Are you wondering whether you should join a study group, or if you’re in one, how to make it work better? There is an ancient Japanese proverb that says: “None of us is as smart as all of us.” In general, that is true. But study groups that are not designed well can lead to pooled ignorance.
Advantages
One advantage of study groups is that it creates accountability. If you know you must complete a group project by a certain date, you’re going to get it done. But if you’re not convinced, here is a scientific article on the benefits of small groups outside of the classroom.
Here are seven tips for successful small groups.
Tip 1
One, set a time limit and the number of hours you will meet. For most of the semester, a one hour meeting, two or three times a week should be enough. As you get closer to finals, you will want to increase that amount. But any more than that and you will probably be wasting time.
Tip 2
Two, focus on discussing the confusing areas, not everything that was discussed in class. All too often, a study group can morph into a social group. While we all need community, too much social interaction defeats the learning aspect of the group, as group members start gossiping about others and griping about professors. That’s just not productive.
Tip 3
Three, trade outlines. Before your meeting, decide on what part of the law you are going to work on and then at the meeting, swap outlines. Everyone has to prepare their own outline, but by trading them you can expose gaps in your understanding and discover errors.
Tip 4
Four, do practice exams and then grade someone else’s essay. Doing a practice exam, without feedback from someone, is practically worthless. Take an old exam, or a commercial practice exam. Once you complete the exam, trade it with someone else in the group. Each person will grade that other person’s exam, and you have to agree to be brutally honest in your grading. Now, here’s the magic with this approach. Not only are you getting feedback from someone else, but you are grading someone else’s exam so you will be more objective. Unfortunately, when we grade our own work, we are often unable to see the flaws. But when you grade somebody else’s exam, you see more of their problems than they do. And by spotting that other person’s problems, you develop a more critical eye, which will help you when you take your final exam. If you need some practice exams, there are some exams you can download for free at this exam bank.
Tip 5
Five, eliminate distractions during your sessions. This means either turning off your phones or turning them to airplane mode. You may have to agree to place all your phones in the middle of the table to prevent distractions.
Tip 6
Six, review the law by asking each other questions about the law. You can make a game out of this, where two of you take one side, and two on the other. You might even want to use flashcards, which will help you expose gaps in your knowledge–I recommend the creating a Leitner box, which is an advanced flashcard method. The key is for the study group to focus on the rules of law that are likely to appear on the final exam.
Tip 7
Seven, assign tasks. Divide the work evenly and in a way that each member knows exactly what they are responsible for.
Membership and Don’ts
So who should you include in your study group? Limit the group to 3 or 4 people. Two is not enough, and when you start getting to 5 and above, you create a situation where some members may not fully participate. You get the freeloader problem. The members of the group should have similar goals, be focused, and motivated. Remember, the study group is helping you prepare for the final exam and is NOT a therapy session. Also, look for a bit of intellectual diversity in the group. If you’re all progressives or you’re all conservatives, you are more likely going to develop group think. By mixing it up a bit, the group will be stronger as you bring your differences with you to the table.
