department menu

Groups FAQs

Show All

  • How do I setup and manage groups within my course?

    Please see our help guide on how to create groups and groupings.

  • Can students create or choose their own groups?

    Yes, using the Group Self Selection activity you can allow students to either create their own groups, or to choose their groups from a set you created. For more information please see our help guide on Group Self Selection.

  • How can students see who is in their group?

    Students can see group membership on the Participants page. Click on Course Dashboard, then click on Participants. They can filter by group using the dropdown arrow in the search box on the left. Or they can scroll through the list and see the group(s) listed for each user.

  • What if I want to use different groups for different activities?

    Yes, you can have as many sets of groups as you need. You will just need to create and use Groupings to allow the system to differentiate between the sets of groups. For example, you want one set of groups for a Forum discussion and a different set of groups for a presentation. When you create the forum discussion groups, you will also create a grouping called "Forum groups" and associate those groups with that grouping. When you create the forum, you will set the grouping to "Forum Groups" so that the system knows to use that set of groups. When you create the presentation groups, you will also create a grouping called "Presentation groups" and associate those groups with that grouping. When you create the Assignment, you will set the grouping to "Presentation Groups" so that the system knows to use this set of groups. Please see our help guide on how to Create Groups and Groupings for more information.

  • I set a forum to groups, but one or more of my students can't post to the forum.

    There are a few possible explanations for why your student(s) can't post. First, the student(s) might not be in a group. Go to the Participants page (Course Dashboard > Participants) and scroll to the student. It should list the group(s) they are in under the Groups column. If they are not in a group, click the pencil next to "No groups" and select the desired group from the dropdown. Then click the Save icon on the right. If they are in a group, did you set the appropriate grouping in the forum settings? If not, do so. If you do have it set to the appropriate grouping, it might be that the groups are not associated with that grouping. For either, please see our help guide on how to Create Groups and Groupings.

    The other possible explanation is that you set your forum type to the Q&A Forum Type, but did not post any questions. When using a Q&A Forum Type you, the instructor, must post first. You are posting the "question." Students then come in and reply to your question with their "answer" (hence the name Q&A). Students cannot post questions, so if there are no questions posted, students are unable to post in the forum. Question posts are not brought over when importing or restoring course content, so they will need to be re-posted each term. You must post the question to each group for the students to be able to answer.

  • Can I set an assignment to groups? 

    Yes, you can create a group assignment using the Assignment activity. A group assignment means when one member of the group submits, the submission is applied to all group members. And when you grade, the grade and feedback is given to all group members.

    When you set up the Assignment, you will enable group submissions in the Group Submission Settings section. See the Group Submissions Settings section in our help guide on how to create an Assignment for more information.

    You will need to create the groups within your course before they begin submitting to the group Assignment. Please see our help guide on how to Create Groups and Groupings.

  • Can I use groups with a Turnitin assignment?

    Currently Turnitin Assignments do not work with groups. For group assignments you will need to use the Assignment activity.

  • How can I send an email to just one group?

    You can send group members a message from the Participants page. Go to the Course Dashboard and then click on Participants. Filter the list by group using the dropdown arrow in the search box on the left and choosing the desired group. Either check the boxes to the left of the names, or at the bottom click "Select all" to select everyone displayed. From the "With selected users" dropdown at the bottom, select Send a Message. Type your message in the popup text field and click Send message. The message will then be sent to those users (by default messages are forwarded to email). 

Check out our other FAQs: