Imagine a Study Group that Works. Then, Create it in 4 Obvious Steps!

In case the quote above didn’t do the trick, here’s another one:

“I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand” — Chinese Proverb

You might struggle sometimes in remembering things that your lecturer said or worst, remembering things that you spent yesterday’s entire afternoon reading and watching videos about. Probably, you can’t remember them because you actually didn’t understand them.

How can you understand them you ask? A study group!

Yes. The answer to your problem is the things that students tend to hate the most during their academic experience.

Nonetheless, not any study group, but one you created yourself with no academic pressure. Hence, the people joining it are actually interested in learning their content and not simply aiming for a pass.

1. Finding the group

You don’t have to limit yourself into creating a study group within your class. You can get in touch with people from other universities or teaching organisations that study the same as you. Maybe you even find an affectionate on the matter that is willing to help!

You can use Buddoop to find people near your area that share your interests. In this case, you’d be interested in creating a study group focusing on a particular subject.

To avoid chaos and get the best of a study group, keep it within 3–5 people.

2. What’s the schedule?

Are you aiming for a long-term group or are you just looking for one to revise for your finals? How often can you commit to meet? At what time? Where?

Before you create a group, you should have answers (or suggestions) to these questions. It just helps to keep things organised and time-efficient.

A mid-point where the entire group can meet tends to be a common problem. Check if your teaching organisation has study rooms and allow bookings. Make sure that you get a quiet place but also a place where you can communicate with your team without disturbing others.

Or… have you consider studying in the park? It could be relaxing.

3. What to do?

On your own, write notes on the particular lectures you are willing to revise with your group. If you are not a note-taker, optimise an individual revision of the full topic to yourself.

Then, write a summary of your notes. Time yourself when doing this bit. For 1-hour lecture, take 15 min to write a summary with the key points. This will be helpful to you to identify a few gaps you might have on your understanding. You can write questions about those gaps and then bring them to the group.

Don’t get too attached to your notes. When meeting your group, give them a short 15–20 minutes presentation on the topic you’re discussing. Not every member of the group needs to make this step, instead, one member presents one lecture. Keep it informal, let your group ask you questions as you’re going along and filling in gaps you might find on the way. However, rewrite your notes after you finish presenting the lecture summary. By presenting your notes like this, won’t you only be remembering them better but also getting more confident with public speaking.

Keep the lecture overview or your module syllabus handy. This will help you make sure you’re discussing every relevant topic thoroughly.

Get a whiteboard (or equivalent). Even if it is a small one. You’ll be able to draw diagrams and write crazy notes like a professor as you’re explaining the lecture to your group. It will be fun for your side and your diagrams might actually come up really good and helpful.

Summing up this point:

• Take notes (or other) of the topic before meeting the group
• Summarise your notes and write questions
• Present your notes to the group with an oral and quick presentation without looking at your notes/summary (only one member needs to do this; split it per lecture)
• Keep the lecture overview/module syllabus handy
• Get a whiteboard, it magically makes you feel smarter

4. Contact your lecturer

Even if your group is not in the same teaching organisation as you are, you should keep the office hours of your lecturers in your calendar. Bring the questions the group might have to their office or simply drop them an e-mail. The other members might do the same with their lecturers and then you might get more helpful details by combining both clarifications.

A few last words

Once you’re introduced to a topic, you’ll be able to talk a bit about it. Even if you don’t remember much.

When you explain something to someone, you realise how much you know and where your gaps are. By studying in a group you’ll be able to fill each other’s gap and not only get better grades but most importantly, you’ll understand the topic.

We hope you get to find your ideal group in our platform — Buddoop.

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We can’t wait to meet you!