Just for a minute, think about the memories you have of having fun. One of the common denominators is most likely that you were not alone. You may have been with a good friend, family members, or in a large group, but there's a good chance that the times that come to mind for you when I say "fun," will be times when you were with others. If we apply that approach to study habits, we are on the right track to making studying fun.
No one really likes to be alone for very long. It feels isolated and restrictive. We begin to feel that we are missing out on other things, and this is one reason that studying is so boring for students. The very nature of studying is usually presumed to be isolated time, because let's face it, no one can learn information for the student. They have to do it by themselves. But in the process, students can make studying easier just by making it fun. To make studying fun, they need to consider ways in which they can bring others in to join them in learning so that they are not alone.
The problem is that many students hesitate to get a study partner for two reasons. The first is that they perceive this to have a stigma of sorts, and the second reason is that they don't know that they have the discipline to really study with another person and avoid the distractions of another person. Both of these reasons lead to students who sit alone, dreading their study time, and struggling to remember even the most basic information that they have read over and over again during fruitless study attempts.
But a good study partner can eliminate both of those concerns. A study partner who is equally going to gain from the study time is a great partner to find because they, too, will be willing to work towards understanding. In every subject, some students are stronger than others. A study partner who is stronger in some skills, but needing help in others, is an excellent study partner. Both students will gain from the skills of the other, and by working together, the material will be easier to dissect for learning. Because they will both have something to gain, there is no stigma attached to their learning, and they can both be intentional and decisive about focusing on the work at hand.
The other aspect to having a study partner is that this type of relationship forms a friendship. It may or may not be limited to the course or subject matter, but it will be a relationship that connects students to other students. This inevitably creates moments of laughter, moments of insight, and moments of bonding. We are happier when we are with others, and studying with others is no exception. Studying with a partner can make the time fun, and because they are enjoying themselves, being productive, and learning new things in the context of this shared environment, students will find the learning to be easier and more entertaining.
When learning is easier, everyone wins, so studying with a well-chosen partner can be an excellent tool to make learning fun. While the student will still have to come to an individual understanding of the material at hand, that process can happen faster with effective studying that is both worthwhile and fun.
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Plants are shaped by cultivation and men by education. .. We are born weak, we need strength; we are born totally unprovided, we need aid; we are born stupid, we need judgment. Everything we do not have at our birth and which we need when we are grown is given us by education.
(Jean Jacques Rousseau, Emile, On Philosophy of Education)
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