<p>I was wondering this for a while, mostly for my calculus class since im kinda failing and then today I hear about one!</p>
<p>So they said it was going to be at the library but when I went none of the people were there. Im not that lost in it that itd be more like learning than reviewing but I definitely need to brush up on it because i forgot most of what I learned in high school.</p>
<p>I feel stood up but I met most of those people like today was the first day I talked to them. And some girl gave me her number so I would know for sure where the study group was being held, except she never replied to my text.</p>
<p>Sadly I dont know anyone’s name in that class & im sure they dont know mine. (and maybe its just me but i feel because im a minority-more gender wise,they might assume i dont know my stuff and am one of those people that slack off)</p>
<p>Any advice for forming or joining a study group?</p>
<p>I know last year I did a few study groups for math. Someone sent an email (does your school use blackboard by any chance?) and they send our entire class an email saying he wanted to study with others at a certain location. people did show up</p>
<p>Alternatively, what’s happened in my classes a couple times is that somebody just went around before and after class and asked people if they wanted to form a study group. This was for smaller classes. Sending a class email or posting to the class website is how people seem to do it for a big class, understandably.</p>
<p>For the first study group I joined, the student talked to the professor beforehand to ask if he could make a small announcement to the class. He asked that if any of us were interested, to come talk to him after class so we could swap information and agree to a day and time. I was the only person who responded, and we’ve been studying together for our mutual classes ever since:)</p>
<p>Wow ive never heard of black board &i dont think my class uses it. The closest thing would be moodle but i dont think its used my math class.</p>
<p>Its my largest class so it took me a while to talk to people, like we’ll say a few things but not really have a conversation. Also there was no activity to 'get to know you" like in All my other classes.</p>
<p>I go to a community college but its my first year and not most people in my math class so i feel most people already kind know each other.</p>
<p>You can get off task, but then studying becomes a social activity. Then you don’t mind if it takes an extra hour or two since you had a lot of fun while doing it.</p>
<p>Personally, I usually try to gauge out who is serious and who isn’t, and approach the people that are going to take the class more seriously. I’ve had several study groups in the past, and in my experience they work best with no more than 5-6 people or so. If it gets larger than that, it’s not so much a “study group” as it is a bunch of people studying in the same area. It’s easier to get off task with a larger group. </p>
<p>Getting off task isn’t always a bad thing though. Obviously if it gets so bad that you aren’t accomplishing anything, then something needs to change…but study groups are a great way to make friends. Getting a little off-track and socializing a little bit is a great way to make study groups enjoyable, rather than just a tedious task that “must” be done. Currently, there are several people I’ve been studying with that are in several of the same classes as me. We all have physics, calculus, and chemistry together, and we will be in a lot of the same classes for the next few semesters. These kinds of people are the ideal people to form a study group with. We all have pretty similar goals, and we all need to retain a solid understanding of these topics since we’re going on to the next classes in the sequence. When you study with the same people consistently, you really get to know each other and you learn to function as a team.</p>
<p>It’s very easy for that to happen with study groups. A little socializing is a good thing, because it makes the study group enjoyable, rather than just a tedious necessity. However, there’s a fine line between a little casual socializing during study breaks, and a little casual studying between breaks from socializing. </p>
<p>It’s very important to keep on task for the most part. I’ve been a math tutor for a couple years, and keeping people on task is an art form. A lot of my tutees like to discuss some aspects of their lives with me, things that have stressed them out, reasons that they weren’t able to study and stuff like that. I’ll listen to them, because sometimes venting about some of lifes frustrations can help you to calm down and center yourself. But, I always try to lead them back to the task at hand. That’s a slightly different scenario though, since I’m being paid for it. I don’t want them to pay me for sitting there and listening to there problems. That’s what counselors and such are for. But, it comes with the territory to a degree.</p>
<p>In study groups though, the only motivation is the next exam, or that final grade. Keeping on task is beneficial for everyone. I’ve found that it’s better to schedule study groups for 2 hours or so, rather than just an hour. That way there’s still plenty of time to socialize, but also plenty of time to get some real work done.</p>
<p>Wow good point, I will definitely try going to longer sessions because I only went once and it was for about 30 minutes. Maybe i’ll try another group but I know I need to work on studying alone more often. </p>
<p>30 minutes isn’t very long. By the time you’ve said hello to everyone and gotten your books out and everything, 10 minutes of the 30 are going to be gone. </p>
<p>The way it’s always seemed to go when I’ve done study groups, is that the first 10-15 minutes or so are generally just socializing, followed by longer periods of studying, with a couple unintentional “breaks” mixed in where a random conversation starts up. These can be a good thing though. Taking a 5 minute break from what you’re doing can help you to refocus more completely when you get back to it.</p>