Get off to a good start with your teamwork and get the best out of your study group.
The study group's work
5 questions on study groups
Find answers to some of the most common questions that other students have regarding study groups.
Study group work is a significant part of being a student at a student at a higher education in the humanities.
To be a part of a study group can enhance your learning, your motivation towards your studies and your feeling of belonging. Study group work can train you in collaborating with others – a competency that will come to your advantage in many other contexts – especially in your work life.
When you work together as a group, you use each other’s different competencies to create better results than you would have been able to on your own. Or at least that is the point with study groups, but we know that it takes a lot of work to get a study group to function properly.
That is why we have created this guide to study groups. So that you will have the support needed to get the best out of your teamwork.A study group can work together in many ways and with many different purposes. You can use your study group to prepare for classes or exams or you can work together on a specific assignment.
In the study group you can test and apply what you learned in class. When you are working actively with the material you will obtain a greater understanding of it. Read more on how you can use a study group.
Whether or not you can change study group depends on which programme you are studying and what the purpose of the study group is.
But before you do, consider carefully what your reasons for wanting to change study group are. It can be tempting to change group, because you want to form a new group with your friends. And it is completely normal to want to associate with those who resemble you. When we encounter someone different, it can seem wrong to us. What we know appears positive and what we don’t know can appear negative.
But actually it is your differences in a study group than can become your greatest strength.
The growing complexity in society and in the tasks you will work with, requires that we become better at utilizing our differences. No complex issue can be fully understood from a single perspective.
Differences can create misunderstandings, bad communication and sometimes also conflicts. But there is an equal positive potential in differences. Differences can create greater efficiency, new solutions, and innovative development. The crucial aspect lies in how we perceive, articulate, and handle the differences.
By giving your study group a chance despite your differences or disagreements, you actually have the potential to achieve even better results together than you can individually. Additionally, this collaboration allows you to acquire skills in teamwork that can benefit you in other contexts.
But before you do, consider carefully what your reasons for wanting to change study group are. It can be tempting to change group, because you want to form a new group with your friends. And it is completely normal to want to associate with those who resemble you. When we encounter someone different, it can seem wrong to us. What we know appears positive and what we don’t know can appear negative.
But actually it is your differences in a study group than can become your greatest strength.
The growing complexity in society and in the tasks you will work with, requires that we become better at utilizing our differences. No complex issue can be fully understood from a single perspective.
Differences can create misunderstandings, bad communication and sometimes also conflicts. But there is an equal positive potential in differences. Differences can create greater efficiency, new solutions, and innovative development. The crucial aspect lies in how we perceive, articulate, and handle the differences.
By giving your study group a chance despite your differences or disagreements, you actually have the potential to achieve even better results together than you can individually. Additionally, this collaboration allows you to acquire skills in teamwork that can benefit you in other contexts.
Have there been frictions within your group, or is the collaboration not going as smoothly as it should? If that’s the case, here are 3 things you can start out by doing:
1. Look at the resources available here in the study group guide – look under ‘Disagreements in the study group’
2. Contact your study group facilitator, if you have one in your programme
3. Contact The Student Guidance Service at the Faculty of Humanities for a session – either individual or as a group.
1. Look at the resources available here in the study group guide – look under ‘Disagreements in the study group’
2. Contact your study group facilitator, if you have one in your programme
3. Contact The Student Guidance Service at the Faculty of Humanities for a session – either individual or as a group.
If you are interested in knowing more about study groups and are looking for more inputs, have a look at:
Good advice for study groups habits
The material is made by The Student Guidance Service at the Faculty of Humanities with inspiration from Elisabeth Plum’s book ‘Teaming’ and Amy Edmondsons theory of psychological safety.