5.     Form a Study Group.

What is an effective Study Group? What do you do when you form a Study Group? Where, when and why would you want a Study Group?

A study group can take many forms.  A group of classmates can meet once or twice to study together and quiz each other before a big exam; or a small group can meet regularly throughout a semester to do homework together and give each other support.  If you’re thinking of starting a study group, you can approach classmates whom you know, or you can ask the instructor to help out by announcing the idea in class.  It may be easiest to have a first, short meeting just after class one day, and then you can plan to meet more regularly.  All study groups are different, but here are some suggestions of things you can do to help each other learn:  talk about the topics covered in class; do homework together (either working separately or helping each other, as appropriate); quiz each other, making up possible exam questions and taking turns answering them; check each other’s homework; discuss ideas for projects and papers; proofread each other’s papers.  It’s fine to socialize a little bit during study group sessions (or before and afterwards), but do be careful to spend most of the time working, or the group will lose its focus.