Group Study: Strength Lies in Numbers

Individual efforts supplemented by inputs from a group of likeminded companions can ease your path to success, especially when it comes to deciphering those literary lines or solving a chemical equation

After years of working hard and studying by yourself you get admission to a college. But it is not all fun as it seemed initially as you also have those encyclopedic books to study. Group study could be an effective approach that can help you cover all the topics without tedious efforts.

Many think that having other people in the room while studying is a downright distraction. You will be astonished to learn otherwise if you grouped the right people for a serious study session. However, it must be carefully understood that studying together is not an excuse to extend that hilarious chat-over-chai you were having after class.

The Benefits of Group Study

1. Revision: Studying with your classmates will require you to help clear their doubts. Instructing is a very effective way of learning.  It will make you think more deeply on the topic and clear your own concepts.
2. Confidence: Debating will teach you defend your arguments and increase your confidence.
3. Rectification: If you had doubts yourself or took sketchy notes in class, then someone else from your group can help you straighten those faulty notes out. Your database is automatically updated and cross-checked.
4. Cover more chapters: By sharing and dividing parts of your syllabus, you cover more ground. Believe it or not but by having people around who are good at the topics you don’t understand, you are in a better position to grasp and easily learn those lessons through the summaries they will supply you.
5. More fun: It is so much more fun to have your friends around. With everyone in the same boat, you will not go into fits of anxiety and smoothly navigate through the tricky task at hand.

How to Manage Your Star Team

1. Keep the number limited: Your study group should not be inflexible. But restrict the members to four or five. Choose your members carefully to avoid personality clashes. These are unnecessarily hassles and can waste precious time.
2. Choose motivated people: Avoid people who are too talkative and distractive. Your team should have focused students aiming for good grades.
3. Pick a quiet place: If possible gather in a room which will be free of distractions and can accommodate all of you. Don’t cram into a small noisy place. It will not work.
4. Short hours: Don’t make too ambitious plans of studying long hours right at the beginning. Meet for two to three hours. This will put a time limit on your discussions and distractions. Have the occasional laugh but remember you don’t have all day.

Try this out right from the beginning so you have don’t have much to worry about as exams approach. After a while, you will get used to each other’s pace and areas of specialisation and will be able to decide upon the frequency of such meets. Once you have a functional group in order, then you can easily keep those exam blues at bay. And also watch the grades improve!