Exam revision techniques

Exam revision techniques

• 1.
  Exam Skills Before workingthrough the sections below, reflect on current/past revision methods. 1. Effective revision
• 2.
  Revision Techniques • Whatnow? You’re #$@&%+* having a laugh!? • According to university academic research, starting to revise as soon as you first learn new information will radically improve your ability to retain and remember that information. • Revisiting the information at regular intervals massively improves retention.
• 3.
  Passive learning doesnot work! It's not effective to read your notes over and over, copy out notes or highlight bits of handouts. You need to think actively about ideas if you are going to remember them. EFFECTIVE REVISION - LEARN ACTIVELY
• 4.
  Learn actively bythinking, understanding and connecting the things you are trying to learn to your existing ideas and knowledge. Ask yourself… – "What have I just learnt?“ – "How could I use it to answer an exam question?" EFFECTIVE REVISION - LEARN ACTIVELY
• 5.
  STRATEGIES FOR UNDERSTANDING(Takenfrom http://www.reading.ac.uk/internal/studyadvice/StudyResources/Exams/sta-revision.aspx#understanding) • Make sense of the information - Information is hard to remember if it does not make sense. So you need to understand what you are trying to learn and relate it to things you already know. • The most important thing is to understand what you have just learnt. • Ask Questions if you’re not completely clear. EFFECTIVE REVISION - LEARN ACTIVELY
• 6.
  • Team upwith other students. • Explain the idea to a friend as this helps you to organise the ideas and ensures that you have really understood them. • Imagine how you would explain/teach the material to someone else as you revise - it forces you to notice when you don't understand something rather than just aimlessly reading through pages of notes. EFFECTIVE REVISION - LEARN ACTIVELY
• 7.
  Organise the information- • It is easier to remember well organised information. • Try to find a meaningful structure for the information. • Identify the most significant points, break down ideas into sections. • Make a spidergram to summarise ideas and evidence. It is easier to remember one series of connected ideas rather than a lot of separate points. • Use your own words in revision notes as this connects the ideas to your understanding. • Think about the material… and look for similarities and differences between new information and what you already know. Why was the research valuable? Has it been replicated? Does it support old theories or suggest new ones? EFFECTIVE REVISION - LEARN ACTIVELY
• 8.
  • Make theinformation more memorable – One way is to generate sounds or images to go with the information and form mental images to go with the ideas. • Or make things more visual using colours (colour coding can be very effective to create links) to create a visual representation. Visual examples - • Mind maps • Flashcards • Doodles • Annotated images • Videos • Vodcasts Audio examples – • Podcasts • Recordings of notes being read. • Recordings of lectures. EFFECTIVE REVISION - LEARN ACTIVELY
• 9.
  Regular Revisiting The researchsuggests regular revisiting (up to four times) to improve the learning. 1. First time should be straight after the learning – after the lesson or same day. Re-read and re- write notes in your own words to organise. 2. Second time should be 24 hrs later – team up with a friend. 3. Third time should be within a week of the lesson – recap activity, such as planning a flashcard without looking at notes. 4. Fourth time should be within a month of the original lesson – planning answers to an exam question.
• 10.
  • Ideas formnemonics and flashcards (could be particularly useful for revising case study info): file:///X:/My%20Documents/Downloads/skills-memory-aids.pdf • Have a go at a visualisation technique demonstrated in this video (6 minutes into video): https://youtu.be/VQKt58kuEnk MEMORY AIDS & TECHNIQUES
• 11.
  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22565912 This article suggeststhat testing yourself and spreading revision out over time are the most effective ways of preparing for an exam. EFFECTIVE REVISION - LEARN ACTIVELY