How to Create a Successful Study Group

When you're taking a tough course or studying for a difficult exam, working with a study group can help you to improve your grades. Follow these steps to create a productive study group and achieve your course goals.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Note which students in your class are diligent and productive. Ask two or three of those students to form a study group with you.
2. Get organized. Set up a realistic schedule for how often you will meet, how long each study session will last and what topics you will cover during each session.
3. Exchange email addresses and phone numbers so that you can get in touch and make or alter plans.
4. Meet in quiet, central locations where you can be productive without being interrupted or disrupting others. Hold the session in someone's apartment or in a quiet cafe.
5. Choose a leader for each study session to keep the members of the group on topic and productive.
6. Learn from each other. Each person may have a different area of expertise, study method or a new way to look at the material. Listen to each other and take each point into consideration as you're learning and studying together. Use these new ideas to further your comprehension of the subject.

Tips & Warnings

• Some members of your study group may be there just to bum answers off of the others. If you find that you have a slacker in your study group, let him know that if he doesn't want to put in the work, he'll have to leave the group.
• Don't allow more than five or six people in your study group. Large study groups are chaotic and will end up being less productive.
• Don't procrastinate. Meet with your study group throughout the duration of the course.