What's the deal with study groups?

LindseyT99 · Aug 1, 2018

I feel like study groups help if you are with like - minded students. When you teach something, you learn it. Sometimes someone will not understand a topic and by teaching them you can in turn better understand it yourself. Also I feel like when I'm alone I just re-read over my notes again and again. By quizzing each other or asking questions you are forced to pull it from memory and sometimes others can help you with how they remember something.

Wiggly Litchi · Aug 1, 2018

Depends on the group honestly - I find that a few things generally happen:

1 - Some folks treat it as more of a social outing, and it's hard to keep everyone focused

2 - One person ends up acting like a pseudo-professor and teaches the group; this can be beneficial if there's a few people not able to grasp a concept, and teaching it is great for reinforcement

3 - The unicorn group - everyone's at the same place academically and are able to work at the same pace, bounce questions off eachother etc. I call it the unicorn because it's rare for me to get this kind of group. I'm usually in a #2 group or solo.

I find that groups are great for solidifying the basics, but critical thinking comes in time, and if you're worried about others' input in that area, then it may be best to study that solo.

We both have very similar attitudes to studying, and I'm a bit older than the rest of my class (I just turned 32). I tend to get frustrated with the social aspect so I'm usually shoehorned into the 'professor' role since I'm a good teacher (heck, that's my day job anyway) and I can keep some of the more social ones on task.

If you feel like you'd get more out of solo study, stick with it. Everyone has different learning styles and like you, I need peace, quiet, and a side of extra quiet.

rnhopeful82, ASN, RN · Aug 1, 2018

I have always been a solo studier, too, and I still prefer to do most studying by myself. I used to "Study" with a group of friends, but they would talk as they made flash cards and I need to re-read my notes and powerpoints to study so I stopped going to that one. That being said, I do get together with 2 friends a few days before a test and possibly another friend on a different day. We can go over something in case 1 person got it and one didnt. It's also helpful to be able to teach someone the info if they dont get it and you do. I find this helps solidify it in my mind. When I am the one confused, the way someone else might explain it may make the world of difference in my own comprehension. Study groups dont need to be huge, but I find that if you can locate a loner or a small group with your similar studying styles, it can be beneficial. And food is always good :)

203bravo, MSN, APRN · Aug 1, 2018

A study group can be beneficial IF is structured correctly from the onset... this prevents it from turning into a "social gathering" like the one's you are already familiar with.... If the group is limited in number and like minded participants.. meeting times are set in advance and everyone is expected to be present and participate.. then members can take specific parts of the curriculum (specific topics, chapter objectives, etc) and be expected to be the subject matter expert on that topic during the meeting... they can present things such as mini-lecture to sum up the topic, answer other's questions, provide any materials that they have found that made the material more understandable, etc.. each member has a specific amount of time for their material and then move on to the next so the meetings do not last forever..

Those meetings that are impromptu (just before a major exam or during finals week) and don't have a clear agenda are rarely beneficial in my experience.

boiledcabbage · Aug 1, 2018

Thanks for the input. I guess my perception wasn't too far off.

I don't mind explaining something if someone needs it. Even better if it helps me too. My first semester everyone became close like an extended family. it was sad when we lost someone from the program for various reasons and sometimes that person was devastated. It would be great to help someone along, assuming they can grasp the information and help prevent a long term setback for a hopeful student.

I was super lucky with pharmacology and in spite of being generally awful in math, excelled. I've met a few students in my cohort that are already freaking out because it is rumored to be incredibly hard. This will be a "review" class for me so I can certainly help there.

Then there is the general first semester adjustment phase that creates a lot of anxiety. Having survived that once, I can be the voice of calm and reason. Looking back, the intensity of pressure, emotions and expectations was massive. Just wrapping your head around the syllabus and what is due, when, in which class the second you get tossed into a blender with the hardest classes you will ever take...is very intimidating.

Then, it passes but not before seeing a quarter of the class "exited", which is in part why I felt like a different program would be a better fit for me. I'll probably be calming a lot of the sensitive ones down.

Then they'll just have to "repay" by helping me roll and bathe an incontinent morbidly obese patient during clinicals. ; )

EmDash · Aug 1, 2018

I tend to study solo the most, just because of where I live, etc, but I think certain types of group studying can be beneficial. For me, it helps to be able to talk out the information and even get some feedback, perhaps some correction on anything I remember incorrectly. Other people may have a different way of thinking about it or know some tidbit I didn't read/realize or that they found out elsewhere. They may also have thought of different types of questions to ask for studying.

I also don't mind a tiny bit of a social study group, personally. It becomes somewhat of a solo study, with everyone working on what they need to, with a bit of talking, so it gives me some small breaks from studying, someone to commensurate it, and someone to run by anything I'm not 100% on. But I'm also someone who likes noise when I'm studying. I usually have the TV or something on.

Tho speaking of studying, I need to actually get back to it for my last final and stop procrastinating lol

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Aug 1, 2018

My new school gets some special federal funding since we are in a generally poor, rural area. This funding provided a nice, well equipped study area just for nursing students which I am told we have an amount of time required to use it.

I am not seeing where you are required to be in a study group. My nursing school had a student lounge that had tables, sofas, chairs, microwave, and fridge. Students studied together at tables or alone at tables and on sofas. It was only used before classes and in between classes, otherwise we went home to study.

I am not seeing from your post that there is an expectation to study together.

boiledcabbage · Aug 2, 2018

I am not seeing from your post that there is an expectation to study together.

I'm not sure about an expectation to study as a group but there is an expectation to log hours in the study area. I haven't seen it personally but I'm told it has dedicated tutors, simulation lab equipment and a computer lab specifically for nursing classes. The college is the size of a high school with around 1200 full time students and gets $450,000 a year for 5 years as a part of the grant and it goes ONLY to allied health.

I'm assuming the required study lab use is part of the grant. They have to demonstrate certain success rates.

Unless I can go during slow times it won't help me much, side conversations between other students would be a major distraction. If that were the case I'll have to burn time pretending to study then do it on my own later where I can focus. Maybe it's time to invest in some noise canceling headphones.

bitter_betsy, BSN · Aug 2, 2018

For one of my classes we had time in between classes where we would study "together". It started out as me running off to another classroom and sitting on the floor in the back trying to hide from everyone else. Then a couple other ladies came in to get away from the "social" study group talking about the crap they had done the night before together. It ended up being about 8 of us studying alone - but together. When one of us would have a question - we would basically blurt it out, someone would answer or respond and we would talk about it for a minute and then silence again until the next question was blurted out. It worked well for all of us and we started doing it on a regular basis.

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Aug 2, 2018

I'm told it has dedicated tutors, simulation lab equipment and a computer lab specifically for nursing classes.

We had those too, but it was not expected that you use the equipment or room. You were encouraged to use it if you needed the practice.

kbrn2002, ADN, RN · Aug 3, 2018

As long as the study lounge has computers and lab equipment take advantage of those resources. You won't be expected by anybody to join a group if you are on a computer so you can utilize that to study solo. You can also utilize lab equipment solo or in a group of 2 or 3. When you do join a study group it helps to keep in relatively small. No more than 3 or at most 4 people, any group bigger than that is difficult to keep focused and is much more likely to turn into a social hour. That being said though, don't ignore socializing occasionally. It does help to chat and sometimes vent about the things you are all going through together. I found an occasional vent session made refocusing easier.