Study groups foster a sense of community

Whole-class activities certainly play an important role in most classrooms, but for many students such activities feel impersonal.  They remain disengaged. Some students are too timid to speak in front of a large group. Feeling vulnerable and exposed is not conducive to learning.

The smaller scale of study groups provides a sheltered venue for doing the work of learning.  This promotes trust between students, a sense of belonging, and, eventually, a sense of responsibility to other group members.  In other words, study groups help create a sense of community.

Study groups integrate socializing and learning

In a traditional classroom, the flow is from the experts (teacher and textbook) to the amateurs (students).  As a result, socializing is considered antithetical to learning, an impediment that is frowned on, even punished.  This often leads to unnecessary power struggles that undermine the teacher-student relationship. Students can instead be taught that, if done well, socializing can be productive.

Study groups help dismantle the bell curve and allow the academic wealth in the room to be shared

Many classroom activities inadvertently promote academic competition between students, particularly among the most successful.  When there is a range of ability in a room (which is almost always the case), the fact that some students have already mastered the material and some haven’t is often seen as a problem.  How should a teacher steer the class so that some students aren’t bored and others aren’t falling behind?  

Study groups offer one solution to this ubiquitous problem; in fact, they turn it into an advantage, boosting self-directed learning in the process.  Students who understand the material become teachers, thereby deepening their understanding as they work with other students. On the other hand, students who are struggling have access to help that is personal and non-threatening.  When study groups function well, more teaching and more learning result. 

Study groups encourage engagement

For many students, asking a question in a whole-class setting is too similar to public speaking and can provoke serious anxiety.  Others are afraid of making a mistake publicly or appearing “dumb” in front of their peers. In a smaller group, even a shy person is more likely to ask questions without undue fear.  Conversations in small groups are often more energetic and enthusiastic than those of whole classes because more students feel comfortable and volunteer to participate.

Study groups provide a safe haven for taking risks and learning from mistakes 

Students need a place to share difficulties and even failures without embarrassment.  Having a small enough group, particularly once trust has been developed, allows students to find the courage to admit they may not understand the material.  Above all, in study groups students can take risks and actively learn from their mistakes. A constructive response to mistakes and failures is a prerequisite to self-directed learning and a powerful character trait in life.  Study groups can often be arenas in which students learn these vital skills.

Study groups foster the skills of collaboration, leadership, and self-governance

As students learn to trust and rely on each other, they also discover how to help each other more effectively and how to work well as a group.  Rather than relying on an outside authority to police them and keep them on task, they become self-regulating. Learning to listen and respond to others, anticipating when something needs to happen and taking charge of it, are skills that are useful in school and in life.

Study groups foster richer and more resilient learning

Because study group discussions engage students socially, new ideas have more depth and personal context than when they are learned by listening to a lecture or reading.  Concepts are linked to emotional and physical experiences, which makes them easier to retrieve. Ideas learned by talking and listening tend to become long term memories—in other words, they are learned instead of memorized.

Study groups help establish a common purpose for the class

It is easier to believe that “we are all in this together” in a small group.  Students can internalize the goal of working towards the success of everyone in their group more quickly than they might in a whole class situation.  Study groups can help a class reach a critical mass of buy-in for this goal sooner. Study groups can also be successful in drawing in stragglers and skeptics who will feel more peer pressure from within their group than they do from the whole class.

Working towards a common purpose is the antidote to the academic selfishness often found when students are doing school.  Rather than competing for points, students now have a reason to pay attention to the needs of others.