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Running a study group

A week-by-week workflow, tips, and what to do at each meeting.

A study group works best with a plan, a regular time, and a small habit everyone keeps. This is the workflow w3Develops groups have used since the first cohorts.

Before the first meeting

  1. Pick a topic and a curriculum. Use one of the curriculum templates, or bring your own. Free courses like freeCodeCamp, The Odin Project, MDN and CS50 work well.
  2. Set a meeting time on the group page, so members get a reminder before each meeting.
  3. Make a Discord channel for the group in the w3Develops Discord, and post the group's link there.
  4. Write the first tasks on the group page: "Introduce yourself", "Set up your editor", "Finish week 1".

Every meeting

  1. Someone starts a call (Zoom, Google Meet or a Discord voice channel) and posts the link in the group's Discord channel.
  2. Wait 10 to 15 minutes for people to join, then start. If the group agrees, record it for anyone who missed it.
  3. Check in (10 min): each person says what they finished, what they're stuck on, and what's next.
  4. Work together (30 to 45 min): pair on the hardest exercise, or each work on the next step and help whoever's stuck.
  5. Wrap up (5 min): agree what everyone does before next time, and add it as tasks on the group page.

Every week

  • Post a weekly check-in on the group page.
  • Update the group's progress table (see the templates) so newcomers can see where you are.
  • Share one thing you learned on the community feed.

At the end

  • Finish with a small project that uses what the group learned, then show it at a final meeting.
  • Add the projects to Solo Projects, or keep building as a group project.

Tips

  • Keep it small. 3 to 8 active people is easier to keep going than 30.
  • Same time every week. Consistency matters more than length.
  • Lower the bar to show up. "Come even if you didn't do the homework" keeps people coming back.
  • Rotate the host so no one person burns out.
  • Ask for help early. Post where you're stuck on the feed or in Discord; other groups have been there.
  • It's fine to slow down. Repeat a week rather than leave people behind.

More resources

These wikis come from earlier w3Develops cohorts:

Study groups and book clubsCurriculum templates