Has anyone formed a study group for your class?

hodgieRN · Nov 28, 2012

I was a couple study groups in school. Its easiest to just ask around. You'll probably find that your study groups are friends that you've made in class. If you don't have some type of friendship, there are those who believe you are using them or riding their coat tails. And if you are pre-nursing, there are probably people that view you as the enemy! The person that will steal their spot during admissions. When you are actually in nursing school, there is no competition...other than the students who need to out perform everyone else with grades, but most people generally help each other b/c you are in the trenches together. The best thing is to find students that you consider a friend or fellow classmate. I don't think the instructor would have any problem with announcing a study that you would like to start.

Saysfaa · Nov 28, 2012

Yes.

One was a proximity thing - My table mate and I and the guy who sat behind us formed one through casual conversation. That was very successful. Each of us did the work ahead of time so we quizzed each other and went over some fine points and did our best to help each other. We also shared details about which professors to take for other prereq classes and some of the ins and outs of the application process. There was a fourth person who came sometimes - not regularily but she was prepared when she did come. That was physiology and probably 80 or 90% of the students were headed for nursing.

Another was very fluid and informal - basically several of us who tended to get to class early - like a half hour early or more. There was a nice lounge right outside the door that made it easy to study together. That was a very low pressure, casual discussions of what we were reading or had heard in the lecture or learned in other ways. It was quite helpful. That was an Intro to OT class, back when I was unsure what I wanted to do.

For another one, I sent a note to the whole class through Blackboad. That was a total bomb from my point of view. It was at an inconvient time for me because that worked best for the five people who said they were coming. One person came to two sessions, two sent cancellations notes about the first session and two just never showed up. The one that did come had done zero work outside of attending the lectures. That was intro to psychology, it was about 60 percent pre-nursing students.

I also joined one someone else set up - through emailing the entire class. There were about 15 of us that met once or twice before each exam. That was mediocre in my view. It was an upper level medical ethics class taught by a philosophy professor. The tests consided entirely of essay questions - we were give the questions ahead of time (5 were on the test of the 25 - 30 given) and he graded very, very hard because he gave the questions ahead of time and was just that kind of prof. It was also 95% from the lecture, which sometimes contradicted the book, and he talked very fast so it was hard to prepare for the exams. I did get a few uncertainties cleared up, so it helped me a little but mostly it was people filling in notes of the classes they had missed (or, frequently, skipped) and not contributing much, if anything.

I've been asked individually in a couple of times when the timing didn't work well for me. I've also asked other people individually a few times when the timing didn't work out.

astronomia · Nov 29, 2012

My school is primarily a commuter school with students from all over, so a classmate and I made a closed Facebook group to help each other out. We posted about it on the grade management system our school uses (each class section has their own forum) and just started inviting classmates we knew, and they'd invite others, and we all communicated through that group. It worked out really well! It was for A&P, so we would all make digital flash cards and share them with each other, study guides, ask each other questions, share what would be on exams, etc.

zoe92 · Nov 29, 2012

I have an official one with the girl who sits next to me in A & P. We go to open labs together & study there, but we have met at a Barnes & Noble too. I recommend seeing who in the class is serious about getting good grades and then trying to study with them.

meeep, BSN, RN · Nov 29, 2012

Astronomia,

If you don't mind me asking, what did you use to make digital flash cards?

astronomia · Nov 29, 2012

Astronomia,If you don't mind me asking, what did you use to make digital flash cards?

I used quizlet.com. You can make flash cards and play study games based off of those cards that really help solidify the information, and even use others' cards that they haven't protected. There's a free app for iPhones as well that keeps the cards on-the-go with you. The only downside is, if you want to put pictures on the cards, you have to pay $15 for a year-long membership. I didn't see a problem paying it because it's a heck of a lot cheaper than all the ink it would cost me to print the same images!

Stephalump · Nov 29, 2012

I'm in a study group. We waited until about the third week to get started so we had time to ask around and invite people. I know it can be tempting to just get anyone who's willing, but it gave me some time to check out the options first. I'm SO glad I didn't get intertwined with certain people at school.

meeep, BSN, RN · Nov 29, 2012

I used quizlet.com. You can make flash cards and play study games based off of those cards that really help solidify the information, and even use others' cards that they haven't protected. There's a free app for iPhones as well that keeps the cards on-the-go with you. The only downside is, if you want to put pictures on the cards, you have to pay $15 for a year-long membership. I didn't see a problem paying it because it's a heck of a lot cheaper than all the ink it would cost me to print the same images!

Oh cool, thanks for the info!