Using Student Groups

Introduction

Large-enrollment classes can pose logistical challenges for managing the large number of students.

On this page, you will find solutions to address these questions:

      1. How can I create a sense of community and belonging in my large-enrollment class?
      2. How can I use groups or teams to differentiate instruction/assessment in my course?
      3. How can I set up groups quickly and efficiently?

 

How can I create a sense of community and belonging in my large-enrollment class?

Student groups can be used help establish a sense of community and belonging within a large-enrollment class. Once a group set is created, students can remain with those groups throughout the semester to foster a sense of community, thus promoting interaction and engagement.

To learn more about creating and managing student groups visit the Canvas Learning Path.

 

How can I use groups or teams to differentiate instruction/assessment in my course?

You may have a variety of situations in which student groupings are useful including class logistics, assignments, collaboration, and differentiation. There are two ways to create those types of groupings in your course, each with different advantages:

Groups

Groups are a core Canvas feature. Creating student groups enables collaborative spaces within your course where groups of students can discuss topics, submit assignments, hold conferences, etc. Creating groups also allows you to assign and grade group discussions and assignments.

To learn more about creating and grading group assignments visit the Canvas Learning Path.

Teams

Teams are a feature developed for Penn State's instance of Canvas. Teams do not enable collaboration between students, but creating teams allows you, the instructor, to group students for the purpose of differentiating assignments, quizzes, or discussions. Students in a team will still submit their assignments, quizzes, etc. individually, and you will still grade them individually, but you can more easily assign different types of projects or provide different instructions/requirements to the students in a given team.

To learn more about using student teams in a Canvas course read the following article:

 

How can I set up groups quickly and efficiently?

In a large-enrollment class, it is time consuming to manually create and populate student groups, but there are automatic features within Canvas to streamline this process.

Learn how to automatically create student groups in your course:

Learn how to randomly and automatically assign students to groups or allow students to self-enroll in groups (to avoid needing to manually assign students to groups):