THE PAINFUL memory of endless hours of studying for midterms is quickly fading away for most students at the University. Students and professors should take this moment of calm between midterms and finals to rethink one aspect of studying: study groups.
We all get those annoyingly desperate e-mails on our class lists that ask us to join study groups and then 30 seconds later get another e-mail saying that those groups are full. These groups usually consist of a large number of students splitting up and summarizing the course's readings or lectures and e-mailing them to each other.
There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but problems can occur when students start relying exclusively on these study groups for all of their studying for a particular class. The purpose of attending any university is to learn in depth the material we are studying, and using study groups just to get decent grades by last-minute cramming defeats this purpose. Students should form study groups because they can help with learning and reviewing for a test, but students should be careful not to use them to get around actually learning material for a class.
The problem with studying for a class by relying on study groups is that students may get decent grades, but they do not truly learn the material. The only way to get in-depth knowledge of a particular topic in a class is to do most of the readings and attend all the lectures. Doing these things allows students to make connections and see the bigger picture, which is not possible if students just focus on the basic details the study groups provide.
The inappropriate use of study groups gives certain students an unfair advantage in a class. It cheats those students who do all of the work for a class themselves by allowing other students to get similar grades for doing much less work. This problem is the most acute in classes that grade on a curve because the performance of the class is much higher than it should be.
Instead of using study groups just to get around studying for a class, study groups can have a positive impact if they are used well. As Politics Prof. William Quandt puts it, "If they do serve a purpose, it is by offering one more way of trying to absorb certain kinds of factual information ... just plain reviewing, like learning vocabulary for a foreign language -- and reviewing main ideas, concepts, theories and trying out interpretations and getting some feedback."
Notice what Quandt does not say: that they are a good way to study for a test if you have done none of the work for a class. All of the benefits Quandt mentions occur only after students take time to study for themselves.
Most of us spend thousands of dollars each year to attend the University, and our main goal should be to get a solid, enduring education. We are only cheating ourselves out of a quality learning experience when we rely on these study groups to just get good grades in a class. Our focus should be actually learning the materials we are studying. That does not mean we should not care about getting good grades, but we should realize that learning goes hand in hand with getting good grades.
Study groups can help us achieve this goal, but students should make sure they do not use these groups just to do the least amount of work possible.
So the next time you get an e-mail about a study group, make sure that you use these groups to enhance your studying experience instead of to undermine it.
Sam Shirazi's column appears Mondays in The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at sshirazi@cavalierdaily.com.
Read More
EDITORIAL: Scapegoating students will not stop hazing
By Editorial Board | 2 days agoInstead of retroactively responding to extreme hazing allegations, we, and especially the University, must begin asking more probing questions about the role of fraternal organizations on Grounds.
EDITORIAL: Celebrating and reflecting on The Cavalier Daily’s independence
By Editorial Board | April 18, 2024Our independence grants us the ability to ask the hard questions and to say what University representatives cannot.
ARRAS: U.Va. must revise the Sexual Assault Prevention Training module
By Aoife Arras | April 17, 2024In addition to its failures in interactivity, the module lacks details specific to the University and discusses key concepts in universal terms.
