Study groups – etiquette

In this section we provide guidelines that you can give to students on how to conduct themselves in study groups. To ensure your study group sessions run smoothly and you have good/healthy group dynamics, we suggest sharing this etiquette guidance on attendance and participation, behaviour and the role of the chair.

Attendance and participation

Students are expected to attend their weekly meetings whenever possible.

Students are expected to come to the study group prepared. Preparation for each session is likely to be the same as the weekly reading for each module and so should not increase the student’s workload.

The study group should create an environment where learning is not seen as competitive, but a collaborative endeavour. When we communicate our learning with others, we reinforce our understanding.

All students should feel welcomed into the group. While preparatory reading/study is expected of each group member, students should not feel obligated to present on a subject if they don’t feel comfortable.

Behaviour

Students are expected to be inclusive. Working with others is not always easy, but students should embrace differences and use it as an opportunity to practice communication skills.

Students can change groups but should do their best to make the group work and do not exclude peers despite personal differences.

It is the chair’s responsibility to ensure that all students have an opportunity to participate within the group.

If the study group is online, students can be signposted to further online etiquette guidelines, which can be found on the University of Sussex Guidelines for Online Behaviour.

Studying together is beneficial for many reasons. However, students should not work on assessments together (unless it is group work) as this is considered collusion. The Skills Hub states that “collusion means working on an assessment with someone else. Unless it is made explicitly clear that you have been given a joint assessment, you should never work directly with other students on your module or anyone else when creating your work. Collusion could occur if you and your peers discuss an assessment you are doing in too much detail.” For more information please find the University guidelines for avoiding collusion .

The role of the chair

All students will have the opportunity to chair study group sessions. Though this task may seem daunting to some, it will help to develop excellent transferable skills, such as time management, the ability to work with others and the confidence to communicate clearly. As chair, it is important to:

Keep the session running to time
Stay focused on the goals of the session (i.e. the learning outcomes)
Ensure all participants have the opportunity to contribute
Summarise the output for each session