[ARCHIVED] Canvas groups for multiple assignments

[kaitlyn_reinan]

I have a small lab assignment that students complete during every class period, and they are allowed to work in groups. As far as creating groups for submission, I see two options:

1. Since students generally work with the same people every time, create one group that students sign up for once, and each lab assignment is linked to that assignment group. The downside of this approach is that sometimes students are absent and don't work on the assignment, but they still get the grade for what was submitted by their other group members.

2. Create a different assignment group for each individual assignment. This is annoying because students have to sign up every time, and because there are so many groups they load really slowly on the groups tab. It also means that discussions or files they store in their group don't persist between class periods.

Is there a better 3rd option I don't know about?

[creisch]

Well, I'm not sure my suggestion could really be considered a third option, but rather a variation on your first option.

What I do is keep students in the same groups all semester, but within the various group assignments, I select "Assign Grades to Each Student Individually" under "This is a Group Assignment". The downside is that grading will take longer, but you wouldn't be giving points to a student who didn't participate. 

I'm not sure if you can assign a group grade and then single out one student and give them a different grade. If so, that would probably be your best option. Maybe someone will come along who can let us know if that's possible.