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Instructor Help Articles

Use the dropdowns below to review common Breakout Learning instructor workflows, including assignments setup, groups, and results

How do I create a Breakout Learning Canvas assignment?
1. Navigate to Canvas Assignments
  • Open the Assignments page in your Canvas course.
  • Click + Assignment.
2. Select External Tool
  • Under Submission Type, select External Tool.
  • Click Find.
  • Select Breakout Learning.
  • If you do not see Breakout Learning listed, email your LMS administrator and integrations@breakoutlearning.com for assistance.
3. Select a Breakout Experience
  • The Breakout Learning catalog will open within Canvas.
  • Browse and select the experience you want to assign.
  • Click Add to Canvas.
  • Select Add to Class.
4. Save the External Tool
  • Click Select to save Breakout Learning as the External Tool.
5. Configure Assignment Settings
  • Configure your Canvas assignment settings, including points and assignment dates.
  • Either a Due Date or Available Until date must be set in Canvas.
  • For graded assignments, make sure the assignment has a point value greater than 0 for grades to appear in the Canvas Gradebook.
6. Publish the Assignment
 
7. Click Into the Breakout Assignment
  • Open the published Breakout Learning assignment.
  • Follow the Breakout setup screens.
  • Enter the section dates if prompted.
  • Complete the Section Billing Details, including your Section Pass information and whether Participants Pay or Institution Pays.
 
Creating or Editing Student Groups

1. Access the Groups Tab

  • Open the Canvas assignment.
  • You’ll land on the Summary tab by default.
  • Navigate to the Groups tab.

2. Review Group Status

  • If any students are unassigned, a warning will appear at the top.
  • Options available:
    • Allow students to self-select groups.
    • Randomly assign all unassigned students.

3. Manage Groups and Students

  • Unassigned students are listed separately at the top.
  • Existing groups are displayed alphabetically.
  • You can:
    • Add new groups
    • Search by group or student name
    • Filter groups by status

4. Create New Groups

  • Enter the number of groups you wish to create.
  • Optionally, schedule groups for a specific time.
  • After creation, you can:
    • Rename groups individually
    • Adjust group schedules

5. Assign Students to Groups

  • Use the drop-down menu next to each unassigned student’s name to select a group.
  • Option to randomly assign students to groups.
  • You may choose to fill existing groups first before new ones are created.

6. Edit Existing Groups

  • Each group shows:
    • Current members (left panel)
    • Unassigned students (right panel by default)
  • You can:
    • Add or remove students between the two lists
    • Toggle the right panel to show all students instead of only unassigned
    • Edit the group name
    • Schedule or adjust the group meeting time

7. Use Bulk Options

  • From the Groups tab drop-down menu, you can:
    • Edit grouping sections for the assignment
    • Schedule all groups at once (note: this does not affect groups that have already started or finished).

To assign the same grouping to all assignments, go to the Module Grouping page. Once all participants have been grouped, a yellow confirmation bar will appear indicating that these same groups will automatically be applied to future assignments.

8. Review Results

  • After group sessions are complete, open the Gradebook tab to view results.
  • For more details on session results and related features, refer to the additional help links provided.
How Can I Import Groups via CSV?

Important Note: The Import Groups (CSV) option will appear if: No group has started the assignment yet. Once any group begins the session, this option will no longer be available. Participants must already exist in the class to be assigned. If a participant is not found, they will be skipped. You can re-upload a CSV to update groups (if no group has already started the assignment).

Supported CSV Formats:

Option 1: Canvas Export

  • Download directly from Canvas
  • Instructions are provided in the modal

Option 2: Custom CSV

You can also upload a simple CSV with:

  • group_name
  • email

Each row should map a student to a group.

Step 1: Navigate to Your Canvas Course

  • Open your desired Breakout assignment
  • Click on the groups tab
  • Open the menu (⋯)
  • Click Import Groups (CSV)

Step 2: Upload your CSV File

  • You can drag and drop or click to browse

Step 3: Review Detected Groups

Step 4: Click Import Groups

Step 5: After Upload

  • Groups are created based on group name
  • Participants are assigned based on email match
  • You’ll see a summary including:
    • Groups created
    • Participants assigned
    • Any skipped participants (email not found)

To assign the same grouping to all assignments, go to the Module Grouping page. Once all participants have been grouped, a yellow confirmation bar will appear indicating that these same groups will automatically be applied to future assignments.

Troubleshooting Tips

  • Make sure emails in the CSV match Participant emails exactly
  • Ensure no groups have started the assignment already
  • Use the provided Canvas guide for correct export format
Viewing Student Session Results

1. Open the summary tab within the Breakout assignment

  • Select the Summary tab to view an overview.
    • See selected student questions posed at the end of their session.
    • Review a chart of overall rubric outcomes across all groups.
    • Examine a breakdown of class performance for each rubric.

2. Explore detailed results in the results tab

  • Open the Results tab to access two sections:
    • Questions tab: browse the full list of student-submitted questions.
    • Rubrics tab: view performance by individual student or by group using the toggle in the top right.
  • Use the search function to find specific students.
  • Apply filters to refine by performance levels.

3. Review the gradebook tab

  • Select the Gradebook tab to see individual performance across four categories:
    • Quiz score
    • Completion
    • Attendance
    • AI-powered contribution score
  • Access full student result summaries, identical to what each student sees post-discussion.

4. Export results to CSV

  • Download a CSV file of student results for external use in spreadsheet software.

5. Share results with TAs

  • Provide teaching assistants with access to student results if needed.
  • TAs on the Canvas course will be able to access Breakout assignments.
How do I introduce Breakout to Students?

 

1. Participants are automatically added to Breakout based on the Canvas course roster and will access all Breakout assignments directly through Canvas.

2. Participants will see Breakout assignments on their Canvas Assignments page. Once an assignment becomes available, they can open it and join a group.

3. Once they are in a group, they will complete the Pre-Work and, when they're ready, start the Pre-Session Quiz. (If your assignment does not have a Pre-Session Quiz, skip ahead to step 6.)

4. Each Pre-Session Quiz takes about ten minutes or less to complete.

5. Breakout shows students your grading criteria (if applicable) before their quiz begins.

6. After they take the quiz, they will click Exit to Portal to join the session

7. They will click Start Session

8. They can check their audio/video before they join the session. When they're ready, they will click Join Session

Instructor FAQs

Do students need to complete pre-work before the discussion?

Yes, students need to complete their pre-work before the discussion. Starting or joining a session is not enabled until a participant has completed the required pre-work. That content is available to participants in a Pre-work PDF, or in an audio podcast form.

Can I run the student session during class time?

While Breakout is designed to be done outside of class, some instructors elect to run a session during class. Here are a few tips to give your students the best experience:

  1. Students should sign in and complete the experience using their own individual computers with headphones.
  2. If possible, send each group to separate meeting rooms to limit background interference.
  3. To ensure good audio capture for the AI analysis, encourage students to mute their microphones when not speaking, and sit somewhat apart from one another if possible.

Another option is to have each student individually work through their Breakout experience using headphones with Sophia, our AI-learning companion.

When should I set the assignment deadline for my students?

Most instructors set the assignment deadline at least one day prior to the debrief date, so they have time to review the session results and plan their debriefs accordingly. You’ll be asked to choose both a date and time for the deadline.

Ultimately, the amount of time needed between the assignment deadline and the following debrief is up to your preference!

What is Breakout Learning?

Breakout Learning is an interactive oral assessment platform. Students respond out loud to prompts, in small groups or on their own, and Breakout's AI transcribes and evaluates the discussion. Each student receives their own assessment and feedback, and instructors get metrics on the class. The standard experience evaluates three dimensions: reasoned positioning and evidence, peer engagement, and critical thinking.

Small-group discussion produces the best learning outcomes, but it has traditionally been hard to run and grade at scale. Breakout makes it scalable, so instructors get prepared, engaged students and authentic assessment that reflects what a student actually knows, in a format AI cannot fake. Students also build the essential workforce skills that come from real discussion, like communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity.

Breakout Learning is a U.S. company headquartered in Dallas, Texas.

How will students know when to end their discussions?

Breakout Learning discussions are usually scaffolded in a manner that requests participants to complete numerable tasks. However, participants are welcome to spend as much time as they'd like in their discussions, provided a total experience does not exceed 90 minutes.

A group leader can also end a slide early by hovering over the time bar and clicking "Next Slide."