[ARCHIVED] Assign a discussion to multiple groups?

[esicken]

I'm working with a faculty member who had students divided into two sides, with multiple groups per side, who then wants a group from each side to meet up and discuss (so Team A does a thing, then Team B does their thing, and then at the end they get together and do a thing). There seems to only be the option to assign one group to a discussion though. Are we missing something or is the instructor going to have to go in and make a Team AB for this to be possible?

Thanks!

[lmoreira · Accepted solution]

Hi  @esicken ‌,

Are all students in the same section and same group set? If so, you can just click on "Add" under the "Assign to" section of the assignment and add the second group. If you want to learn more about it, you can check out this guide: How do I assign an assignment to an individual student?‌

Hope this helps!

[esicken]

So they're all in the same section but the section is broken into 8 groups. This is a business class, so four groups are "Management" (Management A, Management B, Management C, Management D) and four are "Union" (Union A, Union B, Union C, and Union D).

Each group gets an individual discussion board where they can talk strategy but then Management A and Union A are supposed to meet up in a single discussion board to negotiate. My problem is that I can't find a way to assign just Management A and Union A to a discussion - only all of Management (but they get individual boards in their groups) OR all of Union. 

[lmoreira]

So you do have different group sets in your course. Sadly, yes, you'll need to create new groups to make that happen.

[esicken]

Thanks, Lucas! That's the feeling I got but I just wanted to double check!

[KathleenFuller]

I don't see this.

I have students divided into 3 different groups. I want each group to do the same discussions. Do I need to make the discussion 3 times and assign it to a different group each time?

[Chris_Hofer]

Hi @KathleenFuller ...

If I understand your question correctly, then the answer is no.  Here is what you can do:

(You may have already done this first part.)

1. In your "People" page, click on the "+ Group Set" button to create a new Group Set.  Let's call it the same name as your discussion topic.  How do I add a group set in a course? - Instructure Community
2. Click on the name of the Group Set tab that you just created in Step #1, and then create your three groups.  How do I manually create groups in a group set? - Instructure Community
3. Add your students to each of the groups within your Group Set.  How do I manually assign students to groups? - Instructure Community

For your discussion topic, when you are editing the topic details, make sure to select the check-box for "This is a Group Discussion".  From the drop-down list that says, "Select a group category", you will want to choose the Group Set name that you created via your "People" page.  How do I create a group discussion in a course? - Instructure Community (canvaslms.com)  (You do not need to click the "New Group Category" button.)  Once you "Save and Publish" this discussion topic, Canvas will know what to do to keep the people you've put into those three groups together.  Those three groups will only be able to see their own conversations.  They won't be able to see the conversations happening in the other two respective groups.  So, there is no need to create three separate discussion topics with the same information.  Canvas handles all of this for you using the Group Set tools.

Hope this helps a bit.  Let Community members know if you have any other questions about this...thanks!