Key points (i.e., I haven't got all day!)

This session will focus on revision.

Successful revision behaviours and strategies will be outlined in addition to common mistakes and errors to avoid.

By the end of this session, they should be able to:

• Identify good revision behaviours/strategies

• Understand mistakes and errors to avoid

• Be aware of ways to prevent exam stress

You might want to start off the session introducing them to the notion of the assessment period (i.e., a timepoint during the academic year where students will not be receiving lectures/seminars/mentor sessions) but where they will be required to complete assessments, including exams. You can note that the first term assessment period typically takes place during January at most universities in the UK.

Given that they have an exam during the assessment period it is worth covering some top revision tips with them, the most important being to start revising early and regularly. The benefits of spacing information relative to cramming is something they should be familiar with and is something you might wish to discuss with them (e.g., the spacing effect). There is a nice paper (reference below if hyperlink does not work) which clearly demonstrates the benefits of spaced learning which you can briefly discuss if you wish. Might be nice to note evidence behind this claim as they may well have been told the importance of revising early and regularly without ever hearing about the evidence.

• Relevant paper: Vlach, H. A., & Sandhofer, C. M. (2012). Distributing learning over time: The spacing effect in children’s acquisition and generalization of science concepts. Child development, 83(4), 1137-1144

With most of their materials online and available for them to return to whenever they wish, binge watching materials prior to an assessment is a new norm which poses a challenge for revision behaviours as it does not allow them to digest information or ask questions in a reasonable timeframe. If they haven’t been engaging with the material it is important they now start coming up with a reasonable schedule to work through the materials (i.e., watching them all in one day is probably not the best strategy) to avoid the "Netflix" approach!

Given the importance of revising early and regularly it is worth suggesting to them that they should start revising as soon as possible and be realistic about when they are going to be able to schedule in revision during the Christmas Recess period (assuming they have a January exam period). They are probably not going to be best placed looking at the details of a theoretical model on Christmas Day, but they can certainly start putting together a revision schedule for the weeks leading up to/after it.

Suggested Activity: Scheduling for success

You could give them time to develop a revision study timetable for the Christmas Recess period. They should have the luxury of greater flexibility during this time period as they will have no new content delivered, but it is important they create a revision structure and keep on top of any work. The trap to avoid is forgetting about it until after Christmas then frantically trying to work through a term’s worth of content. To try and prevent this you could encourage them to use their calendar (Outlook/Google/phone/paper – whatever works for them) and to schedule when they will be revising/studying specific material.

https://calendar.google.com/calendar/u/0/r 

Once you have stressed the importance of revising early and regularly and creating a revision/study schedule it is worth going over some tips about what they should be doing during this time. There is no perfect approach for revising as everyone will have different strategies that have been effective for them, but there are certainly some points we can get across that might be useful.

For instance, typically students might engage in passive revision activities (i.e., watching lectures, reading through notes). This isn’t going to harm them, but active revisions sessions are going to be much more helpful to them (e.g., testing themselves about the knowledge/practising recalling information under exam conditions).

There is good evidence to support the practice of active revision such as the testing effect. For instance, studies have demonstrated that engaging in practice tests results in better learning and performance than restudy alone (e.g., reviewing material again). There is a nice meta-analysis which discusses the testing effect which you might wish to show them briefly (reference below if hyperlink doesn’t work).

Relevant paper: Rowland, C. A. (2014). The Effect of Testing Versus Restudy on Retention: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Testing Effect. Psychological Bulletin. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037559

Some useful suggestions about how they can approach the revision process using a combination of both passive and active revision are provided below:

Useful revision strategy:

1.  Work through each of the lectures and recommended reading in an orderly manner (e.g., 1 or 2 lectures per day)

2. When doing so, make condensed notes about the key ideas/models and theories introduced in each of the lectures and any recommended reading

3. Based on your notes try and create spider-diagrams/mind maps to capture the key points mentioned in each of the lectures

4. Test your ability to recreate these spider-diagrams/mind maps for each lecture without any notes

5. Practise talking through / describing content for each of the lectures to a friend/family or yourself

6. Ask course mates to have a testing session / or get friends and family to quiz you on lecture content by providing them with lecture notes and getting them to ask questions [they could even get a group of course-mates together to make their own practice bank of questions]

7. Importantly, practise answering questions under exam conditions!

If you have your own successful tips or strategies for preparing/revising for assessments do share them. You may have your own personal tricks you have found helpful (e.g., any tips you used when preparing for your viva) or things you have learned to avoid the hard way.

Suggested activity: sharing good practice

You might wish to ask them to think about what has worked for them in the past and to share any revision strategies that have worked well for them. You could ask them to consider the following questions in breakout rooms (or if they are too cool/nervous to talk in breakout room to use the chat function):

• What revision strategies work for you? e.g., creating humorous mnemonics.

• Do you have a revision process? i.e. Note taking-> Self testing-> Friend testing?

• What strategy do you not do but would like to try?

Once you have covered all key points to consider when revising it’s worth going over some key tips to be mindful of when they are completing the exam on the fateful day itself (some suggestions below). Some useful tips for completing Multiple Choice Questions are provided below:

• Read the question carefully – it is important they read and reread the questions carefully. Often people can become impulsive with the pressure of time and not read questions with the care they warrant

• Rule out other options - even if they are not sure of the correct answer, they can rule out other potential responses to improve the chance of them guessing correctly. If they can’t rule out other options, they can simply guess.

• Pace themselves – they should aim to allocate an equal amount of time to each question and not get to hung up one question. No point spending 10 mins on one MCQ and then missing out on an opportunity to gain marks elsewhere

Some useful tips for completing the short answer essay questions are provided below:

• Read the question thoroughly – it is important they address the question they are being asked and don’t get side-tracked by just providing any information they have about the topic in question.

• Allocate time equally to each question – e.g., if there are two questions it is important they don’t neglect one question (e.g., spend 90% of their time addressing one question). They need to allocate their time proportionately to ensure they earn maximum marks from both. 

• Take 5 mins to create a plan - e.g., see if they can recreate a spider-diagram/mind map to aid their answer and plan what they are going to say in response to the questions. 5 minutes of planning can be very useful to help guide their answer and is a worthy use of their time. 

• Directly address the question – it is important that they directly address the question and refer to the question throughout the response so that the marker can see how they are addressing the question.

Suggested discussion point: Managing your wellbeing

For some the word "exam” is enough to induce nightmares. As such, it is worth discussing some general tips for looking after their mental health (see some suggestions below) and highlighting where they can find support (these are just suggestions feel free to add/omit. Any suggestions most welcome).

• Remind them not to put too much pressure on themselves although not ideal they may get an opportunity to resit the assessment if neccessary 

• Remind them of the importance of creating a good balanced study routine, to have regular breaks and make sure they have things to look forward to.

• Might be worth reminding them also not to get too wrapped up in social media and how little or much others appear to be revising.       

• Encourage them to stay in touch with friends from university to create a social support nextwork for them to discuss things with

• Stay active with a regular form or exercise (lunch time stroll with freinds/family or a run or some sport)

• Finally, talk to someone if they need to whether it is exam or stress or something much bigger they are worried about. 

There is lots of support around: 

Samaritans – 24hr helpline; Telephone 116123 from uk; Welsh Language Line 0808 164 0123 available 7pm-11pm; You can also email jo@samaritans.org

Papyrus UK; Papyrus UK is a national charity dedicated to the prevention of young suicide www.papyrus-uk.org

Shout; Shout is a free, confidential, 24/7 text messaging support service for anyone who is struggling to cope www.giveusashout.org

MIND; Visit MIND’s ‘Urgent Help’ webpage for further support www.mind.org.uk/need-urgent-help/

• Rowland, C. A. (2014). The Effect of Testing Versus Restudy on Retention: A Meta-Analytic Review of the Testing Effect. Psychological Bulletin. Advance online publication. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0037559

• Vlach, H. A., & Sandhofer, C. M. (2012). Distributing learning over time: The spacing effect in children’s acquisition and generalization of science concepts. Child development, 83(4), 1137-1144: https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2012.01781.x?casa_token=lyz2yCWXfQUAAAAA:CYU078Owd6hBNMsNsTRefaEf4r8Uvx09TLtoJgjcwoyATTEzphX8b7RL5U3ZmRX8Cu8UZlGZaLEo-LRM