Interesting Findings

Before proceeding with the video questionnaire for the respective methods of individual study vs the
group study attempt, a basic questionnaire was collected. One of the questions asked was about the
perception of the respondents, whether they prefer group study or individual study before an
examination. After this, they proceeded for the video questionnaires. Out of these, the ones who took
the test individually, and also preferred individual preparation, were seen to have the highest average
score. Second to these were respondents who perceived individual studies as being more rewarding,
but took part in the group discussion before the test. Third were those who perceived group study as
being more rewarding than individual studies, and took part in the group discussion before the test.
Those who perceived group study as being better than individual study, but took the individual test
without a group discussion had the lowest average score. (Appendix_)
In another question, Respondents were asked to rate their perceptions on how useful they thought
group study is for purposes of memory retention on a scale of 1 to 5. We assumed that a rating of 4 or
5 meant that they believed group study helps in retention of memory and vice versa. The highest
average score belonged to the group who believed that group study helped in memory retention, and
took the group task exercise. The second group was of respondents who believed that group study
doesnt help in retention of memory, and took the individual test. The respondents with the second last
average scores were those of who believed that group study doesnt help in memory retention, and
took the group study followed by test. Lastly were those respondents who believed that group study
helped in memory retention, but took the individual test. (Appendix_)
The first finding may be attributed to the concept of self-efficacy. Self-efficacy is concerned with the
judgement a person has of what he or she can do by himself/herself to attain a desired performance. It
is this judgement which leads the person to achieve the task at times. In this case, maybe the
respondents who believe that individual studies are more rewarding work harder themselves, thus
scoring better than their peers. In the second case, we can relate it to expectancy theory, where
individuals who perceived group tasks lead to better results, worked at improved productivity levels
themselves, and as a result ended up scoring the highest among others.