<p>I feel like study groups are relatively futile because even if you get good grades on problem sets when working with people, when exam time comes you won’t know how to do anything for yourself. So do study groups actually work for you?</p>
<p>I’ve always found it weird when I see people form study groups. They create so much commotion over the simplest of questions. I believe it does help. The very competent students probably won’t benefit from it, unless they are working together with some kick-A students…</p>
<p>If you need homework help or assistance understanding a concept, talking to your professor or using a solutions manual is more useful. Study groups can help you network and hone your soft skills, but besides that I think they aren’t worth the time.</p>
<p>It’s good to study independently and then group together for clarifications on fuzzy areas and for studying for exams.</p>
<p>It most definitely helped me. What Shackleford said is very true; you HAVE to study on your own beforehand. When you get to something you just can’t understand, there’ll be somebody you can discuss it with in 10 minutes, instead of hitting your head on the wall for 4 hours.</p>
<p>you know, even if you’re the smart one teaching the others in your study group, it still helps reinforce the skills and gives a better understanding</p>
<p>If done correctly they are great. To do it correctly, te members need to be prepared going in, not just looking at the material for the first time right then.</p>
<p>There are certain tough engineering courses such a Junior Year ChE “Mass, Momentum and Energy Transport” whereby a group is needed to complete the problem sets, otherwise they would never get done.</p>
<p>I will chime in on the side of those who favor study groups - as long as people are prepared and not just hanging on to get free homework answers it can be very helpful. You have other people who can shed light onconfusing parts, and your own explanations can help your own understanding. Plus, it is always nice to see that everyone else is as baffled as you are - in a lot of my classes I had the “I must be the dumb one” feeling until I actually talked over the problems with my fellow students…</p>
<p>I am entering college this fall, and I will definitely use a study group.</p>
<p>My intention is to work on the material alone, trying to complete as much as I can by myself, then breaking into a study group to review.</p>
<p>This technique seems the best to me as you will learn it but also reinforce it.</p>
<p>If you go into it with a group of very motivated people who want to iron out what needs to get done, then yes study groups are effective. I personally study 90% on my own and spend the rest of my time comparing notes and working tough problems with my friends.</p>
<p>Groups are sometimes a good idea. The problem is scheduling all the members of the group to meet at the same time. Some might have scheduling problems such that the night before the homework assignment is due would be the only night available, yet they have to come prepared and fully done with the problem set by themselves.</p>
<p>As you can see here, Michigan has very strict requirements for students to meet in groups to complete assignments in their Chemical Reactor Engineering course:</p>
<p>[ChE</a> 344 - Ground Rules for Homework and Class Problems](<a href=“http://www.engin.umich.edu/~cre/344/homeworkrules.htm]ChE”>http://www.engin.umich.edu/~cre/344/homeworkrules.htm)</p>
<p>So when you do your problem sets, do you actually do the whole thing with your group or do you just check answers and work out the discrepant ones together?</p>
<p>That depends entirely on the group. The former will save you some time, but the latter has merits as well. The important thing is that the entire group is on the same page about which method you are using. If half the group works ahead and the other have waits until the meeting, that first half will be resentful.</p>
<p>by the way, after reviewing the ChE Curricula of a few MIT ChE classes, I see that the instructions are more for individual versus groups of students on the homework assignments compared to what is observed at Univ. of Michigan ChE.</p>
<p>You will get out of it as much as you put in. If you go just for answers they’re not going to be that helpful (outside of giving you homework answers). If you make a serious attempt at solving homework problems and go to study groups to find out what you’re doing wrong and to explain what you did right to others you will probably find them very helpful.</p>
<p>Study groups can be effective but only if you have certain type of people in them. In my experience, study groups have given some people a platform to vent about how difficult or unfair the class is. So when 4 of us are studying there’s one that is side tracking the focus into nonsense, thus wasting time. Then it creates an awkward situation when everyone agrees that that one person is ruining the study group. Then there were 4…</p>