”We have always worked with study groups. However, in recent years, we have approached them more intentionally, as we, as teachers, are very aware of the importance of study groups both existing and functioning well,” says Tove Hedegaard Jørgensen, Associate Professor and Deputy Head of Department for Education at the Department of Biology, who coordinates the department’s initiatives related to study groups.

The organisation of study groups at the Department of Biology in recent years

Over the past five years, the department has followed a model in which tutors, teachers, and student instructors collaborate on supporting and coordinating study groups. On the very first day of the programme, tutors introduce the new students to the concept of study groups, explain their importance, and discuss how they can be used. In previous semesters, the model was that students worked within these study groups throughout the whole first semester. After that, they could, if they wished, form new groups on their own.

“In addition, in the first semester, we have a module on study strategies that is linked to some teaching activities in a course. Many of these activities are out-of-class, where students work with preparatory material in their study groups and then try out different techniques during the course. We have also had a few activities within the subject-specific courses that were connected to the study groups,” explains Tove Hedegaard Jørgensen.

During small class teaching, there was also a strong focus on creating varied group constellations, ranging from two to four people, and mixing them across the class, so that students continuously worked together in different groups with different peers. In contrast to this, the study groups were intended as a fixed constellation that students could use for activities such as preparing for classes and studying for exams.

“In the second semester, in the early part of spring, we have a mentorship programme. Here, the mentors engage with the study groups and talk to the students about their experiences: ‘How are the groups working now?’ ‘Are they still using the same groups, or have they formed new ones?’ In this way, the experiences from the first semester are noticed and discussed,” she explains.

Experiences from the Department of Computer Science inspire new evaluation methods

The Department of Biology conducts regular anonymous surveys to evaluate students’ outcomes from study group collaboration. Overall, satisfaction has consistently been high at around 80% each year.

“At one point, we also asked the students in the fourth semester whether they had a study group for activities such as exam preparation. Around 65–70% replied that they were working in a study group in one way or another. We were actually surprised to see that many of them still had one or more members from their original, randomly formed study group from the first semester. This gave us the impression that the model was working quite well,” elaborates Tove Hedegaard Jørgensen.

Over the past few years, as part of the retention strategy at Natural Sciences, the faculty’s Student Retention Forum has discussed how to further develop the use of study groups within the degree programmes. Among other initiatives, this led to a study carried out by the CED on study group dynamics at the Department of Computer Science. In the report from 2023, the CED presented five recommendations for how to strengthen work with study groups even further. This, in turn, inspired the Department of Biology to follow suit:

“We were inspired by the focus group interviews in the study, which the Department of Computer Science had asked the CED to conduct, about how their students use study groups and what they think of them. The report clearly showed how much additional insight can be gained through qualitative studies. Our own figures did show that our model was working quite well and that we could be encouraged by the results. But we did not actually know how the students were using their groups or what they thought about them. We were not facing a critical situation, but we wanted to gain a proper understanding of how the study groups functioned,” explains Tove Hedegaard Jørgensen.

A qualitative study reveals new insights

The study conducted by the CED is based on six focus group interviews with a total of 51 students, both those who are and those who are not part of study groups, from the second and fourth semesters. When asked about the most surprising findings from the study, Tove Hedegaard Jørgensen explains:

“One thing that surprised us was that the students primarily viewed the study groups as something they could use for exam preparation. That is not the intention. They are not meant to be used for that purpose alone. We very much hope that they also make academic use of them during the semester, and that the groups serve as a space where students can get feedback, support, and encouragement in their academic work.”

She points out that the main goal is for students to experience a sense of mastery in what they are working on, something that is particularly important for retention during the first year of study.

“Ideally, they should have the experience of experiencing that ‘Yes, I can do this. I belong here. It is okay for me to be here.’ The study group can play a key role in building or strengthening that feeling. Part of being in a study group is hearing other students express the same doubts, problems, and challenges that you yourself are facing,” emphasises Tove Hedegaard Jørgensen.

The CED’s study showed that the activities developed by the Department of Biology for first-semester teaching and linked to the study groups were not perceived by the students as something that helped consolidate the groups. These activities did not have the same impact on the students as the teachers had expected.

Another aspect that Tove Hedegaard Jørgensen noted in the study was that students wanted the opportunity to try out more group constellations in the first semester. Several students suggested introducing the possibility of rotation or evaluation of the groups during the semester.

Changes based on the study’s recommendations

Based on the study conducted by the CED, the teaching group and the teaching committee at the Department of Biology decided to revise the model for study group work. Among other things, to address the students’ request for rotation within the study groups, students this semester worked in randomly composed study groups for the first four weeks, followed by new randomly composed groups for the next three weeks.

Before week 42, when the department had a teaching break, students were allowed to select up to four fellow students from the same class with whom they wished to form a permanent study group. The allocation of these new groups was organised centrally within the degree programme. The new study groups will continue for the rest of the semester. Next year, students will be able to decide for themselves whether they wish to remain in their current group or not.

To encourage students to use their study groups for more than exam preparation, the teaching group has worked to include even more elements in the teaching that the study groups can engage with out of class.:

“We already had some of these elements, but they were not explicit enough. Now we try to be much more explicit by suggesting concrete activities in all courses. For example, ‘when you meet in your study group, you could create an overview of this topic,’ or ‘work on these exercises, as they will help prepare you for the small class teaching.’ We are not telling them what to do but giving very concrete suggestions for what they might focus on when they meet,” explains Tove Hedegaard Jørgensen.

There are also specific touchpoints throughout the semester when study group work is addressed directly in class. For instance, just after the autumn break, when students have started in their final fixed study group, the class takes time to have a shared discussion about study group work to highlight its importance, among other things.

At a more general level, the Department of Biology has also decided to establish formal principles for study groups within the department. The degree programme has prepared a document to ensure that students are provided with a shared framework, while also giving teachers something to rely on so that everyone works according to the same principles.

The CED offers methodological and pedagogical expertise

“The recommendations from the CED were concrete and immediately actionable. They made it very clear what we could focus on and how to approach it. This saved us a great deal of work and prevented us from fumbling in the dark for solutions in an area where we are not experts,” explains Tove Hedegaard Jørgensen about the collaboration with the CED.

She explains that the competencies and resources required for this type of study are not locally available, which makes it highly valuable to involve the CED. She highlights the methodological and pedagogical expertise that the CED contributed:

“It gives a completely different level of quality than if we had done it ourselves. There is immense value in bringing in people who know the study environment well but are not part of it. It is an opportunity I think everyone should take advantage of.”

If you would also like to have your local practices for the use of study groups reviewed, you are always welcome to contact us for an informal chat.