When it comes to study, extra help can be very effective. It’s as though you could clone yourself and divide the work. A good study group is even better than a clone because you can use each individual’s best set of skills!
Studying with other people helps you personalize and interact with the material. This is much more difficult to do independently. Studying in a group gives you the opportunity to figure out what you don’t know—and what you do know. This allows you to target your remaining study time on topics you are not so familiar with, thereby making your studying more efficient and saving you time in the long run.
Study groups are standard in Law school, but you don’t have to be a legal scholar to use these techniques. These simple guidelines should work just as well for you:
1. They don’t have to be social friends, so do not limit yourselves to just a clique of friends. Don’t make the group too big; a group of three or four students is the ideal size. Too much, and it runs the risk of being rowdy.
2. You can have different groups for different classes, and also designate a moderator to keep you on schedule. The moderator role can rotate from one meeting to the next.
3. Use the first meeting to sketch your goals, rules and schedules. Decide the topics you are going to discuss before the meeting. All members should commit to preparing that material PRIOR to the meeting. Don’t take on too much material for one session.
4. Be very clear from the start about when meetings will be held. Schedule a SPECIFIC time period for your study group (e.g. 1.5 hours) before meeting; it is the moderator’s responsibility to keep to that time. This will prevent the session from dragging on — and you feeling your valuable study time has been wasted.
5. What would happen if someone misses a meeting or comes unprepared. Each student should thoroughly PREPARE and identify key points, and areas of confusion within the material to be covered in the group. Discuss and quiz each other on the material. Treat this like an oral exam. Come into the group well prepared but be ready to identify areas that you do not understand.
6. If everyone understands what’s expected, it’s easier to work towards success. Teach others material you understand, and learn from others who understand material better than you do. When you teach someone else material, you have to know it in much more depth, and you will find it solidifies your knowledge. You may even surprise yourself with how much you know.
7. Try to make studying enjoyable in whatever way you can. Since you will spend a lot of time studying, you need to keep things interesting. Consider crowning a session “guru” every time you meet. This is the person who has been able to understand key material and explain it well to others during the session. You might even exchange gag gifts.
With these, and additional effort on your part, your tests and examinations this term will simply be a walk in the park.
