Does a study buddy work for you? Conducting a study style assessment can provide insight into whether you prefer to study alone or with others. If you prefer to work in groups, working with a partner or even a group can be a great way to get a little extra dissertation assistance.
Even if you prefer to work alone, you may find that a study buddy is useful in certain situations and circumstances during your dissertation or thesis writing journey, such as forecasting test questions for your comprehensive exams or having a second person review your statistical analysis or final dissertation editing. Part of the reason for this is that different people have different ideas about what to do.
There are few people who want to work alone, while most others tend to prefer to work in teams (and some even choose the additional support of a dissertation consultant or coach). Just as a coin has two sides, doing work individually and working with others will each have its own pros and cons.
Advantages
One of the biggest advantages of working alongside a fellow student to provide each other with dissertation assistance is the advantage of avoiding the big P word – procrastination, that is. If you like to postpone studying, you can do yourself a great favor by finding a study buddy. Having someone who will help keep you on task can help you a lot.
In addition, having a sense of commitment with your partner can be a big motivation to help you prepare better on your own.
Moreover, if you have another student with whom you can learn, you will be more likely to expand the scope of your research (which can be particularly helpful when drafting the literature review, for example). The answers to the questions will also vary a little bit, giving you additional thoughts for your own answers.
You can also engage in active learning by discussing information about content and participating in the learning process. As this is the case, the ability to explain content to another person is often a powerful way to deepen one’s own understanding, and we find many doctoral candidates find this kind of practice helpful during their preparations for dissertation defense, in particular.
You may feel under pressure to produce your fair share in order to impress other members of the group. Don’t be caught in this unnecessary stress. The purpose of having a study buddy or group is ultimately that each of you work as a team and to share responsibilities, learn from each other, and give each other the invaluable dissertation help of keeping everyone stay on track to meet your writing goals and deadlines.
Not only is this the case, but the routine work of collecting study materials can also be shared when you have a fellow study partner. Therefore, the tasks of creating study materials and the outline of assignments can be shared among the group.
Not only this, but having a discussion together about the content helps each of you to bring more information into your long-term memory and connect with the bigger picture.
Another advantage of a study partner is that you can learn faster. If one goal is confusing or the age is overwhelming for one student (say qualitative analysis), chances are your partner may have a different perspective.
With a fellow student, instead of spending your precious time reflecting on difficulties, you can learn quickly by asking a question.
Not only will you learn faster, but you’ll also get new perspectives. If you study alone, you will always look at your material from the same perspective.
Remember, the discussion of different points of view for interpretation and analysis is extremely important in your dissertation or thesis writing, especially in the literature review and discussion sections, and obtaining new perspectives on a subject can help you learn it more deeply. Additionally, not only will you learn how to discuss your topic in greater depth, but you will also learn new skills entirely.
Two, three, four or more heads are always better than one. When you join a dissertation study group or hire a dissertation coach or consultant, you have the opportunity to observe a wide range of study methods and after looking at the advantages and disadvantages, you can improve your own learning plan by integrating the best methods with your own.
In addition, you can help your fellow study buddies improve by sharing your favorite tricks to meet your goals or your top websites or videos when you need a little dissertation help. Towards this end, the learning group will also help you integrate a variety of learning methods such as language, hearing, visual and kinesthetic learning, all the more powerful to help you master the content and complete your research.
So having a fellow student is a great way to find such new perspectives. As you listen and ask questions, you will soon begin to notice a wide variety of different points of view on the same idea. Even a group of two students generate a lot of options for an opposing view. The discussion of these points of view will help you to better understand the content and prepare you for a more thorough analysis of your goal.
It ultimately forces you to think more about your position and thus develop your critical thinking skills while helping you learn more content and move it into long – term memory. You can also see that people in a group are more likely to continue learning new things from each other. This is because all people who work in groups have their own ideas, from which others can learn so much.
Having a study buddy will help you fill the gaps in learning. By comparing notes, tutorials and activities with other students, you can assess your own understanding, correct mistakes and gain ideas for dissertation help.
The collaborative aspect of study groups is very beneficial for developing skills and learning content—we particularly recommend brainstorm sessions during the topic development phase, during which an open mind can really help you hit on the core problem statement that will guide your quantitative or qualitative research. Remember, when content is extensive, collaborate and expand your knowledge and understanding.
Then there’s breaking the monotony. Self-study, especially for long periods of time, can become a boring activity that stuns the brain. If you are easily distracted or tend to lose focus relatively easily, a group of study partners can really help. Because of the social aspect of the study group, you always have someone to discuss the subject with when you start fighting mentally or find the tasks for the day boring.
While study groups may eventually become distracted, a motivated group directs and continues to learn on the target. Sharing your work helps you stay on task and gives you additional ideas. However, remember that studying someone else’s worksheets or sketches is not as good for learning information as creating them from scratch.
Productivity has also been cited as an advantage to having a study partner. In addition, one of the main benefits of working with a partner is that it helps to increase the overall impact. When working in a group, everyone works together to use the best of their skills to ensure high quality results. It will also ensure that the quality of production has not been compromised while working as a team. This may be one of the best advantages of teamwork for doctoral candidates seeking some extra dissertation assistance.
Another thing to be aware of is that as more and more people join the group, resources are also increasing which is one of the advantages of teamwork. For example, as more and more people are added, your overall ability increases. In addition to the skills gained, each new person’s experience is also added to the group. Perhaps your newest group member is expert in APA editing—imagine how much time you’ll save when you need to perform dissertation editing!
We can find that the flow of conversation or communication is seamless and effortless among group members. This contributes greatly to their individual success, given the fact that it can also be described as a group discussion.
When you work in a group, everyone has the opportunity to come up with their own ideas and suggestions, giving way to new methods of completing the job (in this case, dissertation or thesis writing), correctly. As such each of them can work for their own and each other’s success and provide dissertation help to the group.
Finally, there is the advantage of commitment. When a person is involved in teamwork, the individual can continue to encourage and support the achievements as a group. Someone who is fully committed to the task at hand and in the team will also ensure that they are there to do the work, which is known as a total team commitment. These people typically become group leaders and are invaluable as a dissertation coach.
Disadvantages of Study Groups:
Unless everyone is serious, group learning can often turn into social events where there is very little research. Additionally, studying with another person who has a negative attitude will work against you. Moreover, the mentality that not everyone can fail is common, and fatal.
If the others are well above your own level, you will soon be left in the dust and more discouraged than ever. On the other hand, if the other students are too far below your level, you may feel like you are the “Brains” of the group, and yet lack the challenge of other minds as an encouragement to you.
In addition, if another member of the group has not prepared for group sessions by studying alone or bringing materials or tasks to complete for their own dissertation or thesis writing, your time may not be used effectively in-group meetings. If you study with someone who hasn’t read their source articles carefully or maintained regular communication with their dissertation chair or mentor, you’ll waste your time answering basic questions, rather than focusing on more demanding work.
You can also become dependent on the group and may not feel that you can “do it” yourself. Group study time cannot meet all your study needs. This is why often the most prepared master’s and doctoral candidates reach out to a dissertation consultant at some stage of their academic journey.
Some additional negative aspects of group work could include the following:
It can cause bitterness among the group members, as some may be recognized for a work that they have not done, while others may have made great efforts to achieve such an honor. in a group, some students may not be able to do as much work due to other commitments and responsibilities, while others may be hard-working. Such inequality in the work that has been done can cause problems among group members.
Conflict is another problem when a large variety of people start working in a group, as there is a certain difference of opinion among all the people in the group. Everyone can have his or her own ideas that may conflict with what the other person has to suggest. Some people in a group may also have difficulty accepting someone’s suggestions or ideas. Then there is the problem of group thinking. When you work in a group, there is less room for individual or independent thinking. It’s not a one – man show either. It is more of a group effort to get the job done well. All ideas and suggestions submitted by all members of the group must be taken into account in order to successfully complete the work. It is also important not to take the time to make decisions. Before making a decision, all aspects must be discussed and carefully considered, which requires a lot of time and energy. In addition, when in a group, it is very easy for the person to avoid work and let others finish it. It can take some time before someone really pays attention to it.
As for group thinking, when you have to work as a group, the group’s thinking becomes more important, which results in creativity being placed at risk. When this is the case, you can never make a good decision, because everyone in the group will have an influence on it.
If the person chooses to work in a group, when the job is distributed, not everyone gets the same amount of work. Such a disparity in getting work can also lead to conflicts. Another problem when working in a group is that some people can simply hang around, gossip or relax without doing their work, which can lead to less productivity from their end. If you find yourself in a dissertation study group with these dynamics, it might be best to reach out for dissertation consulting so that you stay on track and don’t waste time.
Things to Consider When Creating a Study Group
Look for a student who looks motivated, responsible and reasonably competent. Some people like a single study partner, but think of five more as a maximum. Two or three may be better however. Study groups take different forms. Some gather every week in private houses, restaurants, parks, or empty classrooms. Others meet remotely using video chat. Additionally, some groups are two or three students who study together on a regular basis, and each other’s core terms and concepts are interrogated. Other groups are formed and usually meet during the final stages of the journey while working with a dissertation editor and preparing for final defense.
Pay attention to people who are aware, ask questions, and take notes during your dissertation courses or residencies. Ask such students if they would like to participate in a learning group. We recommend that you meet two or three others for coffee and discuss group goals, meetings, and other logistics.
You don’t have to commit yourself immediately. You can search for people who are faced with similar academic or personal challenges. For example, if you are divorced and have two young children at home, you may be looking for other single parents who have gone back to school.
In addition, make sure that the basic principles on logistics and tasks are established. Agree on when and where to meet, the length of time to meet, what each person is going to do to prepare for the session and what happens during the session. The best study groups have an agenda, and each member prepares a research assignment for the group.
Moreover, each member of the group may agree to bring four or five questions to each meeting, and then all of you will be able to review and come up with “best practices” moving through each stage of the process.
Ultimately, it is often found that people who work in groups can work better when they feel comfortable. Towards this end, people must have a good, continuous exchange of ideas. In order to achieve the best results, you need to focus on the benefits of working in a group. Therefore, working together can be beneficial for both your individual studies and providing each other with ongoing dissertation help.
Of course, if you’re having trouble scheduling time to study with other doctoral candidates, or if you don’t have anyone else in your program nearby (so many of our teammates are completing online doctoral programs!), you can always reach out for dissertation assistance. We would love to provide you with that ongoing support—as well as share our experience with statistical consulting, qualitative research and analysis, and dissertation editing—to help you meet your goals and complete your study sooner!