This section will detail the different techniques that can be utilised during your revision.
A key note here: Use them all.
Don’t just choose one and do all of your revision using that technique, they each have a purpose and place in revision, and work best when combined.
There are naturally some techniques that are very effective, such as testing, but to make testing more effective, we should be using the other techniques in preparation.
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read and recap
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The most common mistake that students make when revising is that they open their notes or textbook and just read, then do nothing with that. This is a waste of your time.
So, how do we improve that?
By being active learners.
Using Read and Recap you will still read a small section of your notes, a textbook, webpage, or even a video, and then close the notes (textbook/webpage/video) then recap as much as you can about what you’ve just read (or watched).
For example, you read your notes on the fetch-decode-execute cycle. You recap as much key knowledge as you can in a bullet point form, mind-map or sentences (whichever your prefer). Really think hard on this, and retrieve as much as you can.
Once you’ve done that, re-read the notes, close again, and fill in any missing key information in your notes. Always, always relying on you retrieving that information from your brain.
Don’t cheat and just makes notes from the textbook, that’s just copying, and is pretty much pointless, because you’re not actually thinking about it, you’re just copying. Your brain needs to do the work, it’s how long term memories are made.
In summary:
- Read a paragraph, section, page
- Close book/notes etc
- Summarise in note form using your memory
- Re-read the paragraph, section, page
- Close book/notes etc
- Fill in any missing information
- Repeat steps 1-6 until you are satisfied that all the key information has been captured.
- Pro-Tip: If you are coming to a re-read, you can skip sections where you are confident you’ve captured all the notes.
These are the essential steps for read and recap, simple, effective retrieval practice.
So, what does good look like?
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mind maps
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Mind Maps are a fantastic tool for taking notes and revising from.
One advantage of Mind Maps is that they are visual, and can feel less imposing than a block of text.
Another is that they can show you the connections between different elements of a topic. This is important not just because it can help with your understanding, but it can also help bridge gaps between the schemata in your brain on the different topics, therefore strengthening the knowledge.
Finally, they are a great resource for making flash cards from, if the mind-map is filled in correctly.
We do need to be careful that we don’t overfill our mind-maps and make them too noisy to use. We also need to be aware that we can’t solely rely on them, as by their nature, they can lack detail.
So, what does good look like?
Video coming soon.
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flash cards
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Flash cards are an incredibly efficient revision tool, and can be used on those days when you may be lacking time, or motivation. Either way, they should definitely be part of your standard revision toolkit.
Why?
- If you make them yourself, then at some point you’ve had to read some notes, think of a suitable question, and write the answer down. This is great revision!
- Answering questions is one of the best ways to help embed knowledge. By nature you have to think about the question before you can answer. Thinking engages your memory, anything that gets you retrieving knowledge from your long term memory is an effective revision tool.
- They scale with your confidence, you revisit topics you struggle with more frequently than you do with topics you’re confident with. This helps you focus your time on the areas where you need it, but crucially ensures you are doing spaced retrieval on knowledge you are more confident with to keep it ‘fresh’.
So, what does good look like?
Video coming soon
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teach someone else*
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Coming soon
5
test, test and test (Questions, past papers and ai)
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Coming soon
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