Use a study group

Your study group can be both an academic community and a social community

Most people find it a good idea to join a study group, as it is an academic community and a social community. Many are happier when they share experience, receive academic sparring, and have somewhere to discuss questions and doubts.

In short, a good study group is where you agree on the expectations and purpose of your group work and use each other as much as is necessary.

Being part of a study group can have a number of advantages:

You sharpen your academic skills
You work actively with the material, so you learn it better
You have an academically committed community
You can share challenges
You can become part of a social community
You can see it as training to work together or as preparation for the job market

Although building up good collaboration in a study group can demand time and effort, in the long run your group can benefit both your learning and your well-being.

Different ways to use a study group

Depending on the degree programme and purpose, study groups are also referred to as assignment groups, project groups, reading groups and writing groups, for example. Sometimes the teacher will put the study groups together, and sometimes you will have to form the groups yourself, or ask if you can join an existing group.

There are many different ways to use a study group:

Is a study group for me?

On many degree programmes, group work is either compulsory or an important part of academic activities. If you prefer to work alone or are unsure about what would be best for you, try listing the pros and cons of group work:

Reflect on:
Benefits of being part of a study group Drawbacks of being part of a study group Benefits of studying alone Drawbacks of studying alone

If you need to discuss your thoughts or get a new perspective, talk to a student counsellor.

Reading texts in groups

Many students use their study group to prepare for class by discussing the texts on the syllabus. How do you go about it? How can you work on a text together in your group?

Activity	Execution
Present main points	Briefly present the most important points in the text to each other. This can initiate a discussion based on whether you have understood the text in the same way or differently. Read more about reading strategies here
Divide the texts between you	Divide the texts between you and write joint notes. Allocate one or a few texts to individuals to read in depth. Take notes or summarise your text. Just skim the texts that others in the group have read in detail. Present your notes to the other group members at your study group meeting, and discuss the texts before the lecture. Sharing your notes and summaries will give each member of the group a comprehensive overview of texts studied in the course, and this may be useful when preparing for the exam. Read more about reading strategies here Read more about note-taking strategies here
Keywords on the text	Each write down three to four keywords on the text and compare them in your group. Discuss similarities and differences between your keywords, and explain your choices. This will enable you to categorise the text or the author, and it will make it easier to compare with other texts and authors.
Questions about the text	Ask at least three questions for each text, and answer them in the group. You can either use the questions to discuss the text in your group, or you can use them to answer each other's questions in a shared document. This will help you clarify queries or highlight difficult issues in the material that you can then bring up in class or discuss in your group.
Devil's advocate	Discuss the text by dividing yourselves into defenders and devil's advocates. The role of the devil's advocate team is to attack the text by asking critical questions about it and pointing out weaknesses. The defence team is to defend the text and highlight its good points. Afterwards, everyone in the group can try to assess the text. Consult Toulmin’s model of argumentation to improve your argumentation techniques. Read more about Toulmin's model of argumentation and academic argumentation.
Relevance of the text	Write five lines each about how the text’ links with the course or discipline. Write a few lines about the text before the study group meeting, and discuss how each of you understand the relevance of the text in relation to the course and the subject dealt with in the text.

Activity

Execution

Present main points

Briefly present the most important points in the text to each other. This can initiate a discussion based on whether you have understood the text in the same way or differently.

Read more about reading strategies here

Divide the texts between you

Divide the texts between you and write joint notes. Allocate one or a few texts to individuals to read in depth. Take notes or summarise your text. Just skim the texts that others in the group have read in detail.

Present your notes to the other group members at your study group meeting, and discuss the texts before the lecture.

Sharing your notes and summaries will give each member of the group a comprehensive overview of texts studied in the course, and this may be useful when preparing for the exam.

Keywords on the text

Each write down three to four keywords on the text and compare them in your group. Discuss similarities and differences between your keywords, and explain your choices. This will enable you to categorise the text or the author, and it will make it easier to compare with other texts and authors.

Questions about the text

Ask at least three questions for each text, and answer them in the group. You can either use the questions to discuss the text in your group, or you can use them to answer each other's questions in a shared document. This will help you clarify queries or highlight difficult issues in the material that you can then bring up in class or discuss in your group.

Devil's advocate

Discuss the text by dividing yourselves into defenders and devil's advocates. The role of the devil's advocate team is to attack the text by asking critical questions about it and pointing out weaknesses. The defence team is to defend the text and highlight its good points. Afterwards, everyone in the group can try to assess the text.

Consult Toulmin’s model of argumentation to improve your argumentation techniques.

Read more about Toulmin's model of argumentation and academic argumentation.

Relevance of the text

Write five lines each about how the text’ links with the course or discipline. Write a few lines about the text before the study group meeting, and discuss how each of you understand the relevance of the text in relation to the course and the subject dealt with in the text.

Presentations in groups

There are specific aspects that you need to consider when making an oral presentation in your group:

Make one joint presentation instead of individual, consecutive presentations. This will strengthen the sense of coherence for the audience.
Practise the presentation with and for each other. This is particularly important if you delegate responsibility for preparing different parts of the presentation, as practice will help to prevent overlaps and failure to address important points.
Make sure everyone gets to say something. In long presentations, it can be a good idea to take turns talking so that each group member talks more than once.
Consider and plan the transitions between your individual parts of the presentation, so that you always know exactly when it is your turn to talk.
Use general advice on preparing and giving a presentation.

Writing assignments in groups

There are advantages and disadvantages to writing assignments alone or in groups. You may also find sparring and support for your writing by forming or joining a writing group.

Do you prefer to write alone or with others?

You might consider writing larger assignments together with one or more fellow students. You can help each other read through texts, discuss your choices and trade-offs, and keep each other going. Think about the pros and cons below when considering whether to write alone or with others:

	Pros	Cons
Writing alone	1) Free to make decisions on the project and the writing process 2) Easier to plan with regard to your leisure activities and student job, if relevant	1) Risk of feeling isolated and lonely during the writing process 2) More susceptible to procrastination
Writing with others	1) Obligated by the collaboration and shared deadlines 2) Always someone to discuss and exchange views with - on the product as well the process	1) Dependent on making the collaboration work 2) Need to make compromises along the way

Pros

Cons

Writing alone

1) Free to make decisions on the project and the writing process

2) Easier to plan with regard to your leisure activities and student job, if relevant

1) Risk of feeling isolated and lonely during the writing process

2) More susceptible to procrastination

Writing with others

1) Obligated by the collaboration and shared deadlines

2) Always someone to discuss and exchange views with - on the product as well the process

1) Dependent on making the collaboration work

2) Need to make compromises along the way

Use a sparring group

In a sparring group, each member is working on their own project, but they are working in a collaborative community to support each other's writing process. It is up to you to decide whether to exchange assignments and provide ongoing feedback, or whether you will meet to ensure that you all meet your deadlines.

Advantages of a sparring group include that:
you commit yourself to regular deadlines and make sure your work is progressing. you have a group of people who are familiar with your assignment and your thoughts about it. you do not have to make compromises to accommodate other people's ideas on the direction of the assignment. you have someone to socialise with during breaks.

Who should be in your sparring group?
For example, you can form a sparring group with: Someone with the same interests. If you are writing about related topics, you can help each other explore issues and contribute new angles and input to each other's projects. Someone with the same work ethic. The community can be based on meeting, working and taking breaks together to create structure around your workday. Someone you know. If you had good collaboration before, working together with the same group can be a safe and sensible choice.

Who should be in your sparring group?

For example, you can form a sparring group with:

Someone with the same interests. If you are writing about related topics, you can help each other explore issues and contribute new angles and input to each other's projects.
Someone with the same work ethic. The community can be based on meeting, working and taking breaks together to create structure around your workday.
Someone you know. If you had good collaboration before, working together with the same group can be a safe and sensible choice.

Online study groups

If you and your study group are unable to meet in person, you can meet online. For example, on Zoo m. On Zoom, you can hold video meetings, chat and share joint documents, and it is possible to maintain conversations on a written collaboration between study-group meetings.

Online meetings while producing text

Some group work can benefit from discussions and talks while you are producing text. This will enable you to discuss questions, possibilities and challenges as you go along. The ‘share screen' function can be useful for this purpose.

Tips on online collaboration in your study group
Align expectations	It is a good idea to agree from the start how you want to use online tools, and what you expect from each other. What can we use the chat function for? Should we only chat about academic work, or is it okay to send a funny picture as well? When do we expect the others to respond? Should we have a time slot when we are "available" to chat, for example from 9 to 12 in the morning? Having a fixed agreement can help avoid frustrations. Inform each other if there are times when you are not available. Choose a "chairperson" to summarise or close a conversation. As in a normal meeting, it is important that someone is responsible for ensuring progression.
Be patient	Learning to use a new tool takes time, so give yourselves and each other space to become familiar with the tools. A tool should be a help in your daily study activities, so the aim is to make sure you use it correctly so it does in fact help.
Consider the number of people in a chat	If a lot of people are in the chat, it can easily become "noisy" and side-tracked. But at the same time, it has the advantage that the entire group can follow the discussions and that nobody misses important information or agreements.

Tips on online collaboration in your study group

Align expectations

It is a good idea to agree from the start how you want to use online tools, and what you expect from each other.

What can we use the chat function for? Should we only chat about academic work, or is it okay to send a funny picture as well?
When do we expect the others to respond? Should we have a time slot when we are "available" to chat, for example from 9 to 12 in the morning? Having a fixed agreement can help avoid frustrations.
Inform each other if there are times when you are not available.
Choose a "chairperson" to summarise or close a conversation. As in a normal meeting, it is important that someone is responsible for ensuring progression.

Be patient

Learning to use a new tool takes time, so give yourselves and each other space to become familiar with the tools. A tool should be a help in your daily study activities, so the aim is to make sure you use it correctly so it does in fact help.

Consider the number of people in a chat

If a lot of people are in the chat, it can easily become "noisy" and side-tracked. But at the same time, it has the advantage that the entire group can follow the discussions and that nobody misses important information or agreements.

Good collaboration

Preparing for class

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