Groupwork is ideal for larger projects where collaboration, teamwork or problem-solving is a key component. When setting up group assignments, it is important to consider at the outset how individual group members’ contributions will be assessed, will everyone be allocated the same mark or will each person be given a mark appropriate to their contribution?
A Note on Accommodations and Group Assignments
If one of the group members has an accommodation then the rest of the group will inherit that accommodation, therefore the group member with the accommodation is not disadvantaged in any way. For example, if a group member has a due date accommodation, the group will not be penalised for submitting after the due date.
A Note on Exceptions and Group Assignments
You can give a group exception for a specific assignment or test. This will extend access to the assignment beyond the due date but multiple attempts are not allowed so it must be made clear to the group members that only one submission is possible.
Further information on accommodations and exceptions.
Creating a Group Assignment
Group assignments are created in the same way as individual assignments. We recommend that you create just one group assignment for all students not a separate assignment for each group. If each group is to be given a variation of the assignment, for example a different case study or topic to present, then this needs to be included in the assignment brief so that students are clear what their particular group need to do.
If you have the groups set up already then you can reuse these. Click on the Assign to Groups link in Assignment Settings and select the existing Group Set from the list. If you do not already have a Group Set created, you can create one at this point by selecting Custom, Randomly assign or Self-enrolment. Further information on creating groups.
Check that all students are assigned to a group or they won’t be able to see the assignment.
A Note on Deleting Groups
If you no longer need a group, open the group’s menu and select Delete group. The students in that group are unassigned automatically and appear at the top of the page. You can manually assign these students to new groups. Or, you can randomly assign all students—not only the students you unassigned—to the number of groups you choose.
However, you can’t delete a group with submitted work.
Ramifications
- If you add or delete a group in a group set that you used to create a group assignment, the assignment’s groups are updated. Edits to group titles and descriptions also affect the assignment.
- If you add or delete a group in a group assignment that’s based on a course group set, the course group set is updated. Edits to group titles and descriptions also affect the course group set.
- If you delete an entire group set used to create a group assignment, the assignment’s groups are removed.
- If you delete a group assessment based on a course group set, the group set is unaffected.