STUDY&REVISION GUIDE, by Eustache Kayiranga

“The success is neither a miracle nor a random happening”. Instead, “it is a

rewarding result and achievement of a planned, strategized, focused & devoted
preset goal alongside tremendous invested efforts made consistently”. It only
requires the will and commitment or devotion to the idea. For a student to succeed
in exams, tests or quizzes, technical strategies must be put into practice for revision
and answering the questions. Here are some major steps and tasks to consider for
effective & successful revision generating good performance out of the test/exam.
1. First of all, read the whole content to understand the general overview.
Do this more than once, like twice or more given the time you have.
2. Identify the major points to focus on as the key message in each part of
your detailed notes. Write them down on a separate document such as a piece
of paper and try to adapt them in your own language in a very
3. brief summary.
4. Go through all your notes again and check if there is no important point
you have ignored or left out. If satisfied with this, distinguish which points
to be memorized such as definitions, types, categories, groups or
classification, causes and effects, characteristics, rules (general and
exceptions), formulas etc. On the other hand, check different points to be
generally understood which require practices or exercises. Remember! For the
memorisable points, memorize them proceeding by repeated reading
accompanied by exercise of oral recalling and check up on the text copy, write
down what you are memorising as many times as possible to help your
memory or brain record them fixedly.
5. Proceed by questioning method. On this level, make sure you have just
learnt enough amounts of materials. Now look at your notes and set relevant
questions reflecting the major points and try to find the correct answers from
the notes or related books if you can access any.
6. Revise again your original notes from your teacher in order to get more
confidence with them.
7. Discuss with your classmates or colleagues about learnt topics. Ask them
to make some questions to you so that you check your level as you answer
them. Put some to your classmates too so that you exchange the shared
knowledge and learn from each other.
8. Find a short time for break or pause before you start your exam or test.
This helps you to become natural with the new knowledge you have acquired
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 and be able to adapt it (that knowledge) to the situational context of questions
that might be set by your evaluator. It also clears your nervousness.
9. Do further reading to extend your knowledge about the topics you have
studied.
10. Guess out the relationship of learnt knowledge with the real life.
11. Use that knowledge to create, make new things or solve natural problems
in life. Adapt it in your personal talents and come up with innovative
invention or creation.
Tactics which enable you to effectively succeed in the exams, tests or quizzes
Everything is now well settled, and you have just received a paper of questions.
1. First and foremost, check and read instructions given on your paper if
there are any.
2. Then write your full presentation in an appropriate space indicating your
name, your class, your school, the title of the test or exam as well as the date.
If there isn’t, trace the margin on your paper of answers.
3. Quickly but with attention, go through all the questions written on your
paper and decide which you will begin with.
4. Remember the duration given for the test or exam and plan your answers
accordingly.
5. Start by easiest questions and proceed by the medium to the sophisticated
ones. But pay attention! Check also, the number of marks allocated for each
question, and select which question to answer with that regard of its marks.
6. If necessary, use the draft appropriately. The draft is meant to help you
organise your answers but not to make you waste your time by writing the
whole answers or all of them on it. Thus specific points can only be written
down on your draft. These include titles and subtitles, major points for
composition development, sometimes the brief paragraph of introduction
and of conclusion, formulas and data of a problem for scientific tests.
7. Keep your answers clean and neat all the time and avoid crossing out
within the written lines.
8. Keep and write the number of questions and sections.
9. Answers to all aspects of the questions, especially when the question has
subsections within itself.
10. Finish earlier and revise your answers by checking all related questions.