As professional software practitioners, we dwell in a constantly changing industry, in which new APIs, languages, and technologies emerge almost every week. To keep up, people attend classes or conferences each year, but this does not adequately prepare them for all of the changes. Study Groups provide a real solution to this problem. They are places where people have dialogues on important and complex subjects on a weekly or bi-weekly basis throughout the year. Study Groups encourage people to help each other learn, and do so in a fun and economical way. This tutorial teaches people how to create and run their own Study Groups. We will review 21 patterns from “Pools of Insight: A Pattern Language for Study Groups.” Subjects covered include the Spirit of a Study Group, Atmosphere, Roles, and Customs. The tutorial culminates in a simulation of a Study Group. Presentation Format: Lecture and group simulation. Attendee Background: Anyone in the software business will find this tutorial useful. Joshua Kerievsky is founder of and principle consultant for Industrial Logic, Inc. (http://industriallogic.com). He founded the first public patterns Study Group in 1995, was Conference Chair of Using Patterns ‘97, designed and actively teaches the Design Patterns Workshop (http://industriallogic.com/training/ili_dpclass.html) and the online Programming with Patterns workshops (http://industriallogic.com/training/pwp.html). He was educated at St. John’s College, which follows the Study Group model for every class for 4 years.

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