Teams has introduced a new group assignments feature, allowing students to work together and submit one assignment for the whole group. Teachers can then provide feedback and grades to either each individual student within that group or give out an overall grade for the group.
Below is a walk-through of how you can:
- Create a group assignment.
- Manually and randomly assign groups for assignments.
- Complete a group assignment (as a student).
- Grade a group assignment.
Create a group assignment.
In Assignments, select Create and then Assignment.
As with any new assignment in Teams, you can enter a title, instructions, attach any documents the students require, add points and rubrics and set due dates.
To assign the assignment to a group, go to the Assign to section and this will be currently set to the default All students. Select Group of students from the drop-down menu.
You have two options – to manually or randomly assign groups for your assignment.
Manually assign groups for assignments.
Select Manually group students from the pop-up window and then click Create groups.
This allows you to filter and manually add specific students to a group.
You can also add a group name for this group of students.
Once you’re happy with your first group, click Create.
You can then choose to add another manual group or randomly assign other groups.
Tip: There is a countdown of how many students are left to be assigned to a group at the top of the group list.
Randomly assign groups for assignments.
Select Randomly assign groups from the pop-up window.
Enter the number of groups you need and select Create groups.
You can then go in and add/remove students from groups and change the group names if necessary.
Editing and deleting assignment groups in Teams.
If you haven’t already set the assignment, you can edit and delete groups by selecting the pencil icon next to the group you wish to edit.
From here, you can add or remove members and change the group name. You can also delete the group.
Want to start over? You can recreate groups by selecting Recreate groups at the bottom of your list of groups.
Assigning a group assignment in Teams.
Once you’re happy with your groups, click Done to head back to the main Assignments page and select Assign.
Note: Currently, there is no option to edit groups after an assignment is set. You would need to delete the assignment and reassign all the groups.
Completing and submitting a group assignment as a student.
The group project is visible in the students’ general channel – they should receive a notification.
Also, if the student clicks on Assignments, they are able to view the group assessment, see who else is in their group, and open/co-author the document with their classmates.
Once the group work is complete, one of them can turn in the work on behalf of the whole group by selecting Turn in for group.
Note: If they have forgotten to add something, students can undo the turn in and add further information, attachments and work.
Reviewing a group assessment.
Teachers can see which groups have handed in the assignment by viewing the assignment in the Assignments tab in Teams.
You can choose to give the group an overall grade or grade students individually by selecting the three dots next to the selected group.
From here, you can add feedback and give points as you would any other assignment.
Click Return to return the work back to students for them to view your feedback or make amends.
Head to the Grades tab to look at a class overview of who has handed in their group assignments.
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