Create and Manage Student Groups in Canvas

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

Group Sets house the different groups within a course.

1. Log in to Canvas at learn.bradley.edu
2. Select your course from the Global Navigation menu on the left.
3. Click People in the Course Navigation menu.
4. Click + Group Set to add a set of groups to your course.
5. Enter a group set name in the Group Set Name box.
6. Determine how students will be added to the groups: Will they Self Sign-Up, randomly be assigned to a group, or will the instructor manually assign them to the groups?
1. Customize the Group Structure section based on how students will be added to the groups.
2. You may Automatically assign a student group leader. When students are assigned to be a group leader, they can manage group members and edit the group name. However, they cannot change the number of members in the group.
7. Click Save after you've selected your settings.

1. Click + Group to create a group within your Group Set. Name the group (i.e., Group 1). You may enter a maximum participant number, but it is not required.
2. 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.

1. Open the Group Set, click the options menu, and then click Randomly Assign Students.

Note: We recommend the Canvas guides about creating, editing, and managing groups in Canvas.

Resources: 

• How do I add a group set in a course?
• How do I edit a group set in a course?
• How do I manually create groups in a group set?
• How do I automatically create groups in a group set?
• How do I manually assign students to a group?
• How do I automatically assign students to groups?
• How do I view all groups in a course?
• For your students: Canvas Guides about People and Groups