Different Study Techniques

One area of interest I would like to study is the different study techniques students use to prepare for an exam. I am looking to observe a group of students and an individual student to see if people perform better while working as a team or while working separately and at his or her own pace; I also want to see if it changes depending on the subject material on hand. The variables and concepts used are the forms of studying and the subject material needed to be study. The research design I would use to conduct my experiment is correlational; I am testing to see if studies perform better by working in groups, or by working individually. If people worked better in groups, then does the subject material matter (would it be easier to study math in a group or study psychology)? I would mainly use questionnaires and ask the people who worked in groups how they felt working with other students and find out the test grade received by each student. I would also ask what subject they were being tested on to see if certain subject materials could change an individual’s technique of study. Perhaps people can study well in a group when studying for history, and not work well in a group when studying for math or science. The dependent variable in my experiment is the test grades received by the one group of students who studied together as a team and the grade received by the individual student, who studied independently. I personally believe that a student’s form of studying varies depending of the subject. Studying for history in a group composed of five or six people might result in high test results; while on the other hand, studying for math is much more difficult to study in a group because each individual has his or her pace, where one student might solve questions faster.

One of the benefits that this study provides is that it helps determine if individual or collective forms of studying are suitable for certain students and for particular subjects. Lastly, I believe there were many challenges when trying to decide on an area of interest and when I finally did, I didn’t know what I wanted to experiment it on. This was much more difficult than I had expected because I didn’t know what type of design I should use for my research question and whether the design I choose was appropriate and applicable. I could have probably used an experimental design and manipulate the type of material the students had to study.