Blackboard course groups

Blackboards Group page and video

This link is to the Groups page for students. This is a great resource to provide to your students if you are using groups. 

Create course groups

Go to the Groups page and select New Group Set.

You can create as many course groups as you want, with any number of students in each group. You can also create new course groups or remove course groups.

From the Group students menu, you can divide your students among groups in these ways:

  • Manual Assign
  • Automatic Assign
  • Self-enrollment

You can also select the plus sign below the graphic to create as many groups as you need and add students.

Create custom groups

You can create one or many custom groups, with any number of students in each group.

  1. In the Group students menu, select Custom and enter a name at the top of the page.
  2. Select each student's name one after the other to select them as a group. Select a student's name again to remove the selection.
  3. After you select the students, open the menu next to one of their names and select Create a new group. You can also move multiple students to a group listed in the menu.
  4. Edit the group name if you want to change the default naming by selecting the pencil icon next to the group's name.
  5. Provide an optional group description that will appear to that group's members. You have no limit on the number of characters. 

Create randomly assigned groups

Students are randomly assigned to the number of groups you choose. This option assigns students quickly and without preparation. You need at least four students so the system can randomly assign two students to at least two groups.

  1. In the Group students menu, select Randomly assign and enter a name at the top of the page.
  2. In the Number of groups menu, select how many groups to create. You need to create at least two. Students are equally assigned to the number of groups you choose.
  3. To remove all students from the current group set, select Unassign all by hovering over the person icon at the top of the page. The menu option changes to Custom if you move students to different groups after they're grouped and before you save.
  4. Edit each group name if you want to change the default naming.
  5. Provide an optional group description that will appear to that group's members. You have no limit on the number of characters.

Select the plus sign wherever you want to create a group in addition to the groups the system created. When you add or delete groups, the menu option changes to Custom and any affected students aren't redistributed.

Group Discussion

Assigning groups to a discussion board allows the group to have a communication place within Blackboard. You'll want to create a new discussion and mark it not graded. Then in the discussion settings, select groups and the group set you created. 

View a group discussion

Select a group discussion title on the Course Content or Discussions page. To access each group's discussion, select a group name from the menu.

Grading Group Assignments

 You can assign the same grade to the whole group or grade each team member's contribution separately if everyone didn't contribute equally. You can't change grade settings or group membership after you've started grading.

  1. From the Submissions page, select a group name to start grading.
  2. Select the feedback button to open the feedback panel. You can scroll through the assignment and provide a grade. Add overall feedback for the group on the Group tab. Select the Individual tab and add feedback for each student within the group.

Assign a different grade to group members

By default, all group members receive the same grade for a group assignment. However, you can change individual group members' grades if you feel their contributions earned grades different from the group.

To assign a different grade to an individual member, expand the group list and enter a value in that member's Grade column. The overall group's grade is shown as In Progress and the Post option doesn't appear because some students don't have grades for the assignment.

After you assign a grade to the overall group, you can edit a group member's individual grade. Expand the list of group members and change an individual grade as needed. The overall group's grade appears as Multiple. The individual member's grade is labeled as Override.

Print Article