Assign to a group (NOT group assignment)

[achin6]

I'd like to assign an Assignment to all member of a Canvas Group.  This is not a group assignment; I want each student to do it individually, however I only want certain students in my class to do it.  I thought I'd be able to do this by selecting a Group when I got to ``Assign to," but I apparently cannot; the groups just don't show up anywhere.

Is there really no way for me to assign an Assignment to members of a Group?  Do I always have to add students one-at-a-time?

[TrishaMeyer1 · Accepted solution]

Hi again @achin6 ,

So I did some experiments, and this method is not ideal because the students can see each others' submissions, which could be a FERPA or other violation.

In my opinion, Sections are for term-long groups and not for groups formed per assignment. And as you mentioned, some users do not even have the option to add Sections. 

Note to Canvas: We need to be able to assign to Groups that we have formed. Those Groups should appear in the Assign to section for all Assignments, not just those that are designated as Group Assignments. This option is an important tool for differentiation and other needs.

[Chris_Hofer]

@achin6 ...

There are a couple ways you could accomplish what you want...

• First, as you've suggested, you would have to remove "Everyone" from the "Assign to" field in the assignment details, and then you would type in the names of each of your students that you wanted to have access to this particular assignment.
• Another option for you might be to have those students in their own section (not in a group).  Then, once they are in their own section of the course, you would just specify the section in the "Assign to" field rather than having to type in all the names of the individual students.  Obviously, this would require a bit of additional setup on your end.  And, if you were not able to set up a section on your own as an instructor, you might be able to speak with your Canvas admin at your school to see if he/she might be able to assist you with this.

Do you think either of these options might work for your needs?

[achin6]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for the response and ideas.  I've just finished up manually typing in each student's name, and luckily there were only 16 students per group with 4 groups, so it didn't take too long.  But I'm looking for a better solution going forward, especially if I have a class of, say, 300.  Splitting students into particular sections sounds like a good idea, but doesn't seem to be an option if we're already in the midst of the term (and I'd really rather not have to contact Canvas admin every time I want to do this).  Honestly the sections option just seems like exactly I'd have thought the Canvas groups were supposed to do and I'm surprised I'm not able to use them that way..

[SusanNiemeyer]

One common source of confusion is the distinction of "sections" vs. "groups." In short, "sections" are used to differentiate students. "Groups" are like teams; they are meant for collaborative work. I would suggest looking into creating "sections." 

[achin6]

Thanks for this clarification!  Creating sections sounds like the ideal solution here, but unfortunately my university doesn't grant us the ability to create them..

[TrishaMeyer1]

Hi @achin6 ,

Yeah, this is a weird one. Making it a group assignment and selecting a Group Set causes those Groups to appear as options in the Assign to section. I tried unchecking the box after assigning to the Group, but Canvas would not let me Save. 

So try assigning it as a group assignment and check the box for Assign Grades to Each Student Individually. Then put a note in the instructions asking each student to submit a separate assignment.

Canvas will still create a Group environment for that set of students, but they should be able to submit their own work, I think.

[achin6]

Thanks for this, @TrishaMeyer1 !

Would students still be able to submit separate assignments online (e.g. each be able to turn in their own pdf/doc file)?

Unfortunately in this case I won't quite be able to do it since I'd like the submission to be through an external tool (Perusall; trying to do a jigsaw) and apparently Group Assignments are incompatible with external tool submissions..

[TrishaMeyer1 · Accepted solution]

Hi again @achin6 ,

So I did some experiments, and this method is not ideal because the students can see each others' submissions, which could be a FERPA or other violation.

In my opinion, Sections are for term-long groups and not for groups formed per assignment. And as you mentioned, some users do not even have the option to add Sections. 

Note to Canvas: We need to be able to assign to Groups that we have formed. Those Groups should appear in the Assign to section for all Assignments, not just those that are designated as Group Assignments. This option is an important tool for differentiation and other needs.

[TrishaMeyer1 · Accepted solution]

Hi @achin6 ,

I just added this idea to the Ideas & Themes, but I wouldn't expect movement on it anytime soon. We'll see.