Week 26: Active Revision Techniques

 

Firstly, you need to find which way of revising works for you; here are some strategies which keep you active and, importantly, work:

• Be ACTIVE!

• Take notes – use highlighter pens, colour coding, diagrams, whatever works for you to help memorise your notes

• Get someone to test you

• Key Word posters on your bedroom ceiling

• Make mp3 recordings of key ideas/quotations

• Mnemonics – Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain

• Five minute essay plans

• Writing out notes again and again and again…

• Condense your notes on cards in well organised files

• Mind mapping

• Endless lists, written out and learnt

• Look Cover Say Write Check

Find out which method of revision works best for you, but remember – active revision is best!

 

Once you know which way to revise works for you, here are my general tips for revising effectively:

• Know exactly what you need to revise for each paper;

• Organise your notes into clearly defined sections;

• Identify the most important sections for each subject;

• Complete a revision timetable, and stick to it!

• Create a place at home to study that is familiar, well-equipped and quiet;

• Consult your teachers at all times, no matter how trivial the issue;

• Focus your revision – keep in mind past questions;

• Work in 25/30 minute sessions – any longer can be counter-productive;

• Sleep sensibly and eat well;

• Make time to relax and get away from it all – rewards are very important!

• Enjoy it – learning at this level can and should be fun;

• And REMEMBER – if, at any time, you feel you are struggling and things are getting too much, don’t suffer in silence; tell your tutor – they can help!

 

Revision techniques

A couple of special revision techniques are worth explaining in more detail.

There is no learning without memory. You need to practise how to memorise information and one of my favourite techniques is the familiar journey method.

 

First, you choose a very familiar journey and then pick landmarks on that journey as a way of helping you remember what you need to recall. Here’s my favourite example – memorising the Electro-magnetic Spectrum in the correct order. The journey I use is from my bed to my car in the morning. I’m woken by the radio (radio waves); I put my porridge in the microwave oven (microwaves); I sit down at the kitchen table and read the paper which is a red top (infra-red waves); the sun comes up and it’s light (light waves); I leave and smell the violets growing in the back yard (ultra-violet waves); I get into my X-registration car (X rays) and go to the supermarket for some gammon steak(gamma rays).