Revision Tips
Revision Websites
Revision Wheel / Clock
Useful for:
Summarising key features
Identifying key factors
Identifying knowledge strengths and gaps
How it works:
Break down a topic into 12 subtopics. Each of these subtopics will go into a 5 minute segment on your revision clock, making them shorter chunks of revision.
Make brief notes, draw pictures or diagrams to represent the information in each segment
Spend 5 minutes revising each subtopic.
You could also try filling out the revision clock from memory
Top Tips:
Be disciplined - time yourself on each section (the clock version of the wheel means you can only spend 5 minutes on each section)
Colour code your wheel or add images to make it easier to follow and remember
Mind Maps
Useful for:
Identifying knowledge strengths and gaps
Quick, focused revision
How it works:
Put the main point (e.g. Human Reproduction) in the middle of the sheet
Coming out of this put subdivisions of the topic
Include pictures, diagrams, colours and arrows to connect the different nodes and sub-nodes
Mind Map V2 - the layered version
This is great for forming your structure for essays.
How it works:
Each layer of the essay has a different colour and that is the same for each topic
Write the topic in the middle
Write key factors on lines coming off the topic, these can later become paragraph points
Evidence comes off the factors
Add links with arrows between factors, this could help with the conclusion
Tips:
Keep mind maps organised and focused - try to work on a particular topic or subtopic
Colour code and organise information to make it easier to follow and remember
Revision Cards
Useful for:
Revising key people or dates
Revising formulae
Revising key words
How it works:
Put a simple piece of information or a picture on one side of the card, a date or key word perhaps
On the other side of the card put a full explanation or definition
Look at the front of the card and see how much you can remember about it
Then check your answer by looking at the back
Cornell Note Taking
This method is useful in helping you break down larger pieces of text and selecting the most important to focus on.
How does it work:
Read your text
In the right hand column of your paper, take notes like you normally would
In the left hand column, create questions about your notes. These questions should reflect:
Main ideas of the text
Topics/information you don't understand
Information you think would be great in an essay
Gaps in your earlier notes
Also add any key terms here
Write 2 to 3 bullet ponts at the end to summarise your notes
Dual Coding
Did you know that when information is presented alongside relevant images, it becomes much easier to remember?
How does it work:
Look at the information you're trying to remember
Transform the information into visuals (e.g. drawings) that represent the information in your mind
Create flashcards with the visual on one side and the information on the other. That way, you can test yourself and have others test you!
Display the images around your room on post-it notes, or even better, around the whole house! This way, every time you see them you'll think about what information they visualise and be more likely to remember it
Other Useful Revision Techniques
Traffic Lights
Highlight your notes in terms of how confident you are with different parts:
Red/pink = priorities for revision; things you really don't understand or can't remember
Orange/yellow = things you have some understanding of
green = Things you are confident about
Once you have done this you can apply other revision strategies to the things you have put in red/pink
Post-It Notes
Write short to the point notes about things you find it hard to remember, stick them in places where you know you will look (e.g. fridge door, bathroom mirror, toilet door, light switches etc.).
Whenever you go to these places you will see the post-it note, eventually you will remember the information and probably even associate it with that area of your house!
Colour Coding
Come up with a colour-coding system for your notes. Fore example key words are in one colour, case studies in another, positive/negative points in another. You can also apply this to mind maps or revision cards
YouTube!!!
There are a huge amount of useful revision videos available on YouTube, some of them even have memorable songs!
Write Mnemonics or Rhymes
Writing these for yourself can help you to remember sequences of information, especially when they need to be in order.
E.g. when remembering the colours of a rainbow you might use the mnemonic "Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain"
Work with a friend
Do your revision with someone else who wants to revise the same thing. You can help each other out if you're stuck, and test each other
Write Summaries
Write a summary of each section of your exam. Condense an entire set of notes into one A5 set of bullet points
Make Recordings
Record yourself saying key things and play them back. Mobile phones all have voice recorder functions, so you can listen back to them whenever you want
Make a Lastminute.com sheet
Make an A5 piece of paper that contains a really concise list of things that you absolutely cannot forget. Take this with you on the day of the exam so that it’s the last thing you see before you go into your exam.
Harness your inner geek
Set reminders in your mobile phone; this is ideal for remembering small bits of simple information, like dates and names. If the same reminder goes off seven times, it will become a part of your long-term memory. You can have several reminders going at a time.
Key Words
Developing the right vocabulary for each subject is absolutely crucial. Without it, understanding exam questions is really hard, and writing answers that give top marks is also really hard. It is therefore a good idea to have key word lists, revision cards and conversations that involve these keywords.