Project Proposal

Site Overview

Study Buddy is a collaborative study session tracking platform designed to help students monitor their learning progress, share study resources, and stay motivated through social accountability. The platform allows users to log study sessions with detailed information about subjects, duration, productivity levels, and study methods used.

Users can create study groups, share notes and resources, track their weekly/monthly study goals, and see how their classmates are progressing. The platform emphasizes both personal productivity tracking and collaborative learning, with features like study streaks, resource sharing, and group challenges to keep students engaged and motivated.

Intended Audience

The primary audience consists of college students, particularly our classmates in ACAD-276 and their study groups. The platform is designed for students who want to improve their study habits, stay accountable to their peers, and share learning resources effectively.

The secondary audience includes high school students, graduate students, and anyone engaged in structured learning who could benefit from tracking their study patterns and collaborating with others. The platform will be flexible enough to accommodate different academic levels and subjects.

Example Study Sessions

Database Design - 2.5 hours, High Productivity, Used flashcards and practice queries
Web Development - 1.5 hours, Medium Productivity, Worked on PHP assignments
Group Study Session - 3 hours, High Productivity, Reviewed midterm materials with classmates

Data Categories

The website will store and manage the following types of data:

Study Session: Individual study session records with duration and details
Date & Time: When the study session occurred
Student: Who logged the study session
Subject: What topic/subject was studied
Study Method: How the student studied (flashcards, reading, practice problems, etc.)
Productivity Level: Self-rated effectiveness of the session
Study Group: Optional group association for collaborative sessions
Resources: Links to notes, videos, or other study materials shared
Goals: Weekly/monthly study targets and progress tracking

Database Schema

Below is the initial database schema design for the Study Buddy platform:

Table Relationships

study_sessions - Central table containing all study session data with foreign key relationships to:

students - Links to who logged the study session
subjects - Links to what subject was studied
study_methods - Classifies how the student studied
study_groups - Optional group association for collaborative sessions
productivity_levels - Self-rated effectiveness of the session

This normalized structure allows for efficient querying, prevents data duplication, and supports features like progress tracking, resource sharing, and group analytics. Additional tables for goals, resources, and user preferences can be added as the platform evolves.