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When studying a course with exams, you will find that you spend a lot of your time revising. The more effective your revision is, the better you will understand and retain the information required for your exams. We’re going to look at the key factors that can contribute towards a more successful revision session. You can then implement them into your revising!
How to revise
Revising is reviewing and studying material to improve understanding and retention. To revise effectively, start by organising your study materials, creating a study schedule, using learning techniques such as summarising, making flashcards, practising similar past exams, or seeking clarification on unclear concepts.
How to revise effectively
Learning effectively involves adopting strategies that suit your learning style and preferences. This may include breaking down study sessions into manageable chunks, minimising distractions, setting specific goals and carving out regular time to review material and reinforce learning.
6 things you can do to make your revision more effective:
- Make a revision timetable
- Revise in your productive hours
- Find a suitable space for revision
- Mix up your learning techniques
- Manage your time
- Work smart to avoid burnout
Make a revision timetable
Make a note of the date of your exam on your calendar. When you have done this, divide the unit you are being examined on into topic sections. Allocate days leading up to the exam to each of the topics, and then make a note of these on your calendar. You may not have the same amount of time to study each day, for example if you work Monday-Friday you will have less time during the week to study than on a weekend. Work out how much time you can dedicate each day and plan the topic you study around this. If you have 2 hours on a Monday after work to revise, use this time to go over a topic that you are quite familiar with and don’t require a lot of revision time for. If you have all day Sunday to study, dedicate the day to topics that you find more difficult, so you can take the time to really get to grips with it. Sometimes certain topics can carry higher marks in an exam than others, it would also be useful to make a note of these topics so you can dedicate more time to them too.
Revise in your productive hours
If possible, plan to revise in the hours that you are most productive. For example, if you find that you are most focused first thing on a morning with your first coffee of the day in hand, use this time to revise as much as possible. If you cannot do this due to work and you need to revise at specific times, try to ensure you have no distractions nearby that you could be easily swayed by (like the television or your phone for example). Also, make sure that you’ve had a good meal to help with your concentration levels.
Find a suitable space for revision
Concentration levels can be affected by the space you are using to revise. For example, if you sit upright and study from a desk, you will have better concentration than if you laid on the sofa. Sitting in a well-lit room with a lot of natural light is also beneficial. Wherever you decide to study, make sure you’re as far away from potential distractions as possible. Try not to study in the same room as a television, and if you’re easily distracted by background music avoid having the radio on or have it at a low volume. A change of scenery can also help with concentration levels, so if you’re studying for long periods of time, maybe spend half the day in your dedicated study space and the other half in another area of the house or a library.
Change up learning techniques
There are several different learning styles that you could try for your revision, these styles are broken down into kinaesthetic, auditory, visual and a sub-type of visual, reading and writing. Some examples of each are included below:
Kinaesthetic, learning by doing:
- Revision cards. Have keys words on one side of the card and the definition on the other, or have questions on one side and answers on the other. This is like a memory game; it will require recall and make you think how you will need to think when you’re sitting your exams. It’s a great way to put your brain into exam mode and practice!
- Act like a teacher. Ask a friend or family member to pretend to be the student and teach them the topics you will be tested on. This will help you recall information and understand the topics more in depth by explaining them to another person. Your student may also come up with some questions to test you further!
Auditory, learning by listening:
- Record yourself reading notes and listen back to them. Hearing the information out loud can often help with remembering.
- Listen to podcasts on your topic. This also has the same affect of helping with remembering the information.
- Mnemonics. Create a mnemonic for things that you find particularly tricky to remember. An example of a mnemonic is when we were first taught how to spell, you may remember little sentences where the first letter was a letter of the word you were trying to spell. For example, to remember “because” we have the phrase “big elephants can’t always use small exits”. Sometimes remembering a random phrase is easier. Mnemonics aren’t just useful to help spell, if you need to remember a theory that comprises of several stages, you can use the first letter for each stage to make a sentence and recall all the stages, and in order too.
Visual, learning by seeing:
- Map out tables and diagrams. Breaking down written information into something you can look at without needing to read can help you understand the information better, it gives you a different perspective on the information in front of you.
- Colour-code your notes. Highlighting your notes in different colours will help you separate the information better when you’re trying to recall it.
- Watch video sessions online. A lot of topics are discussed on video platforms such as YouTube. This is also beneficial for visual stimulation, to help you interpret the information better.
Reading and writing:
- Read your course resources and textbooks. Taking the time to read the information thoroughly will ensure you cover all parts of the topic you need to learn.
- Re-write key information from your resources. Re-writing information will help you retain it better, as you’re processing the information while you’re writing it down (which means you’re spending more time processing it than you would from just reading it) so it’s more likely to stay with you. You can also write the information in your own words which will really help in you understanding the topic better. This is particularly useful if you’re reading about a certain topic and the information won’t seem to sink in.
Manage your time
Break down your studies into slots of time. Whatever works for you, for example you might want to spend a full hour reading and note taking, have a 5-minute break and then break your next hour into 20-minute sessions of answering test questions, writing out index cards and watching revision clips. This creates a sense of time, rather than feeling like you are sitting revising for all of eternity. Also, knowing you have a set amount of time to get your tasks completed will be sure to keep you focused and on track.
Work smarter to avoid burnout
Concentrate on your revision and avoid procrastination at all costs. 2 hours of focused revision is much more effective than 4 hours of trying to revise but not really getting into the flow. If you find yourself slogging through your revision for hours on end without getting anywhere, it’s likely that you’re going to get stressed and burnout. Remember to take time away from your revision and do things that you enjoy doing. Then when you come back to your studies you’ll be ready and raring to go!
Revision websites
The internet can be a great way to help digitise some of your revision methods, keeping everything in one place and allowing you to access it on the go. Here are some handy websites for revision:
- Quizlet: Allows users to create and access flashcards, quizzes, and study games on a variety of topics.
- GoConqr: Features study tools like mind maps, flashcards, and quizzes to help with revision and learning.
- Get Revising: Allows you to create your own flashcards for chosen topics/subjects
