Revision Guide

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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