University of London International Programmes - Official Student blog

I’m sure some of you have study groups or study with friends or even have study partners. However I have never studied in a group and as a student who is not registered at an institute at the moment, I wasn’t meeting fellow LLB students. This year is different. As part of my fool proof plan to make my final academic year the best, I found myself a study partner. In fact, my study partner thankfully found me.

Approximately two months ahead of exams I thought of analyzing the pros and cons of studying with a partner in case you were thinking of revising in groups.

My study partner, Sarasi and I met during our first year of study when we were both registered at the same institute in Colombo. We were both working full-time so even though we shared the challenges we faced and talked about studying together, we never found the time to actually do so. Now two years later, Sarasi is living in London and we were determined to find the time to study together.

Sandarenu and Sarasi

How it works

We have two subjects in common, Company Law and EU Law. We skype twice a week. We decide on the topics we will be studying each week in advance, mail each other the short notes, mind maps and answers for self assessment questions we have answered and meet on skype to discuss the topic, clarify doubts and go through past paper questions on the topic. We are also working together on the research projects we are doing for the QLD.
In addition we also help each other set targets, improve our writing styles and stay focused.

Pros
1. Motivation
The biggest benefit to me is that my weekly study dates help me set goals, stay focuses and stay on track. It helps me beat procrastinating on my targets as I know I will be wasting Sarasi’s time if I haven’t covered what we agreed to cover.

2. Division of Labour
When we are pressed for time and falling behind on deadlines, we divide tasks. We allocate questions and cases that we’ll read and explain to each other to save time.

3. Emotional Support
When it all gets overwhelming, which it tends to get, from time to time, knowing I am not in it alone helps.

Cons
1. Time difference
The five and half hour time difference means that it is always either very early or very late for one of us. Sarasi had at times skyped while walking back from the tube station on her way from work.

2. Distraction
The fact that we are good friends means ever so often we break into a conversation in the middle of our study sessions but thankfully we have so far managed to stay focused and get back to Law soon enough. We also have her husband who reminds us to stay focused if he hears us gossiping and giggling too much or discussing him.

3. Technology
Technology has come a long way and has made a lot possible. We use Skype for video conferencing, face book messenger to schedule dates, email to mail each other short notes and Whatsapp to send across pictures of mind maps. Nevertheless we do face the annoying issue of slow internet from time to time.

Verdict: Go for it! It’s revision time now and a study partner can help!

Do write in and let me know how studying with a partner has worked out for you.

Sandarenu is studying our Bachelor of Laws (LLB) by distance learning in Sri Lanka.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 20th, 2014 at 2:52 pm and is filed under LLB. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.