Does anyone else laugh a lot while studying?

[Ogmora]

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So, I'm sitting in this private study room minding my own business. Headphones on, classical music in the background, listening to and taking notes on a previous days lecture. All of a sudden, I hear giggling. Then after a brief respite, more giggling. When I finally realize this intermittent giggling has been going on for almost an hour. After I determine it's not just in my head and I'm not losing my mind, I take off my headphones and listen to where it's coming from.

The private study rooms have thin walls (or maybe the ventilation system echos, idk) and I can hear just about everything going on in the room next to me, especially the loud, obnoxious giggling every 5-10 seconds. Who the hell can actually learn and study if they're too busy laughing 10 times a minute?

Granted, I'm not in a library or an officially designated "quiet space," in fact, it's right next to the student lounge, which is why I feel I have no authority to ask them politely to quiet down. The private rooms, however, are designated student study rooms and one would think that people should use them to study, not gossip and chuckle.

I'm contemplating playing some scream-0 music to try to get them to leave...I think the passive aggressive tactics will work better than anything else in this particular situation.

The noises are so annoying that I can't get any productive work done and I honestly don't understand how anyone can efficiently study when half the time is spent laughing or talking. Forgive me for my rant, the lack of concentration forced me to SDN.

But seriously, does anyone actually benefit from group study? Out of all the times I did actually participate in group study sessions, more than half the time was spent talking about something unrelated to the class. I've been told that the best way to learn the material (especially in grad and med school) is by group study, but it makes absolutely 0 sense to me based on my experiences.

OK. I've been derailed from my work for about 10 minutes now and it seems like the giggling has dissipated.

Carry on.

 

[Mad Jack]

I always have fun when doing group projects or group study. Don't learn a damn thing though- my serious studying is done alone.

You should really try to find a place that is father removed from campus to study. The library at my school basically existed as a meetup spot, you were way better off just going to a local Starbucks to study.

 

[Ogmora]

TBH, I think starbucks would be just as bad. People coming in and out, talking and ordering, machines going non-stop...though the constant aroma of coffee beans sounds appealing.

I did think about going to a public library instead...but I usually spend the morning studying before I go to class, so it's easier to be on-campus and study than to be off-campus and try to find parking during the time of day when all the spots are taken. Plus, the study rooms I found are relatively isolated from most of the activity on campus. They're also very close to where I park and very close to where my classroom is. I've looked high and low, and the only way these rooms could get any better was if they had a view.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mind doing a group project or group study if I'm forced to. I'll enjoy it just like everyone else, though, like you said, I probably won't learn anywhere near as much as I would doing it myself. HOWEVER, if no one else has the decency to find an area isolated from individuals who are studying, I would undoubtedly take it upon myself to move the group somewhere where we won't infringe on someone elses ability to learn. In the end it's just rude, and the fact that people don't realize this tells me that these individuals shouldn't have chosen a career in a field that requires a certain amount of empathy to be effective. (Apologies for being brash, I'm just trying to vent.)

Is there another solution to these annoyances without having to give up an ideal study location?

 

[Haxx]

It all depends on the group you're in. I do my best learning in groups of 3, when we alternate teaching the topic and being taught/asking questions. That stuff sticks 100X better for me than glazing over on my 100th page of notes. The group members have to be totally on board though, otherwise it becomes a train wreck pretty quickly.

 

[Ogmora]

The group members have to be totally on board though, otherwise it becomes a train wreck pretty quickly.

Yes. This is exactly my experience and what leads me to individual study.

I can't glaze over my notes either, it doesn't amount to anything for me, no matter how much I do it. Instead, I rewrite them 2-3x. IMO, it's only slightly less boring than just reading, but it's still active learning and the material sticks 1000x better than half talking-half studying with a group of people. Plus, I can cover two or three classes in the time it would take a study-group to cover one. As for asking questions, I can find hundreds of quizzes online or in textbooks to quiz myself with and if there's anything I don't know, I'd feel much more comfortable asking a professor than another classmate.

Having to cope with a few people in a group who prefer to gossip and talk is a huge deterrent for me, not to mention a huge distraction while I'm trying to study alone. I'll get my socializing done at the pub after I've finished studying and 5 hours earlier than the group did...then, I'll forget it all since I'll be there for the entire happy hour and not just the tail end.

 

[wjs010]

I have never group studied. That may change in med school though

 

[Dreamstoo]

I giggle while doing my homework for one of my upper level chem classes cause I don't know what the **** I'm doing. Thank god it's curved and I'm in the upper half of the class.