The Benefits Of Repetition

There have been many articles written and studies conducted on the differences between short- and long-term memory. Short-term memory - also known as working memory - is what allows us to learn something quickly and put it to immediate use. A good example is having someone to teach you to use a new item of technology of software. They guide you through it once and, depending on the length and complexity of the process, you can get yourself through several or all of the steps from then on.

The issue is that we learn so many new things on any given day - especially at school-age - that we don`t have the time or the brain power to consolidate all of it into long-term memory, the kind that will keep that understanding of factorising algebraic equations in pristine form when exams come round. Hence the need for revision which, in cases when the lesson was taught a few months ago and never repeated, turns into re-learning.

So how to prevent this? The easiest way is by following that old maxim 'practice makes perfect'. This doesn't mean you need to slog away at algebra for 30 minutes every day, but you can follow some tried-and-tested measures to ensure that what goes in on ear doesn't saunter out the other by next week's lesson.

1. Review the new method/technique/problems the next day. Bits of the process will still be lingering in recent memory and so can more easily be recalled the next day. Don't spend ages - a ten minute review and going through one or two questions will make a massive difference to your learning

2. Review it again one week later. If you have a tutor who is aware that the topic is new to you, they'll probably review last week's lesson anyway, but if they forget, or get side-tracked, or for whatever reason forge ahead with a new topic, gently remind them that the information from last week was new to you and you'd like ten minutes to check what you think you know about it is correct. They should be happy to oblige.

3. Review it one more time a month after the initial lesson. This might only consist of 2 questions on a topic, if you're secure in it, or a mini-session doing it step-by-step if anything is hazy, but after this it should have wedged itself firmly in long-term storage, ready to be called up when needed.

4. Look over it a few weeks before the exam just in case something's got muddled, but if you've followed the above steps (which needn't take too much time - much less, in fact, than if you'd forgotten and re-learnt), then you should have all the information you need at your intellectual fingertips.

It takes discipline to do this for every topic, but just a small amount of time spent early on pays huge dividends come exam time when all your friends are panicking about how to change fractions into percentages and you can spend your time at the cinema!