Revision Guidance

What exactly does studying mean? Should I read, make notes or attempt some questions? How much time should I allocate to my revision? Do you often find yourself asking these questions? Students often find themselves struggling to organise and manage their time effectively. If this sounds like you then read on to find invaluable revision guidance.

UNDERSTAND YOURSELF

Despite how many times we are told that memorising is not a part of revision, the reality remains it is important. Students must be able to retain a vast amount of information including formulae, definitions and labels of diagrams, all, to achieve good grades.

In order to retain information, it is essential to create a good set of notes which are based upon understanding. Revisit information numerous times also known as rehearsing. There are several techniques which can help students memorise information including:

Chunking which involves grouping information. This can involve working with flash cards and writing related notes on each card.

Use of visuals this works wonders, especially when memorising a longwinded topic. This can be a flowchart, a comparison table or a mind map.

Reading out loud or teaching it to someone - to yourself or someone else (who can tolerate you doing so). This will allow you to recall your own voice when sitting exams. Also, this is a testament to the degree of understanding you have regarding the topic.

DIY Audio Record your notes using a Dictaphone or a mobile phone recording app and play it over and over again. This works exceptionally well when you need to memorise long text or quotations. This is also effective for learning vocabulary in English and foreign languages.

Associating information with objects This is one that I found working for me - Students learning a list or a particular topic should associate each part of the topic with something. For instance if a student has to learn the symptoms of several diseases, associate each disease with a person that you know (as sad as it sounds it really works!) This enables you to recall them as a disease and hence associate the symptoms with their characteristics or appearance.

Associating information with scent This works well with long essays or essay style questions. Whilst learning several essays it is easy to get points mixed up among them. Therefore when learning a particular essay, spray a perfume on to a part of your hand and keep smelling it as you learn. For different essays spray different perfumes in various areas of your arm. When you attend your exam, ensure you have sprayed the right areas with the right perfume. This will trigger rapid processes in your mind whilst recalling information in the exam.

Any information you learn, will gradually fade away unless it is revisited. If you revisit the information you have learnt regularly the mind builds pathways which allow you to retain this information and recall it faster when needed. Revision slows the process of fading away information.

Make a realistic working timetable

It s easy to make a timetable for revision however, it s not so easy making a timetable that is practical and actually works. Often students find themselves creating a timetable which is impossible to implement and then end up not sticking to it. It is important that your timetable suits you and in doing so you must understand your own learning capacity. It may take several attempts to create a revision timetable that actually works for you. Be prepared to make amendments to suit your needs. But be careful you do not spend your entire revision period in constructing the ideal revision timetable and are ultimately left with little or no revision time.

timing

In my experience, the best time for a person to revise is the early hours of the day, when the brain is fresh. If you set aside some time make sure it is consistent every day. This will allow your brain to conform to the daily pattern or circadian rhythm, increasing your receptiveness. Having a realistic revision timetable will further enhance this.

Write good notes

Prior to writing any notes, you must ensure you understand the topic. Should you not understand the topic, your notes would then be extremely difficult to memorise. Notes should be written neatly and concisely. Ideally you should use more than one source to write your notes for example two biology books published by two different entities. This may include your school notes along with your home made notes. Like this you are less likely to miss a point. Don`t forget to include visuals.

Try to develop a regular sleeping pattern

Sleeping well means being fresh and energised when waking up. Unfortunately, students often tend to have a disturbed sleeping pattern particularly in exam periods. This adversely affects your ability to apply what you have learnt while revising. lt;br>

Eat A Balanced diet

Often students find themselves nibbling on snacks consisting of high sugar and salt content. This not only causes your blood sugar levels to rise rapidly (which can eventually lead to diabetes and obesity) but can also result in you feeling more tired as the sugar peak tends to drop rapidly. The best thing to do is to maintain a healthy balanced diet with lots of fruit and fibre. This allows you to feel more energetic and will mean that your mind will drift off less when studying.

exercise regularly

We cannot express how important this is. Often this is the one factor which students tend to overlook in the revision periods. Exercise not only makes you fit physically and mentally, it allows you to feel good about yourself.