Best Practice for Grading Group Assignments

kbink
Community Contributor

Hi there,

So I've read through How do I grade group assignments in SpeedGrader?, but it doesn't really lay out the steps needed to grade a group assignment and then change individual grades, without having to look up multiple help documents.  I like to gather things into one doc for each task an instructor would do.  I don't have as many images, but I'm wondering if this is the fastest way to actually get group grading done and still adjust individual scores?

Grading Group Assignments

Groups assignments are those that one person turns in for the group.  Grades are typically assigned to the entire group, but then scores are changed for absences or poor participation.

  1. Group assignments must be set up correctly, requiring your course to have a group set with groups and the Group Assignment box Checked and the “Assign Grades to Each Student Individually” should be unchecked.  Think of the box unchecked as Group grading mode.
  2. Make sure every student is in a group.  If you have individuals working alone, just create a group of one for each of those students. 
  3. Grading group work
    1. For offline submissions: Click on grades and enter a score for one member in the group.  It will be copied to the other group members.
    2. For Files submitted on Canvas: Click on the assignment, and click on Speedgrader.
      1. Score the submitted assignments changing between groups with the arrows by the group name (where students names show for individual assignments)
      2. NOTE: Students not in a group will also appear in the group list.
      3. Submit the scores as you complete them.
  4. Click on the assignment and Edit the settings.
  5. Check the box for “Assign Grades to Each Student Individually” and Save.  Think of the box checked as individual grading mode.
  6. Click on Grades in the Course Menu.
  7. Adjust the scores for individuals in the group.

NOTE: You can toggle the box for “Assign Grades to Each Student Individually” and the individually assigned scores will be retained, even if you go back to group grading.  However if you change a group score while grading groups where one person had an individual score, then that individual score will be overwritten. You would need to return to assigning grades to each student individually to re-enter that individual score.