How to prepare for study groups
Author: Kailtyn Labenberg 3 min 28 secs
With COVID being a significant concern as students are learning this year, many ways of group studying have become limited or have entirely vanished from routine. Although inconvenient and hard to schedule under these new conditions, it still has many benefits. Group studying allows you to ask questions about the material to people who understand the subject. It also provides a way for you to delve deeper into your understanding of the subject and build confidence in lessons. Effective group studying allows students to test their understanding with peers and determine if they understand the subject well enough to take an exam over it
Starting the Unit
In order to have a successful group studying session, you must first get to know the material well. When starting a new topic, there are three important things to focus on.
(1) Pay attention in class. When the professor is talking, they tend to add more information to the notes they provide. Some of this information may be key to understanding the lessons or grant insight into sections on the exam.
(2) Utilize the margins. As previously mentioned, professors tend to provide helpful hints throughout lessons. When they do so, you should use the margins to write down what the professor emphasizes or outright explains will be on the exam. Along with this, helpful notes such as things that confused you or questions you had are great things to write in the margins in order to remember to review these specific sections.
(3) Study diligently and often. When you first start a new topic, take the notes you made from class and review them for 5-10 minutes that night. Review notes from the first lesson up until the latest one every night focusing first on the things you didn’t understand from the previous lessons and then working through newer material.
Preparing for study groups
Now that you have gotten to know the material, you still need to do some things to set your study group up for success. As a group, you must decide on an appropriate meeting place. Whether in person or online, this is important to keeping the group on track. If you go somewhere in person, make sure the space is quiet and will not cause disruptions to you and your group. A library, an outside space, a coffee shop, or a host’s house would be great options so long as they’re quiet and will provide a distraction free area to study in. If you are studying through an online meeting, remember to have a clean space where you can focus and won’t get distracted by noises and people around you. Turn off background music, stay out of the busier areas of your home if possible, and be willing to unmute and share your ideas with the group. Before showing up to your study group, make sure you have done the reading, gone over your notes, and are prepared to be quizzed over the information you have covered.
During Study Groups
As your study group begins, set some ground rules to stay on track. If you know that your group tends to get off topic easily and there is more talking than studying, set breaks before moving into the actual studying. Plan your breaks so that you and your group mates can keep each other accountable for staying on topic. If you are going to study for an hour, plan a 15 minute break towards the middle of the study session. A good rule of thumb: 45 minutes should be dedicated to studying and 15 minutes should be dedicated to a break for every hour.
Group studying should be focused on quizzing each other, reviewing information, correcting misconceptions, and building up confidence in the material you’ve covered. Bring notes and other necessary materials to the session such as textbooks, worksheets, and review papers. The notes you made in the margins will be helpful here, too. During the session, you can bring up topics the professor mentioned, things you are confused about, and review questions that were listed alongside the notes.
After Study Groups
- After studying with your group, don’t forget to spend some time summarizing the important
points that were made during the session. If your group had any disagreements
or confusion with answers to questions that could not be resolved, write
them down and bring them up in class. - Continue to review information that you covered and the notes you took from the study group.
- Incorporate these notes
into your regular studying habits in order to be best prepared for any
upcoming exams.
Conclusion
In order to have a successful study group, you must be prepared before,
during, and after. Preparation before should include, paying attention in
class, utilizing the margins, and studying effectively. Setting an appropriate
meeting place and planning breaks beforehand can keep the group from getting
distracted. During a study group session, focus quizzing each other and use the
other strategies mentioned in order to get the full effect of this studying
technique. Incorporating these study techniques and sessions with your study
group will set you up for future success with understanding any material and
topics you cover and prepare you for exams.