When 'The Beatles' had sung 'I get by with a little help from my friends', they had probably never thought it could be associated with group study, an important part of exam preparations for a lot of college students. Metrolife speaks to students of different fields to ask whether this mode of study works for them.
When it comes to business schools, group study is, in fact, preferred over self-study. "Group study is the best way to revise before exams as it helps us in exchanging thoughts.
As different people interpret information in unique ways, it helps an individual to understand the concept from all angles and in depth, as each person would have specialised in different subjects," says Lahari, who is presently pursuing an MBA from CMRIT.
She adds, "Being friends, it's much easier to relate to and help each other. This, in turn, helps in team building and co-ordination, which is very important in the present business scenario. As a student, I find it more motivating to sit with my friends and study in a group of four or five, as we all have our strengths and weaknesses."
Group study has its own set of advantages and disadvantages. While it helps fill in learning gaps and is a sure way to beat procrastination, it could go drastically wrong if even one person is unmotivated or distracted.
For Harshita Chalam, a psychology student at Christ College, it is an easy method of learning that allows more information to be retained. "Group study enables better understanding, as we tend
to learn better from our peers.
We get to know of our shortcomings and how to improve on them, which boosts our self-confidence before
appearing for exams," she notes.
This method is especially useful for medical students because their field of study requires a great deal of memorisation of facts. But for fine art students, it obviously serves no purpose.
"At our college, we are given creative projects to work on within a stipulated timeframe. Working with others only happens in group assignments, which are usually avoided as it's hard to grade an individual student's contribution," shares Meghana, a student of Srishti School of Art, Design and
Technology.
Group study is certainly a way of making learning more fun and interesting — as long as everyone's on the same page.