Manage Groups in Brightspace

Introduction

Once groups have been created, you may need to manage group memberships, add or remove groups, adjust settings, and grade group activities. This section will walk you through these key tasks:

Managing Group Enrollments
Adding Groups
Deleting Groups
Adjusting Group Settings
Grading Group Activities

Managing Group Enrollments

To manage group enrollments, whether adding or moving students between groups, follow the steps below:

On the course navigation bar, click ‘Tools’ and select ‘Groups’ from the dropdown menu.

On the Manage Groups page, select the group that you’d like to enroll users. On the next page, click Enroll Users.

On the following page, select the students you’d like to enroll in this group by checking the checkbox after their names.

If you’d like to unenroll students from this group, you can do it by unchecking the checkbox after their names.

After finishing selecting, click Save to proceed.

Adding Groups

Sometimes you may need to add groups within a course. Here’s how:

Go to the Groups tool. From the dropdown menu on the top, choose the group category where you want to add groups.

Click into any group under the selected category. On the next page, click Enroll Users.

On the next page, click Add Groups.

On the following page, fill in the information that you’d like to give to the new group. Click Save to proceed.

Deleting Groups

If you wish to remove groups, follow the steps below:

Go to the Groups tool. From the dropdown menu on the top, choose the group category where you want to remove groups.
Click the checkbox next to the group(s) you wish to remove. Then click Delete.

A pop-up window with confirmation information will show up. Click Delete Groups to proceed.

Adjusting Group Settings

If you need to change settings for your groups, such as changing the group creation type or adjusting restrictions, you can do so by editing the group category:

Go to the Groups tool. From the dropdown menu on the top, choose the group category where you want to make adjustments.
Click the dropdown arrow next to the group category name and select Edit Category.

From here, you can change the group creation method (e.g., automatic vs. manual enrollment), adjust group size, and set restrictions. Be sure to click Save to apply any updates to the group settings.

Grading Group Activities

Once you have created a group assignment and linked it to a grade item, you can assign the same grade to all group members using the Assignments tool. If you need to assign different grades to individual group members, you can do so in the Grades tool.

Assess using the Assignments tool (to assign all group members the same grade):

Steps:

From the course navigation bar, select ‘Activities’ > ‘Assignments’ from the dropdown menu.
Click on the title of the group assignment that you’d like to grade.
On the next page, you will see the group assignments that have been handed in, as well as who handed in what. Click “Go to Evaluation” to proceed.

Please note: After you publish your feedback, all group members will receive the same grade and feedback, which can be found in their grade book or Assignments.

Assess using Grades tool (to assign different grades to each group member):

Please note: This way of grading can lead to confusion for students when you want to assess individual group members differently. While you can assign individual grades in the Grades tool, these changes won’t be reflected in the Assignments tool.

For example, if you initially assign a grade of 7 to the entire group in Assignments and then adjust student A’s grade to a 5 in Grades, student A will see both the 5 and the 7.

To avoid confusion, inform your students that they should check their individual grades in the Grades tool for the most accurate assessment. You can use the Assignments tool to provide written feedback, but assign individual grades through the Grades tool.