Group Studies Linked To Better Grades

A group of researchers from the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, found that students who study in groups or interact online get better grades in school than students who study alone.

Manuel Cebrian, a computer scientist at the Jacobs School of Engineering at the University of California, San Diego, and his colleagues conducted a recent study on the correlation between group studies and online interactions and better school grades. The authors found that students who built online connections and exchanged information with other co-students got higher grades than students who preferred studying alone.

Class toppers usually exchanged notes and information through complex manners and thus, gained more knowledge in their studies. It was also found that students who kept to themselves not only got lower grades but were also more likely to drop out of classes and schools.

"Elite groups of highly connected individuals formed in the first days of the course," said Cebrian, who also is a Senior Researcher at National ICT Australia Ltd, Australia's Information and Communications Technology Research Centre of Excellence. "For the first time, we showed that there is a very strong correspondence between social interaction and exchange of information -- a 72 percent correlation.

"But almost equally interesting is the fact that these high-performing students form 'rich-clubs', which shield themselves from low-performing students, despite the significant efforts by these lower-ranking students to join them. The weaker students try hard to engage with the elite group intensively, but can't. This ends up having a marked correlation with their dropout rates."

Co-author of the study, Luis M. Vaquero, based at Hewlett-Packard U.K. Labs says that this study could be instrumental in triggering new and helpful ways of teaching and studying in classrooms that could prove effective in the long run. This not only helps students get better grades but also enhances their interactive and social skills.