Study group work is a big part of studying for a higher education degree in the Humanities.

Being part of a study group can give you the opportunity to learn the academic material better, motivate you to study, and increase your sense of belonging at university. It also gives you the chance to learn how to collaborate with many different people – something that will also benefit you in other contexts, not least in your professional life.

When you work together in study groups, you use each other’s different skills to achieve better results than you could have done on your own. At least, that’s the idea behind study groups – but we know it takes quite a bit of effort to make a study group work well.
That’s why we have created these pages with guides and exercises to help you get the most out of your collaboration in the study group.

A study group can work together in many different ways and with many different purposes. You can use your study group to prepare for classes, get ready for exams, solve a specific assignment, and much more.

In the study group, you can test and apply what you learn in class. It is when you actively work with the material that you truly learn it.

Read more about the different ways you can use a study group.

Depending on your program and the purpose of the study group, it may or may not be possible to change groups, and different requirements may apply.

But before you switch, carefully consider why you are doing it. For example, it may be tempting to change groups because you want to be with your friends at university. And it is completely natural to want to seek out those who are similar to yourself. When we encounter something different, it may feel wrong to us. What we know feels positive, and what we don’t know can feel negative.

But in fact, your differences in a study group can also become your greatest strength.
The growing complexity of society and the tasks you will be working on requires us to get better at using our differences. No complex problem can be understood from just one perspective.

Differences can create misunderstandings, poor communication, and sometimes even conflicts. But the positive potential of differences is just as great. Differences can create greater efficiency, new solutions, and innovative development. What matters is how we view, discuss, and handle differences.

So by giving your study group a chance despite differences or disagreements, you actually have the potential together to achieve even better results than you could on your own – and at the same time gain collaboration skills that will benefit you in other contexts as well.

If tensions have arisen in your group, or if the collaboration simply isn’t working as well as it should, there are three things you can do to begin with:

1. You can look at the resources available here under ‘Disagreements in the study group’.
2. Reach out to your study group facilitator, if you have one in your program.
3. Contact the Student Guidance at Humanities for a conversation – either individually or as a group.
   
   

If you find the topic of study groups interesting and would like more input, take a look at:

• AU Studypedia
• The General Study Counselling Service at SDU’s podcast NB! It’s in Danish