Are you more likely to do better in a class if you create a study group?

Hi Kyra - This is a great question, and I would say that studying alone and studying with a group can both be beneficial. When I was studying for an exam, I normally would first study by myself to get a baseline understanding of the topics, and then work with a group to help me on areas that weren't as easy for me to understand. Some pros of a study group:

1) Your classmates can help you with topics that you might not understand as well.

2) You could help someone else with a topic that you know well - which helps you understand it even better.

3) You get to know your classmates better and expand your group of friends.

Some cons of a study group:

1) If you don't have a great understanding to start, it can be hard to learn it all in a group setting.

2) Not having the right people for the study group. You don't want a group of people that aren't interested in studying and ask you to teach them everything, and you also don't want a bunch of know-it-alls :). Choose wisely.

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Hope this helps!

Hi Kyra,

A study group can be very useful in helping you do well in a class, but this is largely dependent on your particular studying style and personality. For example, if you suffer social anxiety when interacting with groups of people, then a study group (or at least a large study group) would likely be counter-productive to studying. Some people learn better by reading material while others learn better by hearing, and some learn best by doing.

If you do form a study group, you should make sure that the members are compatible and have the same objectives. For example, if some members want to get an A in the class while others just want to do the minimum work to pass the course, this will likely lead to conflict and the group disbanding. The group members should have similar study habits and preferences. For instance, if some members like to hear background music while studying while others need absolute silence to concentrate, this will lead to conflict. If some members like to study early in the morning, while others are night owls, this will also lead to conflicts.

An effective study group should have a regular schedule (e.g., once per week or twice per week) and have a specific objective for each study group meeting/session (e.g., go over Chapter 5, review E1 and E2 elimination reactions). Everyone should be expected to have prepared for the study group meeting (.e.,g., read the materials, done the homework or practice problems in advance). Finally, ground rules should be established upfront (e.g., who gets to talk when, start and end times, location and responsibility for hosting).

In my opinion, study group sessions should be devoted to working problems (especially in math or science classes) or discussion of the class material. Getting together simply to read silently as a group is not very useful, and can be accomplished alone.

I have participated in many study groups over my lifetime. Some have been very helpful (even when I already knew the material well studying by myself), and others have been absolute disasters. The key is to be able to assess early on whether a particular study group is working, and to cut your losses (by leaving the study group) if it is not working for you.

Good luck in college.

Hi Kyra, from my experience and expertise (business as well as academic, as a professor), I know a study group absolutely helps you do better in class because everyone has different strengths and knowledge sharing has been shown to decrease stress and increase brainpower that helps you learn. (One of my favorite scientists on the topic of brainpower is Dr. Herbert Benson at Harvard, whose book "The Breakout Principle" has numerous examples of this. Studying in a group, on a common goal, also helps you prepare to work productively and collaboratively with others when you start your career, as you apply respect and appreciation for differences in personality, temperament, ages, background, interests, AND, most important, what you're good at that you can teach someone else, and vice versa. That being said, the *success* of individuals in a study group depends on the quantity and quality of the people in the group - 4 or 5 (max!) is the usual rule. The complementary (note that's an "e" in the middle) skills the members bring to the group are crucial. For example, I enrolled in an MBA program at NYU after success for 20 years in marketing, strategy and organizational development - but I was NOT fond of accounting, calculus and other math. At NYU, they teamed me in a study group with younger and very math-oriented individuals, and I'm happy to say we all worked very hard, learned so much from one another, and earned very good grades. Consequently my MBA concentration turned out to be Finance (very MATH oriented) and Leadership, and my professors suggested I transition to teaching at the college level (which I now do, and i work with nonprofits to improve their finances).