Study skills

Introduction

There is no short cut to acquiring the knowledge required for success in examinations. However, there has been a considerable amount of research into the most efficient and effective way to study. This is a complex field and some of the evidence is conflicting. A summary of the evidence is included in the document to the right (click the grey box in the top right corner to expand) and is summarised in the 'top tips' below. The document also contains links to additional reading if you are interested.

This guidance applies to all year groups, additional guidance for Year 11 students can be found here

1. Environment

Our brains have evolved with a very limited capacity for multi tasking. It is therefore important to study in an environment that is as free from distractions as possible.

Ideally this would be at some form of desk with adequate lighting from a window or desk lamp and enough space to layout all of the equipment needed.

Wherever study takes place the key to making it as effective as possible is to avoid distraction. Ideally this means that mobile phones should not be in the same room and there should be no obvious sources of distraction like television or radio.

The evidence on background music is mixed. It can help reduce other distractions by masking noise but if choosing the playlist requires attention it is not helping! There is also some evidence that the memories formed are linked with the music playing. Since students will not be allowed to have music playing in tests and exams memorising material is probably best done without music.

Summary: Study somewhere quiet and keep it quiet by switching off the TV, radio and mobile phone.

Improve Your Learning.docx

2. Timing

It is an inescapable fact that being good at anything worthwhile requires a combination of effort and time. The evidence indicates that some ways of allocating time are better than others. The two key principles here are:

Interleaving.

Your brain needs some time to sort out and store information in your long term memory. It is therefore best to break up the study into chunks that last around 30-40 mins, have a short (5 min) break and then switch between topics or even subjects to make the best use of your time and ensure that you are able to remember the work later.

Spaced practice

It is also far better to have 3 x 30 minute revision sessions spread out over several days or even weeks than to do one big revision session the night before the test.


Summary:

Break up your revision into 30-40 min chunks and spread these out over several days putting other work and activities in between.

3. Revision technique

Simply reading and or highlighting your book or the revision guide is not an effective way to revise. In order to form and reinforce memory your revision needs to be active.

A good way to ensure revision is effective is to follow the process outlined in the diagram on the right.

Before starting:

Make sure it is understood which material will be in the test. The best way to do this is to ask the class teacher. The content of the bi-annual science exams and the GCSEs sat in Year 11 can also be found here.

Equipment required:


The revision process

Step 1 - Review and summarise

The first thing to do is to go back over the topic and to make sure it is understood. The obvious place to start is class notes. In addition the following will be useful:

If you don't understand something write a list of specific questions to ask your class teacher.

Once you understand the topic you then need to make your own summary of it. This can be in the form that suits you best (experiment to find out what works for you). Most students find one or more of the following useful:

  • mindmaps
  • revision cards
  • flashcards

The presentation on the right has some more detail about how to make these resources.

Copy of Effective revision

Step 2 - Memorise

Having created a summary of the key information the nest step is to memorise it. Repetition is key here. One method is to simply reproduce the mindmap / card, or a targeted part of it from memory. Other methods include:

Step 3 - Test

Having identified the key knowledge and summarised it it is now important to practice retrieving it from memory and applying it . This can be as simple as getting another person to ask you questions on the knowledge organiser(s) and revision summaries.

For students in Year 9 and above the best way to do this is to use past paper questions. These are available on the student website. The answers should be written on rough paper and then checked against the mark scheme. Any errors should be corrected on the paper as this will help improve your ability to remember the material you are studying .

It is best to do this in exam conditions and, if you are using whole past papers, to stick to the time you will have in the exam. Breaking the paper down into smaller sections can make this more manageable. As a guide you should give 1 minute per mark to work out how long to set as the time limit.


Step 4 - Gap filling

This is the key step. Once testing (or the exam itself) is complete it is important to work out what you still need to work on.

For tests completed in class this will be guided by the class teacher and gap identification sheets and gap filling notes will be produced under the direction of the class teacher.

It is important to note down what was difficult as this is the point to start from in the next revision session on this topic.

It is also a good idea to correct any errors on revision summaries and add any missing detail so that they are complete.

Highlighting tricky ideas or concepts for review next time the material is studied is also a good idea.

And finally

To check you have really understood and remembered what you have studied revisit the topic later in your revision programme.