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Revision Techniques
1. Timetable
- Make a timetable - this will help you plan your revision.
- Write in exam dates and times.
- Plan your work in advance.
- Manage your time - develop a regular work schedule.
- Include other unavoidable academic/ work/ family commitments, and time for relaxation, exercise or social events.
- Set a revision timetable with realistic goals. Plan some down time so you won’t feel guilty when you do.
- Plan your revision as far in advance as possible.
- Think of it as part of the course - not something separate.
- Don't cram everything in the last few days before the exam.
- Do this well before your exam, because people often find that by the time they include their course work and other commitments, they have far less time than they thought.
2. Time
- Use any spare moments for revision.
- Practise regularly - every day is better than once a week.
- Arrange your revision into short blocks of time.
- Work in regular, shorter blocks of time, rather than one long revision session.
- Regular revision will help you to remember your material.
- Revising one hour every day is much better than one day every week.
- Work out when your best time of day is to concentrate.
- Decide on your best routine, and then stick to it.
- Working late at night isn't usually a good idea.
- Give yourself a reward after each session.
3. Feeling Tired?
- Don't revise until you become tired: you will not remember what you have read, and your efforts will be wasted.
- If you start to feel tired, take a short break, and maybe get some fresh air.
- Short sessions of revision should help you to avoid this danger.
- For efficient revising, short and often is best.
4. Breaks
- Take short breaks - you can have fun too!
- Feeling tired? - don't push yourself to the limit.
- Work for short time with adequate breaks.
- Do something you find relaxing.
- Don't use this as an excuse to escape hard topics.
- After the short break, go back to work again.
5. Distractions and Concentration
- Avoid distractions and practise regularly.
- Don't try to revise too many subjects in the same revision session.
- Switching between subjects may cause confusion.
- It's better to do one small thing well, rather than several things badly.
- A series of small successes will make you feel more confident.
How to Mind Map
- Use just key words, or wherever possible images.
- Start from the center of the page and work out.
- Make the center a clear and strong visual image that depicts the general theme of the map.
- Create sub-centers for sub-themes.
- Put key words on lines. This reinforces structure of notes.
- Print rather than write in script. It makes them more readable and memorable. Lower case is more visually distinctive (and better remembered) than upper case.
- Use c o l o r to depict themes, associations and to make things stand out.
- Anything that stands out on the page will stand out in your mind.
- Think three-dimensionally.
- Use arrows, icons or other visual aids to show links between different elements.
- Don't get stuck in one area. If you dry up in one area go to another branch.
- Put ideas down as they occur, wherever they fit. Don't judge or hold back.
- Break boundaries. If you run out of space, don't start a new sheet; paste more paper onto the map. (Break the 8x11 mentality.)
- Be creative. Creativity aids memory.
- Get involved. Have fun.
Mnemonics
This term means 'one thing helps you remember another'.
[You say it without the first 'M' - 'Nem-onics'.]
It's a code which helps you to recall information.
For instance, in music the notes on the lines are E, G, B, D, and F.
You can remember these with this saying:
'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour'
You can remember the order of the points on the compass:
N ever Eat Shredded Wheat
That is, North - East - South - West.
Another famous example is the colours of the spectrum.
R ed - Orange - Yellow - Green - Blue - Indigo - Violet.
These can be remembered by the phrase:
'Richard Of YorkGave BattleIn Vain'.
Mnemonics should be short, sharp, and effective.
You can make up your own - or use those that are well known.
Use prompt cards
Make some revision notes on small index cards.
You can carry round these prompt cards for revising in short breaks.
It's useful to have an overview of the course and its topics.
Each card can contain a definition, a short list, a formula, or a summary.
Don't try to fill the card with information. It will be difficult to read - and remember.
Group Study Sessions: The advantages
1. Company
- makes the process of revision seem more worthwhile and interesting,
- reassurance - you are not the only person who feels the way you do.
2. Deadlines to Help You Work to Schedule
- if you agree to meet up to discuss a topic, you are more likely to complete your work on time.
3. Discussion
- helps you understand ideas,
- and to explore them in a way which makes them more individual to you,
- helps you remember ideas, people often recall conversations better than what they read.
4. Other People's Time
- you can divide the work load,
- take it in turns to brief the others on specific areas,
- helps cover more ground more quickly,
- if you get stuck on something, there is more chance that you will work it out if there is more than one of you.
5. Less Chance of Missing Out a Crucial Bit
- talking the subject over with other students will help you identify the gaps,
- sometimes your fellow students can explain something in a way that's easier to understand than your lecturer's.
Useful websites :
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