A range of academic abilities, motivation, and social skills

“Sharing the wealth” means that teaching and learning are going on regularly within a study group.  Every member brings strengths and weaknesses to the table. The student who writes well may not be an assertive leader.  Someone who does well on tests may be hopeless at organizing a hands-on experience. If there is diversity within the group, it becomes more likely that every member can offer something of value.  Every student, not just those who get good grades, can feel useful and respected.

The optimal size

Groups needs to be big enough to have the social energy to drive learning, yet small enough for shy students to feel free to speak and ask questions.  A study group should be large enough to contain strengths in various domains—leadership, test taking, problem-solving, hands-on activities, writing, organizing, etc.  It should also be small enough to ensure participation by all members.  

The optimal size depends on the maturity level of the students, the types of activities they will be typically doing, and the diversity of skill levels in the room.  It also depends on the teacher’s tolerance for noise—conversations in larger groups tend to be louder.

Groups with fewer than four members are vulnerable to student absences.  Groups larger than six tend to have more sidebar conversations and may cause quiet students to participate less.  They also tend to break into subgroups and parallel conversations more often.

Round is better than rectangular

The shape of a groups seating arrangement strongly affects the dynamics of conversations.  Straight line seating induces conversations that are limited to neighbors left and right. If a student can see every person in a group, he is more likely to be engaged in a discussion with the whole group.

Permanent vs. rotating groups

As described above, randomly shuffling groups is a useful strategy at the start of the year.  At some point, however, students need stability in order to develop a sense of belonging and trust.  In general, there needs to be a transition to permanent study groups as soon as students have had the opportunity to experience working with and getting to know all their classmates.  The timing of that transition depends, of course, on the class size and composition, and the readiness of the students. It is one of the interesting challenges in forming study groups.