Students in a small group discussion class offered as part of a speech communication curriculum found that testing their knowledge of the theory of the course in small groups was a positive learning experience. Each self-selected test group was made up of three students and was formed at least two class periods prior to the exam. Time was given in class for social interaction, and on the day of the exam, each group received three copies of the test with the instructions that only one copy was to be completed and submitted as the "official exam" of the group. Student reaction to the group testing situation was assessed on an opinionnaire that rated such benefits as learning to work within groups, providing real experiences in group problem solving, studying harder for group tests than for individual tests, and scoring higher on group tests. The group test meets four criteria for effective decision making groups: it fosters the quality of participation to increase available information, it develops a tolerance for conflict, it cancels out individual errors, and it develops an overall positive attitude toward group action. Negative effects are that individually-based graded activities must be incorporated to overcome the effects of high group scores and the impact of the group test decreases with repeated experiences. (AEA)