how to create a group assignment in canvas

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?

Subscribe By Email

Get a weekly email of all new posts.

Your Email Leave this field blank

This form is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Simon Fraser University Engaging the World

Canvas support.

• A-Z directory

Creating a Group Assignment

Creating groups.

To create groups manually, go to:

How do I manually create groups in a group set?

To create groups automatically, go to:

How do I automatically create groups in a group set?

To import groups by csv, go to:

How do I import groups in a group set?

This documentation is also available via a How to Quickstart video: https://youtu.be/wUrDmD-t1-Y (Links to an external site.)

The first step is to create a group set. Group sets house the different groups within a course. When you create a group assignment or group discussion you would attach the group set to the group assignment to assign it to the groups within the group set.

1. Click People

2. Create a group set by clicking + Group Set

3. Name the Group Set

4. Choose whether you want to allow self sign up, have the groups automatically created or create groups manually. This example shows how to create groups manually.

5. Click Save

You can assign a student group leader to help manage a group within your course. You can assign group leaders automatically or manually. 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.

6. Click + Group to create a group. You will need to repeat this as many times as you need to create all the groups that you need.

7. Choose a group name.

8. Choose if you want to limit the number of students in a group.

9. Click Save

You will see the groups:

10. You can drag students into the groups or click the + sign to move the student into a group

11. Click the arrow beside the group name to see the students in the group

You need to have JavaScript enabled in order to access this site.

Canvas How-To: Groups

Section menu close, office of academic technology.

• Canvas Administration
• External LMS User Requests
• Canvas Basics
• ⚙ Ally & Accessibility
• ⚙ Analytics
• ⚙ Announcements
• ⚙ Assignments
• ⚙ Attendance
• ⚙ Closing Courses & Incompletes
• ⚙ Collaborations
• ⚙ Combine Courses
• ⚙ Discussions & Discussions Plus
• ⚙ Group Assignments
• ⚙ Inbox & Messaging
• ⚙ Journals, Blogs, & Wikis
• ⚙ Extra: Create Tabs on a Page
• ⚙ Panopto Recordings
• ⚙ People, Rosters, & Roles
• ⚙ Profile & User Settings
• ⚙ Quizzes & Accommodations
• ⚙ New Quizzes
• ⚙ SpeedGrader
• ⚙ Turnitin Assignments
• ⚙ Video-Based Assessments
• ⚙ VoiceThread Group Projects in Canvas
• ⚙ Zoom in Canvas
• Instructional Technology
• Online Course Design
• Training Opportunities
• OAT Updates & Tech Tips
• Copyright & the TEACH Act

Contact Information

Mary Stuart Rogers, MSR 380

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

Modal Title

University Center for Teaching and Learning

How to create assignments for your canvas course.

• Quick Start
• Instructor Help
• Student Help

How to Create Assignments

Using assignments in Canvas provides a streamlined process for assigning homework and creating quizzes for students.  Canvas considers an ‘assignment’ to be anything that is graded, whether that be a quiz or homework assignment, and whether it’s delivered entirely online, paper-and-pencil, or is a participatory assignment with no actual deliverable.

This Quick Start guide will cover the creation of assignments where the student submits a file electronically, on paper, using an external tool such as Turnitin or Panopto , or where no submission is expected (e.g. class participation). See How to Create Tests and Quizzes for Your Canvas Course and Create and Manage Discussions for more information about using those tools as assignments.

1. In the Course Navigation menu, click the Assignments link.

2. Click “ +Assignment ” at the top right.

3. Write the assignment title and directions for students.

4. Assign the number of points available for the assignment.

5. Choose an “ Assignment Group” . Assignment groups are, in essence, a category of assignment. For more information about using Assignment Groups, see the Canvas guides regarding Assignments.

6. There are four submission types :

• No Submission: an activity where nothing will be collected from students (e.g. a participation grade)
• For the full details about the online assignment subtypes, (text entry, annotation, file upload, etc.), please see the official documentation .
• We have a recorded mini-webinar on annotation assignments, including assignment ideas, available on the Training Webinars page.
• On Paper: assignments/quizzes/activities that were written on paper and collected by the instructor
• External Tool: assignments submitted through a 3rd party tool that is integrated with Canvas, such as a textbook publisher’s website or Turnitin

7. Submission Attempts: You may allow unlimited submission attempts for Online assignments, or restrict attempts to one or more. When a student submits to an assignment they have already submitted to, the previous submission is retained as well, and the instructor may view both.

8. Group Assignments and Peer Reviews:  Assignments can be created as either a group assignment or peer review assignment.

9. Assign options- You can assign an assignment to your entire class, a specific student, and/or a section of your class. You can also set the due date and the availability dates (when your students can submit their assignment). Each section can have different due dates and availability dates.

10. If you are finished creating the assignment, click on “ Save & Publish “. If you are not finished creating the assignment, click on “ Save ” and you may come back and work on it more later without students having access to it.

Instructor Help for Assignments

Creating assignments.

• How do I create an assignment?
• How do I add a moderated assignment to be graded by multiple reviewers?
• How do I create an online assignment?
• How do I add or edit details in an assignment?
• How do I add or edit points for an assignment?
• What assignment types can I create in a course?
• How do I limit submission attempts for an assignment?
• How do I add an assignment that includes anonymous grading?
• How do I enable anonymous instructor annotations in student submissions?
• How do I import SCORM files as an assignment?
• How do I publish or unpublish an assignment as an instructor?

Managing Assignments

• How do I use the Assignments Index Page?
• Can a student resubmit Canvas assignments?
• How do I assign an assignment to everyone in a course?
• How do I assign an assignment to a course group?
• How do I assign an assignment to a course section?
• How do I assign an assignment to an individual student?
• How do I view differentiated assignments with different due dates in a course?
• How do I bulk update due dates and availability dates as an instructor?
• How do I delete an assignment?
• How do I duplicate an assignment?
• How do I move or reorder an assignment?
• How do I use Direct Share to copy an assignment to another course?
• How do I use Direct Share to send an assignment to another instructor?

Creating and Managing Peer Review Assignments

• How do I create a peer review assignment?
• How do I use peer review assignments in a course?
• How do I automatically assign peer reviews for an assignment?
• How do I manually assign peer reviews for an assignment?
• How do I view student peer review comments as an instructor?

Creating External Tool Assignments

• How do I add an assignment using an external app?
• How do I create a cloud assignment with a Microsoft Office 365 file?

Using Assignment Groups

• How do I add an assignment group in a course?
• How do I create an assignment shell in an assignment group?
• How do I create rules for an assignment group?
• How do I move or reorder an assignment group?
• How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?

Grading Considerations

• How do I add a grading scheme to an assignment?
• How do I download all student submissions for an assignment?
• How do I upload all student submissions for an assignment?
• How do I exclude an assignment from the course’s final grades?
• How do I give extra credit in a course?

Student Help for Assignments

• How do I view Assignments as a student?
• How do I filter assignments by type as a student?
• How do I submit an online assignment?
• How do I submit a text entry assignment?
• How do I enter a URL as an assignment submission?
• How do I submit a media file as an assignment submission?
• How do I upload a file as an assignment submission in Canvas?
• How do I upload a file from Microsoft Office 365 as an assignment submission?
• How do I know when my assignment has been submitted?
• How do I manage celebration animations in Canvas as a student?
• How do I submit a cloud assignment with Microsoft Office 365?
• How do I download assignment submissions from all my courses?
• How do I annotate a file as an assignment submission in Canvas?
• How do I use DocViewer in Canvas assignments as a student?
• How do I submit a PDF assignment with annotations in the Student app on my Android device?
• How do I add annotations to a submission in the Student app on my iOS device?

Groups and Peer

• How do I submit an assignment on behalf of a group?
• How do I know if I have a peer review assignment to complete?
• How do I submit a peer review to an assignment?
• Where can I find my peers’ feedback for peer reviewed assignments?
• How do I view the rubric for my assignment?
• How do I view the rubric for my external tool assignment?
• How do I view rubric results for my assignment?
• How do I know when my instructor has graded my assignment?
• How do I view assignment comments from my instructor?
• How do I view annotation feedback comments from my instructor directly in my assignment submission?
• How do I view my Roll Call Attendance report as a student?
• Generative AI Resources for Faculty
• End-of-term Teaching Surveys
• 1-on-1 Teaching Consultations
• Canvas and Ed Tech Support
• Reporting a classroom problem
• Requesting equipment for your classroom
• Not sure what you need?
• Accessibility
• Center for Mentoring
• Creating and Using Video
• Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
• General Pedagogy
• Graduate Student/TA Resources
• Remote Learning
• Syllabus Checklist
• Student Communication and Engagement
• Technology and Equipment
• Classroom & Event Services
• Assessment of Teaching
• Classroom Technology
• Custom Workshops
• Open Lab Makerspace
• Pedagogy, Practice, & Assessment
• Need something else? Contact Us
• Educational Software Consulting
• Learning Communities
• Makerspaces and Emerging Technology
• Mentoring Support
• Online Programs
• Teaching Surveys
• Testing Services
• Classroom Recordings and Lecture Capture
• Creating DIY Introduction Videos
• Media Creation Lab
• Studio & On-Location Recordings
• Video Resources for Teaching
• Assessment and Teaching Conference
• Diversity Institute
• New Faculty Orientation
• New TA Orientation
• Teaching Center Newsletter
• Meet Our Team
• About the Executive Director
• Award Nomination Form
• Award Recipients
• About the Teaching Center
• Annual Report
• Join Our Team

Search Teaching Support and Innovation

Teaching support and innovation menu, teaching support and innovation.

• Request Services
• Individual Consultation
• Media Support
• Online Exam Center Proctoring
• Technology Assistance
• Unit-level Training, Facilitation and Support
• Graduate Employee Teaching Support
• Browse Resources
• Engage Community
• Upcoming Events
• Teaching Core Education
• Reading Groups
• Improve Curricula
• Annual Program Assessment
• Closing the Loop
• Program Learning Outcomes
• Core Education Assessment
• Core Education Assessment Plan
• Core Education Learning Outcomes
• Research & Assessment Projects
• TEP Staff Directory
• UO Online Staff Directory
• News & Events

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 . 

March 19: New Look for Duo Two-Step Authentication Prompt. More Info.  

New to OIT Service Center? Register for an account

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

• Download PDF

Copy to Clipboard

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

145 of 276 people found this page helpful

Send us a note about this article

Contact the OIT Service Center

Phone: 401-863-4357

Email: [email protected]

Location: Page Robinson Hall - 69 Brown St., Room 510

See our availability

https://it.brown.edu/get-help

Walk-ins Welcome! Appointments recommended.

For reserved service for a technical consult or a loaner check-out, you can schedule an appointment here .

Reporting an IT Outage?

Report an Outage

 Service Status & Alerts     Phishing Warnings

• Knowledgebase
• Canvas → Assignments

Canvas: How to create a group assignment

How do I assign an assignment to a course group?

Need more help?

Faculty learning opportunities, new articles.

• How to Change the Thumbnail Image on Canvas Studio Videos
• How to Do Webcam Video or Screen Recording in Canvas Studio
• Canvas: How to Import SCORM Files as Assignments or Pages
• How to use Sign Language View in Microsoft Teams 
• How to Solve Respondus LDB or Monitor Issues Reported by Students
• How to View All My Canvas Courses as An Instructor
• Tips for Turnitin Issues
• How to Change Assignment Dates for Incomplete Students

You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience.

E-Campus Faculty and Staff

How-to: create collaborative group assignments in canvas with google drive.

By:  Gracia Ostendorf     

Imagine this scenario...

Professor Morgan is teaching an English Studies course online this term in which his studies are required to complete a group project analyzing a piece of literature. Since the course is online, students won’t be meeting together in person. He needs to come up with a way for the students to easily collaborate and share their ideas (ideally in a way where he can see how individual students are contributing to the assignment too)!

As a Miami instructor, Professor Morgan and all of his students have access to a Google Drive account with their Miami email addresses. And fortunately, there’s a simple way to create space for collaborative work right within the course site by integrating these two tools.

Using Collaborations + Google Drive for group assignments and detailed feedback

With Canvas’s Collaborations tool, students and instructors can create Google Docs, Sheets, or Slides directly within their Canvas course site and share them with others in the course. Between students, this makes it easy to start a collaborative brainstorming document, report, presentation, or other type of group assignment.

Instructors can also take advantage of this feature to provide detailed feedback, comments, and suggestions directly on brainstorming documents, papers, and assignment files.

To start a Collaboration:

• Click on Collaborations in the left-hand navigation menu (if this isn’t visible to students, the instructor will need to update the navigation menu options in the course settings).
• If this is your first time using Google Drive in Canvas, authorize Google by following the prompt that appears.

• Select the type of Collaboration you’d like to start from the “Collaborate using:” dropdown: Google Docs (1) or Google Apps (2). Google Apps gives you the option of creating a Document, Spreadsheet, or Presentation.

• Give your collaboration a name and a description if desired. Add collaborators by selecting their name from the list that appears on the left, then click the “Start Collaborating” button.

Important information for students on using Collaborations:

Students can view a list of all of their Collaborations at any time from the Collaborations page. Students will also be able to see the documents, spreadsheets, and presentations created in Canvas Collaborations from within their own Google Drives as well.

Note that instructors will be able to view all Collaborations created in a course, regardless of whether the instructor was specifically added as a collaborator or not.

Need instructions to share with your students to explain how they can access and work with Collaborations in Canvas? Try these step by step guides:

• How do I view Collaborations as a student?
• How do I create a Google Drive collaboration as a student?

For more information on setting up Collaborations with Google Drive, take a look at these instructor-facing guides:

• How do I create a Google Drive collaboration as an instructor?
• How do I use the Collaborations Index Page?

You may also be interested in:

We've Got Your Back

If at any point you would like support or guidance while you are teaching a distance learning course, please connect with us!  We are here to help.

• Learning Environments

Using group assignments in Canvas

Group assignments can be a great way to foster student collaboration and develop a sense of community in online learning.

When creating group assignments in Canvas, the basic steps are:

• Create a Group Set your subject. This will allow you to determine the groups before you go ahead with creating the assignment itself. You can manually assign students to each group yourself using the  Bulk group membership tool or allow students to create their own groups.
• Create the group assignment. When creating an assignment you will have the option to tick 'This is a group assignment'. When you tick this box, you can then choose the Group set as per the previous step.
• Decide whether students will be graded as a group, or individually.  After checking the box 'This is a group assignment' you will also see a setting 'Assign Grades to Each Student Individually'. If you check this box, you will be able to allocate a different mark to each member of a group. If you leave the box unchecked, when you mark and give feedback for one of the students in the group, or annotate the paper, the mark and all feedback will automatically populate for the other students in the group.

Please note!

Ensure that you do not change the membership of groups *after* you have created the assignment. This will cause the assignment to revert to an *individual* assignment and cannot be reversed!

For more information on Groups, see our full index of guides.

For help and support, contact Learning Environments .

Support centre

Login to the lms.

Use Weighted Assignment Groups in Your Canvas Course

by Thomas Keith | Aug 26, 2022 | Canvas , Canvas Features/Functions , How-tos , Pedagogy

Introduction

• Create an Assignment Group

Weight Assignment Groups

Use weighted assignment groups to calculate the total grade, drop a low score from an assignment group, further resources and getting help.

It is good pedagogical practice to maintain a Canvas Gradebook that gives an accurate reflection of your students’ performance. Students frequently consult their grades in Canvas to get a sense of how they are doing in your course and of areas in which they need to improve. You can use weighted Assignment Groups in your Canvas course to help ensure that the grade calculated by Canvas is indicative of students’ actual performance.

Create An Assignment Group

An Assignment Group in Canvas is a means of sorting assignments according to the categories to which they belong in your syllabus. By default, new assignments created in your Canvas course will be added to a catch-all group called Assignments . (Note that “assignments” in this context refers to anything that is graded; this can be an Assignment proper, a Quiz, or a graded Discussion.)

You can create a new Assignment Group by going to the Assignments tab in your course and clicking the gray +Group button at the upper right.

It is a good idea to give your group a name that reflects the assessment categories on your syllabus. For example, if the group contains quizzes that are given each week of the quarter, you might call it Weekly Quizzes .

Once a group has been created, there are two ways to add assignments to it:

Assignment Groups are most useful when used to weight grades. With weighted Assignment Groups, you can make the organization of your assignments in Canvas match the organization used on your syllabus. You also have greater flexibility than is offered by weighting each individual assignment: if an assignment needs to be dropped or added, you can simply remove it from/add it to the appropriate assignment group, and Canvas will automatically recalculate the final grade accordingly.

For the remainder of this post, we will use as an example a course in which the grading is as follows:

• Five short quizzes: 20% of the final grade
• One midterm exam: 30% of the final grade
• One final exam: 40% of the final grade
• Attendance and participation: 10% of the final grade

To begin, the instructor creates four assignment groups, named Short Quizzes , Midterm , Final Exam , and Attendance and Participation .

She then clicks the column of three dots at the upper right and chooses Assignment Groups Weight .

She then checks the box next to Weight final grade based on assignment groups . This allows her to set the percentage weight for each assignment group.

Note that Canvas shows the instructor that the assignment groups add up to 100%. It is important to check this, as Canvas will not stop you if your groups add up to less than or greater than 100%.

Once the instructor has weighted her groups to her satisfaction, she clicks the maroon Save button. Canvas then indicates across from each assignment group’s name the percentage value of the total grade that it carries.

The instructor can now create her assignments and add them to the appropriate assignment groups by one of the two methods enumerated above.

An important caveat: If an assignment group contains more than one assignment, it is important that all assignments have the same point value for Canvas’ math to work out correctly. This avoids the risk of “double weighting,” which will occur if assignments within a group have different point values. For example: if a quiz worth 5 points and a quiz worth 50 points are placed in the same assignment group, the latter quiz will be worth ten times as much in Canvas’ calculations, which will greatly skew the result. In our example course, the instructor has avoided this risk by creating five quizzes within the Short Quizzes group, each of which is worth three points.

The Midterm and Final Exam groups each contain only one assignment. This can be an assignment of type Online Assignment if the instructor wishes her students to submit it through Canvas, or it can be an assignment of type On Paper if students will hand in a physical exam paper.

For the Attendance and Participation group, the instructor creates an assignment of type No Submission .

Remember that in Canvas, there is a one-to-one correspondence between assignments and columns in the Gradebook. Thus, if you wish to create a column for (e.g.) students’ attendance/participation grade, it is necessary to create a corresponding assignment. By making it of type No Submission , the instructor has ensured that students do not need to hand in any work, while still creating a Gradebook column where the grade is recorded.

Note also that if students need to submit work that will not be graded, such as an outline for an upcoming paper, you can create an assignment of submission type Online Assignment and check the box Do not count this assignment toward the final grade in the assignment options area.

Using weighted assignment groups allows Canvas to do your math for you. A column will appear in the Gradebook for each assignment group. The Total column will be calculated by multiplying the value of each column by its percentage weight and adding the results. In the case of the student below, the grade is calculated as follows:

Short Quizzes: 12 out of 15 possible points = 80 * 0.2 = 16

Midterm Exam: 90 out of 100 possible points = 90*0.3 = 27

Final Exam: 80 out of 100 possible points = 80*0.4 = 32

Attendance and Participation: 100 out of 100 possible points = 100*0.1 = 10

Total: 16+27+32+10 = 85

If you wish, you can set an assignment group to drop one or more low scores (or high scores) automatically. To do this, go to the group within the Assignments tab and click on the column of three dots across from its name to open a dialog box. Then enter the number of low or high scores you wish to drop and click Save .

You can also specify that an assignment should never be dropped by clicking the blue +Add an assignment link next to Never drop: and choosing its name from the drop-down that appears.

For more information, please see:

• How do I weight the final course grade based on assignment groups?
• How do I create rules for an assignment group?

If you have additional questions, Academic Technology Solutions is here to help. You can attend our workshops to learn more about Canvas and other tools for teaching with technology. You can also drop into our Office Hours (virtual and in-person) to ask any questions you may have; no appointment is required.

(Cover Photo by Piret Ilver on Unsplash )

Recent Posts

• Link to Library Resources in Canvas
• Create Positive Classroom Relationships with NameCoach
• Assess the Big Picture for Your Class Using Canvas Outcomes
• Schedule Page Publication in Canvas
• Support Your Pedagogy with Anonymous Canvas Discussions

Monthly Archives

• February 2023
• January 2023
• December 2022
• November 2022
• September 2022
• August 2022
• February 2022
• October 2021
• February 2021
• January 2021
• December 2020
• November 2020
• October 2020
• September 2020
• August 2020
• February 2020
• January 2020
• December 2019
• November 2019
• October 2019
• September 2019
• February 2019
• January 2019
• December 2018
• November 2018
• October 2018
• September 2018
• August 2018
• February 2018
• January 2018
• December 2017
• September 2017
• August 2016
• October 2014
• September 2014
• Canvas Features/Functions
• Symposium for Teaching with Technology
• Teach Smart with Technology
• Uncategorized

You're signed out

Sign in to ask questions, follow content, and engage with the Community

• Mastery Connect
• Mastery Connect: Trackers
• How do I create a Canvas assignment for my Mastery...
• Subscribe to RSS Feed
• Printer Friendly Page
• Report Inappropriate Content

How do I create a Canvas assignment for my Mastery Connect tracker?

in Mastery Connect: Trackers

Note: You can only embed guides in Canvas courses. Embedding on other sites is not supported.

Community Help

View our top guides and resources:.

To participate in the Instructurer Community, you need to sign up or log in: