Studying is a numbers game – you have a certain amount of time which you devote to studying, and you want to maximize your returns by learning as much useful information in that time as possible.
Over the past few years I’ve participated in many study groups. One thing I have learned is that the size of your study group really does matter.
If you have too many people, there is too much noise, and a higher chance that there will be an outlier person who is consistently holding the group back (“Wait can you please explain that again?!”). You may be tempted to think that the more people at the study session, the better chance that there will be an expert in a particular subject present. That may be true, but in my experience the friction of too many diverse knowledge levels is far greater than the possible speed-ups of having more people present.
Alternatively, If you have too few people there is a high chance that there will be topics that nobody in your group understands the material. For example, if you’re studying for that big Chemistry exam and noone knows how to balance chemical equations, it will take much more time for everyone to look it up in the book than for a single expert (that is, the “expert” of your group being the person with the most knowledge on the subject) to explain it quickly and concisely to everyone at the study session.
For more information there is an interesting article about Effects of Group Size on Problem Solving, and computer security expert Bruce Schneier has some interesting observations about group dynamics as well.
The size of your study group does matter. The optimal size may be different based on class, personalities, etc. – just be sure to think about it when you’re planning your exam study groups.
Photo by Valley Library
