For this week’s blog post, Fae Horsley, one of the Student Feedback and Evaluation Interns working on the module, has written some tips on how to get the most out of a study group. Fae is a third year student here in the School of English so she’s had lots of time to perfect this! Don’t forget to sign up for Fae and Hulian’s focus group, which is taking place this Friday, 12-1 in ARMB.G.13 — check your email for more information.
Groupwork is something that we are all familiar with. At some point in your education, you will have had to work with others. But it’s unlikely you will have had to work in anything like a university study group. Not only do you have to work with your study group regularly, but you have to organise it, and an assessment mark may depend on it. As a third year English Literature student, I have had some amazing study groups, and some study groups which have fallen apart within a manner of weeks. Therefore, I am here to impart a little wisdom to you all by providing you with my top tips to make a study group work.
- DON’T LEAVE IT LAST MINUTE
The last minute scramble to get work done is something we are all familiar with. However, although this is a possible (if unadvised) work ethic for an individual, it is near impossible to get group work done if it is last minute. Trying to contact people who have different schedules/ timetables to you, and trying to get some sort of contribution/ work out of them, is more difficult than simply meeting up earlier on in the week. So make sure you meet up a few days before the work is due and then you don’t have to worry about it.
- MEET AT LUNCH OR HAVE SNACKS
This is a personal favourite of mine (maybe because I love food so much). But I find that if everyone is snacking or drinking coffee then people are generally happier; making for a better group dynamic and better groupwork.
- BE UNDERSTANDING
It can be very easy to feel frustrated if a study group member is consistently absent. If you consider this is a real cause of concern for your study group, then please tell your seminar leader. However, more often than not, absence is not malicious and a little empathy can go a long way. Remember that you may not be aware of what is happening in someone’s personal life. So, although it is important to try and contribute every week, don’t be too hard on your peers if they miss a week of study group.
- GET TO KNOW YOUR STUDY GROUP
You are going to be working with these people for the entire duration of a module; so get to know them! Being friends with your study group makes the whole study group process a lot more fun and relaxed.
- DON’T RELY ON FACEBOOK/ WHATSAPP
One week, it might be impossible for everyone to meet up (though, let’s be honest, finding an hour spare between you should not be that difficult). Therefore, you all turn to your best friend – social media. Though this can be useful to share ideas and do study group work, you will actually find that more often than not you spend way more time waiting around for someone to reply than it would take to actually just meet. Meeting is not just better because it is easier, but also because it makes communication far more effective!
- DO THE READING/ BE READY TO CONTRIBUTE
Having one member of your group stay silent the whole time because they haven’t done the reading is such a waste of valuable contribution. You are in groups precisely because of the value that is put upon EVERYONE’S idea, not just the individual’s. So make sure you do the reading, so you don’t sit there like a lost lemon for an hour.
I hope these tips help and that you all have great study groups this semester!