A lot of times, when we are trying to figure out how best to study, the idea of creating study groups gets thrown around. But, let’s be real, study groups are typically made up of one person who takes the lead and delegates tasks, one person who probably shows up in the last 10 minutes of the meeting and wonders why everyone is irritated with him or her and then the ones somewhere in the middle who probably mean well and want to help in varying degrees but end up adding to the distractions.
Still, studying with others is a great way to reinforce material and working with others can help keep you accountable. To maximize on the benefits and lower the chances of unsuccessful study sessions, consider these tips:
Choose group members effectively
Generally speaking, unless you are placed in a group by a professor, you will be able to choose who you study with. Make sure that when you’re selecting the group members, you have an idea of who you are asking to participate. You might consider picking people for your group who are as motivated and invested as you are in the topic, and people who have similar work ethic as you to limit possible points of frustration.
Have a plan
Go into study sessions with an idea of what needs to get done. Of course, it’s fine if you have some social time and joke around with your friends — because realistically, it’s going to happen when you’re with a group of people you like — but try to keep on track. If you are able to come out of the session feeling like you’ve accomplished what you set out to do, it will likely feel like a successful session that was also fun.
Know what you do and don’t know
Try to parse out what you are comfortable with and what you still need some time to learn. Once you know what you could spend more time learning, you can utilize your peers’ knowledge and see if they can explain the material in a different way than how you’ve been exposed to it. In the same vein, you might explain the information you understand differently to your peers who were not as comfortable with it. However, there is one caveat: Be sure that you are double-checking the information you and your group are sharing amongst one another is accurate and correct in the context of the course or assignment.
Break up the work
A lot of times, people gravitate toward group studying because working alone feels overwhelming due to the sheer amount of work that needs to be done. You might consider breaking up the work before actually meeting with your group.
For example, your group might consider dividing the chapters amongst the group members. Each student can then outline the chapter they were assigned and spend some time in the group meeting “teaching” the material to the others. According to Annie Murphy Paul for Time magazine, “the Protégé Effect” is the phenomenon of learning by teaching someone else. If you are able to teach your peers the information effectively and answer questions without struggle, you know that you have learned the information and fully encoded it.
Alternatively, you can schedule multiple group sessions planned to tackle the information bit-by-bit by having a few sessions planned in the weeks leading up to a test, quiz or assignment. This way the information doesn’t feel as overwhelming as it would in one sitting at the last minute.
Pick a good place to meet
The environment of the study group is just as important as having a solid study group itself. Meeting in a place that lends itself to conversation, allows you and your groupmates to hear one another and that has tools like white boards and computers is important. This allows you and your group to stay on task and, again, feel accomplished after your meeting.
Try to get everyone equally involved
Nothing is worse than feeling like a group member is skating by on your hard work, or that you are doing all the work by yourself. If everyone collaborates and works together, it will likely benefit everyone in learning the material.
