Having started college in the spring semester of last year, I was extremely overwhelmed and unsure of what was to be expected as a student. Each professor asks for a range of involvement in class and outside. I found it very useful for other students and myself to help each other in study groups. Last semester everyone involved with the study group that we organized in lab, earned an A in Dr. Meyers 120 Dynamic Earth. I feel that if you follow these steps you can earn the same. It is completely up to you how you choose to study. I would like to lend some advice as far as what helped the groups I studied with and the guidelines we tried to follow as much as possible.

1) DO NOT work in groups with your friends. It seems to take away from actual "study time". The point of your groups should be to help each other figure out things together, not to talk about what shows were on television last night or gossip. Don't get me wrong you can have down time and chat about out of class stuff, but try and keep it to a small percentage of your time and this group will be useful. Pick people that you might not normally associate yourself with; this will cut down of the small talk and keep you focused.

2) Keep the groups small, 4-6 people seemed to work best. Too many people, too much trouble keeping everyone focused and on task. This leads to my next point.

3) Stay productive. Speaking for myself, my time is valuable. I have tons of schoolwork, job, home life, and hobbies that I could be doing instead of sitting on campus in an unproductive study group. Focus, get your work done, and help each other out. This will free up time for the things I listed before.

4) Do your own work and Keep up on your reading. The purpose of these groups is to bounce ideas off of each other and to help each other when you are struggling. It is NOT a place to go unprepared expecting someone to bring you up to speed with where the rest of group is. DON'T be that person! NOBODY likes lazy people. You need to be able to bring something to the group.

5) Meet after class/lecture. This way the information is fresh on your mind and if you have any questions about your notes or something you may not have understood in lecture it is still fresh. This is also a good time to work on assignments and warm-ups. I found it useful when working on new ideas for the warm-ups it was very valuable for me to bounce ideas or how I interpreted ideas off of others. Make sure you are putting warm-ups and assignments in your own words, if not you WILL lose credit and then you have wasted time and a grade. Compare notes from lecture and make sure that you all have the same things written down. If there is any confusion as to what was said DO NOT be afraid to approach the Prof. They are more than willing to help if you are showing you are putting forth effort for the grades you are earning.

If you are willing to invest your time and effort make sure that everyone else is as well.