose "I'll create groups manually" in order to manually assign students to groups.

Step 4.

• Choose the tab with the name of your new group set
  • For this example, we are clicking on the group set named "Project Groups".
  • Next, click "+ Group" to create a new group and name the group
    • Repeat this step if you want to create more than one group. Choose the additional option to limit the group total (not required).

Step 5.

• Add Students to the Groups
  • Drag-and-drop students into the groups, or use the "+" symbol next to their name and choose which group to assign them to. 
  • To remove assigned students from groups or move them to another group:
    • Click the three dots next to their individual names and choose to remove them from the group or move them to another group. You may also assign them as the group leader.

Step 6.

• Navigate to "Assignments"
  • Click on the assignment you wish to assign to the group set 
  • If you have not already set up the assignment, please seek help in the "Make Grading Easier" table
  • Click "Edit" to edit the assignment details

Step 7.

• Scroll down to the "Group Assignment" parameter
  • Tick the "This is a Group Assignment" check box and select the group set this assignment pertains to from the drop down menu. 
  • An additional option is to assign different grades to every student in the group. This allows students in a group to turn in a single submission, but gives you the option to assign different grades to each student.
    • If left unchecked, giving one student in the group a grade will populate that same grade to all students in the group. Note: only group names will appear in Speedgrader.

Step 8.

• Click "People" in your course site navigation
  • Choose the tab with the name of the group set you wish to explore

Step 9.

• Click the three dots icon for each group in the set for more options
  • The first option is to "Visit Group Homepage". Clicking here redirects you to the group homepage and explore what students have built and contributed.