The cliché “No man is an island” is applicable to any life situation. Lots of good things can be accomplished by collaborating with other people as opposed to doing things alone. Students, in particular, can reap many benefits from studying as a group compared to having an individualized and isolated study session. Group study is positively good for students because it can, to name a few, encourage sharing of skills and resources, enhance student’s performance, and improve grades.
Not all students have the luxury to own school materials, such as books which are sometimes expensive. Students may not have access to school facilities, such as libraries, science laboratories, or computer rooms. Group studies give the student-participants the opportunity to share and use much needed resources. For instance, some students may need to use a computer and printer for their assignments or an Internet access to visit site and view their given projects. By pooling their resources together, students in a study group can help each other finish and submit their school work on time.
Study groups also permit students to unselfishly share their skills and abilities. The main reason why students join study groups is because they want to learn. Some students may have a hard time understanding the lecture by their professors during class. Because some professors talk too fast and write a lot on the blackboard, students can’t keep up with the fast-paced classroom sessions. Not all students are skillful in doing multi-tasking, like understanding what the teacher is talking about at the same time trying to write all the information on the notebook. How many of us wished we had a voice recorder so that we won’t miss anything? Because of the advancement in mobile technology, some professors allow their students to take pictures of notes on the board using smart phones instead of writing on notebooks. Although this saves a lot of time, other professors don’t allow such because it apparently makes students lazy.
There are times when students seemingly understand everything in the classroom but forget some details the moment they go home. In study groups, students, especially from the same class, can go over and review the lessons. It’s much better if one or two top performing students join the group so that they can help explain the more difficult subjects. When certain specific skills are required, such as computer programming to prevent facebook hack, then it won’t hurt if you invite more knowledgeable students to join the group.
How many of us have heard of the phrase “Two heads are better than one” over and over again? This is true in group studies where students are forced, in a good way, to change their study habits since they have to keep up the pace of the group. Students can help each other study and understand better a very hard lesson. When done properly and regularly, study groups can lead to the students’ improve performance in all subjects which will eventually lead to improvements in grades.