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Organize students into course sections

Overview​

Sections are smaller subdivisions of your course — useful for organizing large enrollments, assigning different teaching teams to different cohorts, or delivering section-specific content. Each section contains its own roster of students and can have dedicated instructors or teaching assistants.

Before you start​

  • You must be an owner or teaching team member with admin permissions.
  • Students must be enrolled in the course before assigning them to sections.

Create a section​

  1. Open your course.
  2. Select Roster from the course navigation.
  3. Look for Sections or Section Management; select Add Section or Create New Section.
  4. Enter a Section Name (e.g., "Section 01 – Monday", "Biology Lab A", "Afternoon Cohort").
  5. Optionally add a Description (internal use; not shown to students).
  6. Select Create or Save.

The new section is ready to receive students and teaching team assignments.

Assign students to sections​

Manual assignment​

  1. Open the Section you want to populate.
  2. Select Add Students or + Add Member.
  3. Search for or select students from your course roster.
  4. Confirm and select Add.

The student is now assigned to that section.

Bulk import​

Some courses support uploading a CSV file:

  1. In Sections, select Import or Upload CSV.
  2. Upload a file with columns: Student Email, Section Name.
  3. Review the assignments and select Import.

Students are matched and assigned to their sections.

Move a student between sections​

  1. Open the Roster or Section view.
  2. Locate the student.
  3. Select Change Section or Move to Section.
  4. Select the new section.
  5. Confirm.

The student is now in the new section.

Assign teaching team members to sections​

Each section can have dedicated instructors, teaching assistants, or support staff:

  1. Open the Section.
  2. Select Add Teaching Team Member or Assign Instructor.
  3. Search for a user or invite a new teaching team member.
  4. Select their Role (Instructor, Teaching Assistant, etc.).
  5. Select Add or Confirm.

That person now has teaching team access to this section (and can see only this section's roster by default).

Manage sections​

Edit section details​

  1. Open the Section.
  2. Select Edit or Settings.
  3. Update the Name or Description.
  4. Select Save.

Change the section order​

Some interfaces let you reorder sections for display:

  1. Go to Sections overview.
  2. Drag sections to reorder, or use up/down arrows.
  3. Select Save or confirm the order.

Delete a section​

  1. Open the Section you want to delete.
  2. Select Delete or Remove Section.
  3. Confirm. (Students remain enrolled in the course; they are simply removed from that section.)
caution

Deleting a section does not unenroll students. They stay in the course but are no longer associated with that section.

Using sections in course content​

Once sections exist, you can:

  • Create section-specific announcements — post a message visible only to a section
  • Restrict assignment access by section — release an assignment to one section later than another
  • View section-specific gradebooks — a section instructor sees only their section's students
  • Organize syllabus content by section — link pages to specific sections

See related docs below for section-specific content examples.

Typical workflows​

Large course with multiple meeting times​

  1. Create sections: "Monday 10am", "Wednesday 2pm", "Friday 1pm".
  2. Assign students to their meeting sections.
  3. Assign TAs to each section.
  4. Create section-specific announcements and handouts.
  5. Each TA can view and grade only their section's work.

Multi-instructor course with content ownership​

  1. Create sections for different instructors: "Dr. Smith's Topics", "Dr. Jones's Topics".
  2. Assign each instructor to their section (or both sections, as needed).
  3. Create section-locked assignments so content rolls out on the instructor's schedule.
  4. Use section-level announcements for instructor-specific guidance.

Cohort-based professional development​

  1. Create sections for each cohort: "Cohort A (Jan–Mar)", "Cohort B (Apr–Jun)".
  2. Assign participants to their cohort section.
  3. Stagger content release per section so each cohort progresses independently.
  4. Track completion and grades per cohort.

Troubleshooting​

SituationWhat to try
Sections not visibleConfirm you have course admin/owner permissions. Sections may be a course setting that needs to be enabled.
Can't add student to sectionConfirm the student is enrolled in the course with a student role.
Teaching assistant can see all students, not just their sectionCheck the TA's role permissions; some roles have view-all rights. Update their role if needed.
CSV import didn't workVerify the file has "Email" and "Section Name" columns, and section names match exactly.
Student appears in multiple sectionsA student should belong to one primary section. Check for duplicate assignments and remove.
Can't delete a sectionIf assignments are locked to the section, delete or reassign those assignments first.
Section-specific announcement isn't showingConfirm students are assigned to that section. Check the announcement's visibility settings.