Good advice for the study group facilitator

Facilitating is about making a (learning)process easier.

As a facilitator you do that by working out a purpose for meeting, making an agenda (exercises, involvement, time, structure) and making sure that the purpose is properly communicated, and expectations are aligned with the study groups.

As a facilitator you also have to understand the atmosphere in the groups and find out what they need.

There are a lot of ways to be a study group. At SDU we want the study groups to be a learning community that contains of joint effort and joint ownership. The focus is not only on the result, but more on the process.

As a facilitator there are three things you must keep track of:

1. Purpose: Why?
   (why do they have to meet/why do they have to come)

    

2. Result: What?
   (What are they supposed to get out of it)

    

3. Preparation and agenda

Under each topic here at the study group guide you will find exercises that you can do with the study groups.

There are exercises for the start-up phase, where there are focus on alignment of expectations and exercises for the ongoing work with study groups such as evaluation. But there are also exercises here if a group is experiencing conflicts.

1. Have a talk with your head of studies on your role as a study group facilitator:
   What are the expectations?
   What is possible?
   How are the study groups used at your programme?

    

2. Meet with the students:
   Tell them about how study groups works at a higher education, tell them about your programme and get them off to a good start with their teamwork.
   Do the exercises on alignment of expectations. Also tell them about your role and how they can contact you.

    

3. Have ongoing contact with the study groups:
   How is it going with the collaboration? Do they need some adjustments in their agreements? Are there any disagreements or conflicts that has to be handled?
   Consider why it is valuable for the groups to communicate with you. What do you contribute with? And share your thoughts with them!

    

4. At the end of the semester – get an overview of the groups: Are there groups that have lost too many members?
   Discuss the study group status with the head of studies.
   Talk with the study groups on how they can use each other effectively in the exam period, and give them time to evaluate their collaboration: What have they learned so far?

It’s important that you as the facilitator makes sure that everyone gets the opportunity to speak up. Not everyone may have something to say, but they should have the possibility.

It can create confusion if you ask too many questions at the same time. Make sure you only ask one question at a time and make room for the groups to answer.

Some are fast-thinkers and can give you an answer right away, while others may need some time to think before they answer. Make room for both types.

Open questions are those you can’t answer with a yes or a no. The trick is to as open questions that can start a dialog about a certain topic.

The questions you ask must revolve around the topic. In the meetings you have with the groups it is important to separate the groups social life from their academic life.

As a facilitator it is you who determines the process. It’s a good think if you ask clarifying questions to the things the study group members say. Be curious to hear and understand their perspective on a text or a subject.

What is the next item on the agenda? What should happen next? It’s important that you keep track of the agenda, but it can also be a good idea to be transparent and inform the groups on what will follow.

Keep track of the agenda and the points and agreements that has come up. Always conclude with a summary of the meeting.

Conflicts typically starts because of an emotion. Emotions are the way we choose to perceive what others say and do.

Here are 3 tips on how you can engage with a study group in conflict:

1. Ask how they want to solve the conflict. Let the group take responsibility for possible solutions.

    

2. Agree on the terms of the conversation or actions. You determine the process.

    

3. Be curious, not judgmental. You are not the judge of their conflict.

Be appreciative, curious, and empathetic. But know your limit! You are also helping by guiding the group or a student to contact e.g. the head of studies, the teacher or the Student Guidance Office.

Psychological safety is the feeling that we can be who we are. It’s that we trust that we can ask questions, take chances, seek help, discuss mistakes, and express our opinions without being ridiculed, exposed or excluded. All these things are necessary for us humans to learn.

When we are able to do those things in our study group, we will be more willing to take risks and be creative which releases energy and enhances our engagement and motivation.

Both the study group as a whole and the individual member will thrive better and create better results.

If you want to have psychological safety in a group, the ingredients are: curiosity, involvement, recognition, invitation, listen before speaking, interest, feedback, constructive confrontations, sincerity and so on…

As a facilitator you can contribute to the psychological safety in the groups by leading by example. Talk openly about challenges with being in a group and ask for feedback on your role as the facilitator and inputs to improving your meetings.

We’ve made some study group cards that deals with dilemmas that study groups can face.

By presenting them to the study groups you can facilitate a way for them to get to know each other, align expectations and face some difficult conversations before there are emotions involved.

Find the study group cards here.