Revision Techniques!

Since exams are coming up for many people, I think it might be useful to share my revision techniques to make the revision process slightly less horrific and horrifically boring, so that you end up studying productively and not stu-DYING! While I used most of these during my mocks and IGCSEs last year, I'm sure they are also applicable to A levels and other education systems.

image taken from wix.com

1. FLASHCARDS:

   This is probably my personal favorite since actually studying them is very time-efficient and one of the less boring studying techniques. The downside is the hours it takes to make them; however, I haven't been able to find a better studying technique than this one for me personally, despite how long it takes to make them. I make digital flashcards (if digital takes 2 hours, the aesthetic paper ones would take 4) using either Anki or Quizlet. For my IGCSE days, I used Quizlet, but I'm finding Anki better for A Levels due to the spaced repetition system it provides. What I mean is the app will show you a selection of cards every day depending on how difficult you found them, ensuring they are repeated. For flashcards, simply write the question on the front of the card and the answer on the back. I recommend using this technique to learn a lot of information like in Biology for example, not for understanding purposes though.

2. BLURTING:

   This technique also helps in learning a lot of information, especially information that needs to be learned in a specific order or word for word. In this technique, you need something to write on, and all you do is mind dump all the information you know for a specific topic. Then, in a different color, you go over what you wrote wrong or didn't include. This is really good for summarizing a lot of information in a compact way and ensuring it is solid in your long-term memory. This really helped learn a lot of biology information last year.

3. THE FEYNMANN TECHNIQUE:

   This was my favorite technique a few years ago before I turned to flashcards. In this technique, you simply explain a specific topic as if you are explaining it to a five-year-old. To make this fun, I like to set up some dolls/stuffed animals and teach them. This creates a deeper understanding of the topic, and if you find you cannot teach/explain something, meaning there is a gap in your knowledge, you can go over it again, closing the gap. I really recommend using this for sciences and even history!

4. PAST PAPERS:

   Personally, this is my favorite revision technique since it is the application of what you learned using the revision techniques above. It's like a test—can you actually apply the knowledge you learned? This also helps to identify any gaps in your knowledge and highlights areas you need to go over. You can memorize as much information as you can and know a textbook word for word, but if you can't apply that knowledge in past papers, then it is useless. Unfortunately, we don't have the luxury of learning for learning's sake; in the end, we are learning to take an exam, which is why exam technique is really important. This is what past papers are for! This is good for all subjects but especially useful for maths and science related subjects.

5. SPACED REPETITION:

   This is really simple and applies to almost all revision techniques! When you finish revising a topic for an end-of-topic test, don't just leave it until your mocks or, even worse, your real exams! You will have forgotten by then unless you are a mutant and have supernatural memory abilities, which most of us don't have! Instead, integrate time until then to keep reviewing the same topic over and over so by the time exam season comes around, you will be reviewing, not learning new information. This is why I love Anki so much: you rate your cards according to difficulty, and its software works by spaced repetition so that it shows you all the cards (e.g., if a card is easy, I might see it again in a month vs. if a card is difficult, I will see it in 2 days). This helps so much; and you will see that while all your friends are frantically learning information in May, you will already know it so well, and this means more relaxation and free time for yourself! I highly recommend doing this for every single subject.

   
   
   
   
   
   

   

   image taken from wix.com

   
   

   I really hoped this helped any of you who are still reading your notes and highlighting, wondering why you aren't seeing results. Active recall is KEY to success, remember that! Also, don't get too stressed by the various methods, try them all and use the ones that work for you and suit your needs. If you stay on top of things from now, there's no doubt you will do well in your exams. <3