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Post by rob on May 13, 2005 11:06:42 GMT 1
I always find it difficult to revise and have never managed to do any proper revision.
I have always found the messages mixed from Uni and school as to how to revise.
Normally I cram for an hour or so the night before/morning before the exam, and although it has worked in the passed (3 Bs at Alevel) it has also let me down slightly (in GCSEs)
I also tried the approach of not revising last summer, but I only just passed my first year by 10%.
As such I would like to know any other revision techniques that people have employed and found sucessful.
I have a very short concentration span and really struggle to sit down for more than 5 minutes, and so prefere to revise through reading, is this a good method???
Unlike this post, please keep the post short and about revision technique.
That way it might actually be one of the few threads I start that may be of some of posters/readers who are about to start their exams or are struggling through them.
Good luck all.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2005 11:09:20 GMT 1
I could study for days but if I went into an exam worrying then I would forget everything. So my advice is to relax on the day of the exam. It surprised me how much I actually knew when it come down to sitting the exams.
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2005 11:13:35 GMT 1
Unfortunatley it's a right royal pain in the backside - I hated revision but sadly it's something you have to do, imo, to do well (of course there are those who do very little but still score highly, the barstards!!).
I tried to get 8 hours a day done for the 6 weeks before my finals last year.
The best way I found to achieve this was:
- Getting into a routine. Wake up at 7am every morning, start working at 8 and try and get 5 hours done and have lunch at 1. This is a hard slog but if you can achieve it then you've got most of the day left and you've already done most of your revision for the day.
- Write a lot. It prepares you for writing a lot during the exams but it is also proven that you will remember 20% more of something if you read and write about it as opposed to just read it.
- Create yourself some 'cramming diagrams'. For each small section of a course I would devise a little flow diagram with different arms to each sub division of that subject. By the end of your revision you should be able to read one sentance and this should trigger you to the rest of the stuff you know.
I found I could get a whole topic onto 3/4 sheets of paper by the end of revision and it was a great final revision aid for cramming right upto the exams.
- Have a complete day off a week!
PS - Phil is the absolute master of all revision techniques - I'm sure he'll be along soon to help!
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Post by El Huracán!!!! on May 13, 2005 11:18:26 GMT 1
You knows what you knows Dont worry about it craming is the only way i ever got through it all - did very little "actual" revision and relyed on my brain having picked some thing up from lectures And hope the notes you were good i found reading my notes in my style was easier to pick up second time around when i was revising than going back to a source or text book which was dry and harder to pick back up!!! My notes tended to cut out the waffle!!! Now if you missed lots of letures your ****ed mate
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Post by Shrews and Royals on May 13, 2005 11:28:01 GMT 1
Go to the VARK website and answer the questions as honestly as possible. You will then be told what your personal preferences should be for learning style and what revision methods suit you best. There may be some you recognise that you already do, there may be some you haven't used. I'm trying to implement this at my school so we can identify how learning styles are spread in a class and then adapt teaching style to suit the particular class and advise each child which styles may suit them best for learning. www.vark-learn.com
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Post by Chaz nli on May 13, 2005 11:39:19 GMT 1
You knows what you knows Dont worry about it craming is the only way i ever got through it all - did very little "actual" revision and relyed on my brain having picked some thing up from lectures I take it you failed Engish Language then Pricey ;D
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Post by Chaz nli on May 13, 2005 11:43:28 GMT 1
I quite often revised in a quiet place but with the radio on. But unfortunately that has meant that certain quality songs are now associated in my head with the horror of revision.
Ant's advise about doing as much as you can as early in the day as possible is a good thing I have found.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 13, 2005 11:59:42 GMT 1
Different styles of revision work for different people. I followed a similar routine to ant's (as he nicked it from me ) - that's ok for a maths/science based subject but I'm not quite sure if the routine would be quite as suitable for revising a social science or language. However, one thing I totally disagree with is working in silence. I find by having some music on in the background (not too loud) it means I don't get too bored and it helps me concetrate further. One final thing - I read somewhere that you take in upto 25% more information by writing things down than just reading them. Try to make as many notes on your subjects as you can instead of just reading through books.
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Post by Shrews and Royals on May 13, 2005 12:01:09 GMT 1
I quite often revised in a quiet place but with the radio on. But unfortunately that has meant that certain quality songs are now associated in my head with the horror of revision. Ant's advise about doing as much as you can as early in the day as possible is a good thing I have found. At uni I used to be getting up to revise at 3am (my preferred time) as Mr S&R was going to bed at 3am (his preferred time)! Depends on the individual!
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Post by Shrews and Royals on May 13, 2005 12:03:46 GMT 1
Why do people bother revising topics that they know 60-70% of?
They ignore the ones they find difficult and may only know 25% of, but have a much larger potential upside on their grade for a similar time in put if they didn't.
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Post by ShrewsAde on May 13, 2005 12:07:25 GMT 1
I used to precis everything
whittle it down every time I read through
until each subject was just a set of individual
keywords
for each question you decide to answer, write down all the keywords you remember on that subject first (on the actual paper in pencil)
then answer the question
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Post by ShrewsAde on May 13, 2005 12:10:01 GMT 1
I know everyone tells you - but someone I knew went for a job and was given a set of about twenty questions
the top of the sheet said
'Read all the questions first'
He didn't and just got stuck in and frantically tried to complete all twenty questions in the allotted time - the twentieth 'question' said - Only answer the first three questions and go to the next page!
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Post by blueandamber on May 13, 2005 13:17:15 GMT 1
try reading out loud and walking about.
in the garden or somewhere like that.
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Post by dachs on May 13, 2005 14:56:18 GMT 1
I used to precis everything whittle it down every time I read through until each subject was just a set of individual keywords for each question you decide to answer, write down all the keywords you remember on that subject first (on the actual paper in pencil) then answer the question Something very similar worked for me. Summarise a topic on two sheets of A4, read through a few times, then rewrite it on one side of A4 (more concisely, not just smaller.) Eventually you will get it down to ten or so words, or even letters, which will trigger all that you remember about each sub-section.
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TeamWin
Shropshire County League
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Post by TeamWin on May 13, 2005 16:12:15 GMT 1
Im halfway through my finals at the moment. I started revision well in advance and tried to adopt a simliar pattern to Ant. Originally I used to go to library about 11 and then stay for about 6-8 hours including an hour for lunch and one 15 minute break. However the problem I found was that because the exams were so far away my mind would wonder and I spent half the time daydreaming..girls, footy the usual. Nearer the exams everyone gets the "fear" and panicks into revising loads. Some people get this weeks in advance whereas I dont get it til maybe 2 days before. The best way to revise is making notes and doing past papers preferably with the answers provided so that you're preparing the sort of stuff that'll be tested. I find in my subjects that the first few lectures are usually introductory so dont spend too much time on them focus on the latter stuff where the bulk of the marks are.
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Post by harmerhillshrew on May 13, 2005 17:20:00 GMT 1
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Post by thesalmon on May 15, 2005 11:28:59 GMT 1
ciggerettes and coffee...
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Post by tom_leather on May 15, 2005 12:49:54 GMT 1
I fidn that by far the quickest, easiest and best way to learn facts, stats, quotes etc, is to stick them on a post it or smalll nit of paper then stick them up in places like mirrors, next to the loo, on your diary etc. it works a bleedin treat!
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Post by rob on May 15, 2005 13:43:34 GMT 1
amy to restrict the different topics (4/5) withing my modules to 8/9 key lines. From these key lines I can write a page/page and half of rough notes on the subject without going into much detail. Hopefully this style of revision will work for me
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