Revision Guide

REVI S ION SKI LLS OVERVIEW

Active revision

You can do it!

Test yourself

Repeat

Prioritise

Plan

Revision is an essential part of our academic lives. Whether exams are internal or it’s your GCSEs, IB, or A levels, it is important that you know how to prepare yourself in the best possible way. This booklet offers some ideas and suggestions to help you get the most out of your revision sessions. Building healthy study habits early will make things easier as you progress through school and on to bigger and better things beyond the walls of Teddies. The big question about revision What do I want to get from my revision sessions?

Structure and routine are key. Keeping yourself accountable with targets and self-regulation will ensure you get the most from every opportunity.

Each person will study differently, and each subject will require a different set of skills. Ultimately, your teachers, your peers, your parents, or guardians, and most importantly, you, will know what works best for each subject and situation.

Find out what works for you, use these tips, and get the most out of your revision.

Leon O’Rourke Head of Pupil Progress

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A WORD ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING…

What is learning? Learning is a biological and dynamic process which results in not only changes in behaviour or knowledge, but also physical changes in the brain. These physical changes, enhanced and interconnected neural pathways, are the seat of our memories. When we think of learning in the classroom, it makes sense to think about the foundations of the neural pathways being forged; when we revise, we are fortifying those pathways. This ‘fortifying’ comes as a result of elaborate rehearsal, self-testing and question answering – we can think of this as ‘Active Revision’.

Repetition is key

The more frequently you require yourself to recall and adapt material, the stronger the connections in your brain become. In essence, the more often that you engage with the material, the more securely the material is held. This is why spacing out revision and testing your knowledge are so important.

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Self-confidence You really can do it!

There is lots of evidence to show that self-confidence can boost your results, it also helps keep you motivated and will make you more determined to do your best.

• Celebrate your successes with your family • Don’t dwell on setbacks but learn from them

• Seek help from your teachers and Tutor if you need it • The more you learn the more confident you will feel as the exams approach

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MAKE A PLAN!

• Before you start revising, invest some time in creating a detailed revision timetable for all the weeks ahead • Know your exam dates and times – add those and any other fixed events into the plan • Make a list of what you need to study – use the subject checklists • Space your subjects throughout the weekly timetable and make sure you return to topics to reinforce the learning • Add breaks, rewards and exercise to the plan • Starting with your school

timetable could work for you and ensures you cover all your subjects

THEN USE YOUR TIME EFFECTIVELY

Use active revision techniques see some ideas later in this booklet Test yourself what do you know, and what do you need to learn? Close the gaps

check your notes, do the practice questions Test yourself again have you closed those gaps?

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REVISION timetable Example

Wednesda

Maths – trans practice que

Tuesday

Biology –c revision n

English language – transactional essay

English transa

Maths – Trig – practice question

Week A Monday History –

past paper

08.30– 09.15

Physics – forces – quizlet / flashcards

English – Macbeth – past paper

M

BREAK

09.20– 10.05

Maths – algebra – practice questions

English – Macbeth – revision notes

10.10– 10.55

BREAK

Chemistry – atomic structure – revision

Chemistry – alkanes – revision notes

LUNCH

11.30– 12.15

History – China – essay LUNCH

History –

12.20– 13.05

past paper

History – U flashcards

Geography – physical – 8 marker Maths – Trig – practice question

14.45– 15.30

Gym

15 mi voca

15.35– 16.20

See the back page for a blank revision timetable

Reward See friends

15 mins French vocab

Before bed

HEALTHY STUDY HABITS

Remove distractions including mobiles Get everything you need books, laptop (only when needed), calculator, etc. Get in position at a desk, not on your bed

Your study space

Breaks • Take breaks: Your brain needs a rest! • But resting is not using your tired brain for other activities which require cognitive effort – e.g. gaming. Time with devices might be a reward, but make sure that it is separate from breaks after which you will need to concentrate again.

• When learning a lot of material, take mini breaks. For example, five minutes every 45 minutes, like lessons. This can be good for motivation but don’t

interrupt your flow or add a break when you are doing a past paper. Then take longer breaks.

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Space out and interleave your learning

• Cramming may work in the short term, but to commit learning to long-term memory, you need to space out your practice • We learn better when we vary our topics and subjects instead of blocking it all together • So, mix up subjects, taking a mini break between then, for example:

MATHS

PHYSICS BREAK HISTORY

ENGLISH BREAK

BREAK

BREAK

GEOGRAPHY CHEMISTRY BREAK MATHS

PHYSICS BREAK

HISTORY

ENGLISH BREAK GEOGRAPHY CHEMISTRY BREAK

• It can be helpful to study subjects with links to each other close together • Colour coding may help you ensure you have balanced your subjects – but don’t let colouring become a displacement activity!

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HEALTHY YOU

Exercise • Exercise can help to boost your energy levels, your mood and your motivation and it can help to reduce stress and improve your sleep • Do something you enjoy and, if you can, make it sociable • Put exercise in your schedule – even if it’s just a brisk, short walk Nutrition • Your brain needs a balanced healthy diet • Eat lots of fruit and veg • Eat protein and slow-release carbohydrates • Keep hydrated • Avoid sugary food and simple carbohydrates that may lead to slumps later • Avoid consuming a lot of caffeine

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Sleep Good sleep and good sleeping habits can help to improve how much of what you learn is committed to your long-term memory and how easily you can recall information. Conversely, poor sleep can interfere with your learning.

Try to go to bed and get up at roughly the same times every day

Avoid caffeine (in tea, coffee, some fizzy drinks etc) after 3pm

Store your phone and devices in another room overnight

Avoid sugary snacks and drinks for at least two hours before you go to bed

Sixth Form, avoid alcohol during revision and exam weeks, as it inhibits REM sleep which is important for recall

Aim for around 8 hours sleep – how much sleep people need varies but for most it is 7–9 hours a night

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SELF-REGULATION

Distraction In order to learn best, you should aim to remove as many distractions as you can to free up cognitive capacity. This includes not listening to music and removing your mobile phone from your study area. Only have your laptop when you actually need it. Think about what the exam environment will be like as a guide to the environment you study in.

Notes on music… • There is a lot of evidence

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showing that music reduces how much you learn when revising • Music with lyrics that you like appears to be the most distracting • Whether or not you think music helps you study, you will not have it during the exam • It’s not all bad…listening to music when relaxing or exercising can boost your mood and motivation

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50

40

% OF CORRECT ANSWERS

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SILENCE

NO LYRICS

DISLIKED LYRICS

LIKED LYRICS

STUDY ENVIRONMENT

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Phones • We all know how distracting phones are – even the mere presence of a phone in the room can be distracting • Put your phone in another room • Use the ‘Do not disturb’ functions during revision periods • Support your friends by resisting the urge to message

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33

32

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TEST SCORE

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DESK

OTHER ROOM POCKET/BAG

PHONE LOCATION

Displacement Displacement is when you are doing an activity which takes up time allocated for revision but when you are not learning or delaying learning. Here are some examples to watch out for: • Unnecessary internet research beyond the subject or only tangentially relevant • Creating revision aids for information that is already stored • Making excessively time-consuming memory aids (such as beautifully decorated flashcards) • Postponing more difficult subjects

A clear revision timetable in combination with a list of what you need to learn will help with getting through all the right material.

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MAKE YOUR REVISION ACTIVE

Active revision Active revision involves doing something with the information you are learning – such as, making connections between concepts, creating diagrams, retrieving learnt information. Here are some examples.

MAKE FLASH CARDS PLAN EXAM ANSWERS CHU-NK-ING LISTS of information Create new revision material e.g. by converting notes to diagrams

Write exam ANSWERS then edit them using the mark scheme MAKE MNEMONICS Kingdom Kings Phylum Play Class Chess Order On Family Fine Genus Gold Species Sets

EXPLAIN A TOPIC to someone else or draw a mind map and fill in any extra detail afterwards

NB: But make sure these are worth the time and are not becoming displacement activities.

Active revision is more engaging and helps you: • Form strong memories of the information • Re-assess information you think you know • Save time and give you more time to relax

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Make passive revision active! Passive revision involves consuming information through reading or listening, such as reading notes, listening to lectures, or highlighting important information in texts. These are not effective ways to retain and retrieve information in the long-term. Turn passive revision into active revision by, for example, using the Cornell note taking method while you read. Test yourself afterwards by covering up the notes and answering the questions or by writing an index card without reference to your notes – add any detail you missed afterwards.

CORNELL METHOD EXAMPLE

Title

Main topics, questions or ideas

Notes & Key Thoughts

Summary

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RETRIEVAL STRATEGIES

These techniques may be helpful in your active revision times. Some are better for some subjects than others and depend on your existing knowledge. For example, past papers are good for Maths and sciences, but not if you need to learn a topic first.

Mind maps Choose a topic and write down as much as you can remember, without referring to your notes. Check your notes and see what you missed then try to fill the gaps without the notes. Check your notes a third time and add the missing information.

Pros/Cons: Good for making connections between areas, less good for very detailed subjects.

Example  Idea  Quote 

 Text  Example  Idea

SUBTOPIC

SUBTOPIC

MAIN TOPIC

 Text  Idea

IDEA

SUBTOPIC

Example 

Text  Quote  Idea 

 Summary  Method  Discussion

SUBTOPIC

IDEA

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Flashcards Use simple flashcards: cards with one question (or a concept, term or phrase) on one side and the explanation on the other side. Write flashcards for each topic, in all subjects, then mix them up for the most effective revision. The “Leitner System” helps with spacing and interleaving subjects and with regular recall.

Pros/cons: Good for embedding small units of knowledge, can be time consuming to create and overwhelming if too many cards.

Correctly answered cards

DAILY

TWICE WEEKLY

WEEKLY

Incorrectly answered cards

The Leitner System – start with all the flashcards in the left-hand box. Correctly answered cards move one box to the right. Incorrect move to far left.

Key Vocabulary For a particular topic, make a list of key vocabulary, then do the following: define each word, use each term in a sentence, create a question where the key word is the answer, identify other words which connect to each of the words in your list.

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RETRIEVAL STRATEGIES

Answer Planning Take an essay question or writing question and map out your answer, without writing a full response. Look at the mark scheme and decide if your plan meets the criteria. Do this for a number of questions, then choose one and write the full response. Do not try to learn an essay answer – it’s unlikely to come up and can mean that you won’t know how to adapt the information you have learnt in an exam. Practise introductions For essay subjects, take a past exam question and practise writing effective introductions and conclusions. Look back at your notes and remind yourself of the important things to remember. Practise for different topics, texts and papers.

Past papers Ask your teacher for practice questions or exam papers. Complete them without notes in exam conditions, then check your answers and identify the gaps in your knowledge, so you can target your revision. Practice questions and past papers are especially helpful for Maths and the sciences.

WHAT DOES A GOOD ESSAY ANSWER LOOK LIKE?

Introduction • Set out key ideas/concepts • Signpost structure • Summarise conclusion Evidence points • Point 1, evidence, evaluation • Point 2, evidence... etc Conclusion • Refer back to the question • Summarise the arguments • Set out the conclusion and any limitations to it

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THINKING HARD

Activities that help you think harder about the material help put the information into long-term memory. Here are some techniques to get you thinking.

Thinking hard: reduce Read a section of your notes then put them aside and reduce what you have read to three bullet points, each one no more than 10 words. Look back at the notes and decide if you missed anything important. Hide the notes and write a fourth bullet point. Thinking hard: transform Read a paragraph from your notes or a text book and transform it into a diagram, chart or sketch – no words allowed. Look at a diagram in Science, for example, and transform it into a paragraph of explanation.

Thinking hard: connect For each subject, review the exam papers and group together questions that require the same technique to answer them. Write down the requirements of each type. Find a previous example you’ve completed and identify where you’ve met the criteria.

Remember to mark your work and identify gaps

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EXAM DAY

Do you have everything you need? • Read the questions carefully. Even after you answer, check if you’ve answered all parts of the question and in the right format. • Plan your answers before you commit pen to paper. One minute planning can make all the difference. • Always check your work thoroughly. Don’t just give it a cursory glance. Go through the questions again in detail. Good luck!

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Week A Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Week B Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

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in

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