Revision Tecniques

Why is it important to revise?

Recall You can not expect to remember all that you have studied unless
100% you revise. It is important to review so that you can answer the

examination questions.

Where should you revise?

In a quiet room (perhaps your bedroom) with a table and a
clock. The room needs to be comfortably warm and brightly
1 day
10 min lighted.
weekontime
A reading1lamp
the table helps you to concentrate on
your work and reduces eye-strain.
Recall
100% When should you revise?

If you sit down to revise without thinking of a denite nishing

time, you will nd that your learning efciency falls lower and
review after 10 min
lower.

If you sit down to revise, saying to yourself that you will denitively
hours,
10 min stop work
1 dayafter 2 1
weekthen
timeyour learning efciency falls at the
beginning but rises towards the end as your brain realizes it is
coming to the end of the session (see the rst graph).

with no breaks

1 hour

We can use this U-shaped curve to help us work more efciently

by splitting a 2 hour session into 4 shorter sessions, each of
about 25 minutes with a short, planned break between them.

2 hour
time

planned breaks

review after 1 day

The breaks must be planned beforehand so the graph rises

near the end of each short session.
The colored area on the graph shows how much you gain.

with no breaks

1 hour

0 min For 1example,

day
week
if1you
start your revision at 6.00 p.m. you should

2 hour
time

look at your clock or watch and say to yourself, I will work until
after
1 week
6:25 p.m. andreview
then stop
not
earlier and not later.
At 6.25p.m. you should leave the table for a relaxation or break
of 10 minutes (or less), returning by 6:35p.m. when you should
say to yourself, I will work until 7:00 p.m. and then stop not
earlier and not later.

0 min

1 day

1 week

Continuing in this way is more efcient and causes less strain

on you. You get through more work and feel less tired.

How often should

you revise?
Mon Tues Wed
The
diagram
shows
a graph of the amount of information that
Physics p 24-9 Chap 5
your
memory
can
recall
at different times after you have nished
History Chap 3
ap revision
session:
45-9
Geog

Surprisingly, the graph rises at the beginning. This is because

your brain is still sorting out the information that you have been
learning.

session 1

session 2
break

The graph soon falls rapidly so that after 1 day you may
remember only about a quarter of what you had learned.

Recall
100%

There are two ways of improving your recall and raising this
graph:
1. If you briey revise the same work again after 10 minutes
(at the high point of the graph) then the graph falls much more
slowly.
This ts with your 10-minute break between revision sessions.

10 min

1 day

Recall
100%

Using the previous example, when you return to your table at

6.35 p.m., the rst thing you should do is review, briey, the
en your learning
falls at the
beginning
butp.m.
rises towards the end as your brain
workefficiency
you learned
before
6.25
The graph can be lifted again by briey reviewing the work after
1 day and then again after 1 week. That is, on Tuesday night
you should look through the work you learned on Monday night
and the work you learned on the previous Tuesday night, so
that it is xed quite rmly in your long-term memory.

1 week time

review after 10 min

10 min

1 day

1 week time

or example, if you start your revision at 6.00 p.m. you should look at your clock or watch

2. Another method of improving your memory is by taking care

to try to understand all parts of your work. This makes the
graphs higher.
If you learn your work in a parrot-fashion (as you have to do
with the telephone numbers), all these graphs will be lower.
On the occasions when you have to learn facts by heart, try to
picture them as exaggerated, colorful images in your mind.

review after 1 day

10 min

1 day

review after 1 week

Remember: the most important points about revision are

that it must occur frequently and be repeated at the right
intervals.

emember: the most important points about revision are that it must occur frequently and

1 week

10 min

1 day

1 week

Mon Tues Wed

Physics p 24-9 Chap 5
History Chap 3
Geog p 45-9