Study Skills Guide: Organizing a Study Group | Print |



ORGANIZING A STUDY GROUP


This guide is suggested to help you prepare for an exam, especially a Mid-Term or Final Exam. If you want to be successful, you should focus on the key concepts for each Unit of study. This guide will help you to organize yourself and the other members of your group, so that you will not feel overwhelmed. Don't wait until the last day before an exam to begin your study plan. You can also use the same methods outlined in this guide to prepare yourself for other subjects, by modifying it yourself to fit the key concepts you must cover.

Don't expect that it will be easy, because it won't be. But, if you are persistent, you likely will be successful and confident going into the exam.

Part A ... Choosing Your Group Members

1. An ideal number of members for a Science Study Group is 6, but you can work with less or more. 6 is the number that best fits, because there are 6 topics in each Unit of study and each member would do indepth work on one topic.

2. Make sure that each member of your study group knows what is expected and you are confident that they will take their responsibility seriously. Choosing who will be a part of your group is vital to success.

3. Set your timeline, which should include time for each member to do their review and preparation for the group sharing meeting. (make sure that your timeline is realistic and will be followed by everyone in your group - take into account commitments that everyone has and plan around them)

Part B ...Preparation of materials

1. Collect past tests and activities (ie:. Graphing Project, Article Reviews, Topic Quizzes)
2. You will need your notebook and Lab Notebook to do some of the activities
3. You will definitely need your textbook (Science Directions 9)
4. You will need to have writing and calculating materials
5. You will need your list of Key Concepts for the Unit or Units you are covering (Check the Key Concepts on the Science Web Site - Student Resources - Notes - to locate the 'Focus' for each unit)
6. You will need to have this study guide, so print off a copy to use a reference.

Part C ... Assign the Workload

Note: Don't expect to do everything outlined in this guide in one evening, or over one weekend. You should begin to organize your time now, so that you will be able to complete all the activities in plenty of time to relax and enjoy life the last few days before your exam.
(Getting lots of rest just before the exam will help you stay focused and be under less stress the day of the exam, because you will be confident you are ready to tackle anything thrown at you).

Assign one topic to each member of your study group. (That is of course, if you have 6 members, otherwise, divide the topics up evenly among the group members)

Their responsibility is to go over that topic by covering the notes, labs, textbook details, previously asked questions that relate to their topic and related information (ie. websites) that were visited in class or on their own when their topic was being taught.

Part D ... Do Your Thing

Review each of the Key Concepts for your assigned topic. Reflect on which ones seemed to give you the most problems. Begin with those first! For each key concept, follow these steps:

Step 1 ... Create a concept map for the Key Concept.
-include textbook page references, lab numbers, activity and/or project references where support information can be found for each sub-statement of the Key Concept you are working on.

Step 2 ... Locate questions from past tests and or projects that relate to this key concept.
-cut and paste them together and put them on the back of the concept map page.

Step 3 ... Create your own questions for each of the concepts you are covering.
-try to think of other practical applications that will help you remember the context and ultimately the answers you are looking for.

Step 4 ... Meet with your study group members and Re-Teach each other.
-present the information you want them to recall and then test them using the questions you have gathered and the extra ones you have made.

Step 5 ... Make sure that everyone in your group is able to ask questions and get answers about the concepts in your topic.
-you will need to make sure that everyone has a copy of the review you have prepared and the questions you have used (with the correct answers)

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