Group Discussions

In Canvas, a Group is a subset of students in the class. A Group Set is a collection of Groups. Typically, a Group Set will include all students in a class, divided into multiple Groups. Each student can be in only one Group within a Group Set.

Group discussions allow you to create Canvas discussions where students are only able to interact with others in their group. This is useful when your course has more students than can easily interact on one discussion board or for group projects. You can keep the same groups for each discussion or change them throughout the term.

Steps to Creating Group Discussions

STEP 1 – Set up Group Set

First, you’ll need to set up your group set:

How do I add a group set in a course?

If you don’t want Canvas to randomly assign students to each group (as might be the case for group projects), make sure you assign students to each group: 

How do I manually create groups in a group set?

NOTE: Keep an eye out for "unassigned students" throughout the add/drop period to ensure all students are assigned to a group.

STEP 2 – Create the Group Discussions

Once you’ve created and populated your group set, you are now ready to set up the group discussion:

How do I create a group discussion in a course?