The Foundation of

Study Groups

Friends & Formation

Forming a study group can prove to be beneficial for all included, however, there are a few things that one should take into account before rounding up people to make one. While it's not a remotely complex process, creating a bad study group can hinder more than it can help.

Below, I’ve highlighted a few tips to keep in mind and ideas to use when gathering people to form a study group, and while my suggestions outline “ideals”, they’re flexible and applicable to many people and situations.

Formation

Choose the right people: While having sociable and fun friends may make a study session more entertaining, you should focus on inviting those with a more oriented sense of mind. Having people who are talkative enough to aid others, but committed enough to learn, are the people you can trust to study alongside. Furthermore, you should look to invite people with complementary strengths so that each person in the group can cover for another’s weakness.
Keep the group small (2-4): Ideally, a study group should be between 2 and 4 people. Maintaining an even number ensures that groups can not only study as a whole, but also be able to divide into pairs to tackle certain topics or concepts. Additionally, the smaller the number, the more manageable and mobile the group is.

Conduction

Location: As a group, collectively decide a place to study that is spacious and easily accessible. This location should also be void of distractions, but comfortable.
Divide responsibilities: Again, as a group, collectively divide responsibilities in terms of group management. This means having someone to keep track of time and pace the group, another to note specific areas of respective weakness, and one to facilitate study by keeping everyone on track.
Use active study techniques: While individual study and group study techniques may differ in process, the methodology is almost identical. To make group study productive, try to utilize flashcard games, perform mock tests, teach each other less understood concepts, and do practice problems together.
Plan a schedule and structure: When deciding on the next date of meeting, ideally pick days and times when everyone is available. However, you should also aim to make such days consistent, as in daily, bidaily, weekly, etc. This should also include a relative “structure” of the study time, blocking times for certain activities or subjects.

Optional Extras

Reflect: Every few weeks, it’s always good to get together and reflect on what you all as a group collectively accomplished and learned. During this time, if you notice a lack of productivity or progress, it may be a sign to change a thing or two in your study group practice.
Bring snacks: Bringing a beverage, like water or juice, is a given, but everyone should also bring light snacks for breaks or energy, especially if the study session is long. Though, avoid bringing meals or foods with moderately high sugar, carbohydrates, or grease.
Invite a tutor: While it may not be necessary, it never hurts to invite someone of expertise. Having a person who can teach a subject well and aid in group focus is particularly useful in areas where everyone collectively struggles in.