Study Groups

The first step involves connecting with students in your class to create a group. Below are a few pointers to help you:

• Peer selection: While you can invite anyone enrolled in your course to join a study group, there are a few things to keep in mind that can help with the process. To build a study group, you want to find students who seem committed to the course and demonstrate interest. This might include students who have strong attendance, participate in class discussion, pay attention in class, and take notes.
• Group size: When considering who to invite to your study group, aim to keep the group small around 5 students in your group. With a smaller group, it is easier to schedule times that work for everyone to meet and stay on task with studying, since there are fewer distractions. And everyone can contribute.
• Asking peers: During class, select students and approach them by introducing yourself. Explain that you are starting a study group and wanted to know if they would like to join. Be prepared to explain what a study group is (use this website to help you!) and what the goals are If they agree to join, exchange contact information such as an email or phone number so you can start communicating and planning. Here is a mini script:
  • “Hi. I’m Sarah. I am trying to organize a study group for this class and wondered if you would like to join? Basically, we would find time to study as a group to review material from the class and prepare for exams. We would provide support to each other to help everyone do the best they can. What do you think?”
  • If they say yes: “Great, glad you want to join. Is it possible to get your email or phone number so I can add you to a group chat with the other students in the group? We are trying to figure out when to have our first meeting, so we can use that to plan a date and time for us to get together.
  • And be sure to share your information as well.

After you recruit peers for a study group, the second step is to create a method for group communication.

To do this, you will want to set up a group chat or an email chain. This can always change once you meet for your first study session. The most important thing is to find a way to start the conversation so you all can agree on a day, time, and location to gather for your first meeting. Or this first conversation can also happen virtually over Zoom. Some good group chats applications are Whatsapp or Groupme.

As a group, agree on a date, time, and location for your first meeting. Everyone should plan to attend.

During the meeting, spend time talking about what you want to accomplish during study sessions. Helpful topics include the goals, the expectations, and how the group will operate. For example:

• The number of meetings: As a group, you will want to decide how often you will meet. For example, will be once a week, once every two weeks, once every three weeks, once a month? Remember, you can always changes this as well, especially if the material becomes challenging or to prepare for exams. aim to meet once or every week or weekly.
• The length of your meetings: Will meetings run for 30 minutes, 45 minutes, one hour, or more? Consider everyone’s schedules and the material of the course. How much time will likely be needed to have a conversation about the material you plan to cover? This can also depend on the how often you meet. If you decide to meet once a week, then one hours is likely plenty of time. However, if you have fewer meetings, then perhaps meetings can run for 1.5 hours. You can always change it after you get started.
• Meeting days, times, and locations for the semester: Select what days and times you want to meet. Try to meet on the same days and times that way everyone can include it in their schedules and plan accordingly. Using this approach treats study sessions like a class. The location can be the same as well. Here are some options for meeting on campus. Reserve spaces in the library here or find other spaces on campus where you can work and talk. If someone will miss a session, establish a way to communicate.
• The content or material that will be discussed. How do you plan to use your time together? Will you use the syllabus and discuss readings or materials in the order you learn them in the course? Will you use the time to each discuss topics that find challenging or believe to be important? Do you want to use the time to quiz each other and work through sample problems?
• How to handle unanswered questions. During sessions, there may be concepts or material that everyone has questions about and needs more clarity or explanation. When this happens, determine a system for contacting the professors or TA. You all can go together as a group to drop in hours or take turns reaching out to get clarification and report back to the group.

As a group, be sure to also keep in mind the following:

• Everyone should do their best to complete the readings prior to attending study group sessions. This will help make sessions productive and allow everyone to get the most learning.
• Everyone should attend courses. Study groups are not meant to be a replacement for class, but an add on to your course. It also motivates everyone knowing that you are all in it together and each doing their part to make the group successful.
• Keep open communication. If someone can’t make a session, let the group know.
• Be committed. Everyone should try to attend all the sessions.
• Be respectful. Remember, there are going to be some sessions where you each take turns being the teacher and being the student. Study groups are meant to be an encouraging space where you can lean on and support each other to get the most learning.
• Check out your professor’s policies. Some professors have policies about doing assignments on your own. If this is case, always opt to do practice problems rather than problems or questions from assignments.

During sessions:

• After everyone gets situated, determine the topics you plan to cover in the session. Then, write them down and create an order.
• If you want to set a time to help you all get through the material, you can decide to talk about the topics for 15 minutes each

Some ways to run the sessions:

• Use the syllabus to determine topics. As a group, you can follow the order or select specific topics to discuss.
• Everyone brings a topic that they would like to discuss.
• As a group, brainstorm topics for the first 5 minutes of the session. Write them down on a white board or chalk board if one is available or use paper and pen. Once you have a list, you can determine an order or select a few that seem most important or are the most difficult.
• Quiz each other by taking turns asking questions about material that was covered.
• Everyone writes down questions and place them in the center of the table face down. Then take turns selecting questions and answering them.
• Set time limits for topics. Depending on how much you want to get through, it can be helpful to give each topic 10 minutes. Or order topics in terms of priority and get through as much as possible.