Team Work in Study Groups Helps Ease the Load
As the semester wears on and the homework load increases, thoughts of finding more effective study skills and approaches are undoubtedly entering your minds. Why not try out a study group?
A study group is essentially a group of students who meet on a somewhat consistent basis to study together and offer one another advice and suggestions (but not copying!) relating to assigned homework.
But are study groups for you? I can’t answer that question, but what I can do is share with you my experience with study groups during the six years I have been at university so far.
Advantages:
- Great place to ask for help with those concepts you find hard to understand.
- Good opportunity to receive advice on that homework problem with which you’ve been struggling.
- Can result in significant time savings given that you can ask for help instead of staring at a particular problem for a long time.
- Other people often have different ways of approaching a particular concept or problem, which in turn can enhance your own understanding.
- Discussing general study strategies with others can provide you with tips to enhance your own.
- Strengthens your team work skills, a skill in high demand from any employer. .
Disadvantages:
- Can easily transform into a chat group unless there is a general sense of dedication among the participants to the task at hand.
- A few people may join a study group as a substitute for independent learning. “Leeching” of this sort doesn’t help anyone out!
- One may come to rely too much on the advice of others – remember that no one is available to help you write the exams!
- May lead to the temptation to join in should some decide to finish an assignment by copying someone else’s solutions.
What to look for:
- A group of serious minded students dedicated to learning and appropriately helping one another out.
- People with whom you can get along and work comfortably.
- A group that isn’t too large. From my experience, a large group has a stronger tendency than a small one to drift into general chat mode.
- People willing to meet relatively consistently throughout the semester, not just the night before the exam.
- People willing to do their share of the work on their own and come to the study group able to positively contribute and thoughtfully listen to and constructively critique the perspectives brought forward by others.
How to make the most of your study group:
- Do your share of independent work and studying before arriving at the study group meeting so that you have something to contribute.
- Plan to meet regularly throughout the semester to discuss and help one another digest the concepts taught in the classroom.
- Have a plan of action for each study group meeting so that everyone knows what to expect and prepare for.
Peter is a grad student at the University of Saskatchewan in sunny Saskatoon, Canada. Copyright 2003 iamnext.com May not be used without permission.