Revision Technique
How do I make revision notes?
You can make revision notes by breaking them down. I think it's the best way. You can highlight them, and that means you don't have to read a full page because you've got the most important parts standing out; it could be dates, it could be statements, or mathematical formula or anything of that sort. If you've highlighted it, it will spring out of the page out there. There are other techniques, and again it depends on yourself. You can have rhymes that you make up so that you remember something; silly rhymes, but rhymes that mean something to you and perhaps nobody else. You can isolate your notes, and I think this is important, so instead of having five pages of notes, you can break it down to half a page or a page of important things that you have to remember for examinations. So, break your revision down and don't have a volume of stuff to take in every time you want to do a subject. Look at the past examination questions as well; you'll get to know what sort of information that you need for these. If you isolate that sort of information then that will be helpful when it comes to doing the examination.
How does highlighting help?
Highlighting is a great revision aid because it lets the information that you need to know spring out of the page, so you got it immediately. You don't need to read a full page of information to get what you're looking for. If all the important information is highlighted in some sort of way, it will be very helpful for your revision.
How can I test myself while revising?
That's a difficult one, in a sense. I mean, the best way of testing yourself is to do a past examination paper, to do them in the time that you've got to do an examination to complete these papers. You can try and test yourself and sometimes you kid yourself on that you're actually testing yourself, this is why I say that doing that a timed examination paper is probably the better way of doing it, but you can write important things, if it's dates the starting of dates, for example, well it's roughly easy to do that. You know what the dates are. And you can ask somebody, better than you doing it yourself. Ask somebody to, to ask you the questions, rather than doing it yourself. Because you're looking at the question and you know what the answer is because you know what the question is and it's related to the date that you're seeking. So get somebody else to do it rather than do it yourself.
How do past exam papers help?
Past papers make revising like being an athlete. You don't just train; you've got to run the race. Sometimes, athletes don't do well in training, but they come out on the evening and something makes a difference, and they come to the occasion and they win. That's what you're doing in examinations. You're training for 2 years to sit for an examination, and it would be a falsehood if you didn't actually run the race or sit the examination, so it's crucial that you get used to sitting down and doing it to the appropriate time given in an examination hall under the examination conditions as closely as possible. The more examination papers you do, the better prepared you will be for sitting at an examination.
I have to answer a certain number of questions in my exam, should I revise just a few topics or all of them?
You mean, should I try and guess what the questions are going to be beforehand? That's a false way of going ahead. You might be lucky. There is a certain amount of information that's going to be asked and you can get that from the syllabus book. It'll tell you what the weightings are for different topics so you'll know that there are particular topics coming up, and if you've looked at past examination papers you might feel that you can guess what the questions are going to be. However, there are many students that fail the examinations because the examiner hasn't been thinking along the same lines as the student has, and they haven't guessed the right questions. The thing to do is to prepare yourself as well as you possibly can for the examination. If 50% of the examination is about writing essays then make sure you write a lot of essays, because you know 50% of the paper is going to deal with that.
Should I use different revision techniques?
Use the revision technique that works for yourself. There are many techniques that can be used but there's not any simple answer that will work for everyone. Try different ones if you find you're not being successful. I think one of the most important ones is what I call the ten minute rule. A lot of youngsters spend four hours in their room with the intention of working and perhaps only do ten minutes in that time. Some of them get so desperate that they even tidy up their room to avoid studying. Instead of doing that, go to your room for ten minutes and work for ten minutes. Don't do anything else. Don't phone friends or do anything at all. Then, have a break for ten minutes, and then go back for another ten minutes. Gradually build up the working periods into 20, 30, or 40 minute periods and keep the breaks to ten minutes. The important thing is that when you're working, you're working, and when you're relaxing, you're relaxing, and the two don't mix. I think that's the best revision technique that I can pass on to anybody.
How can I cope with revision stress?
Some people don't have to deal with revision stress at all and other people do have anxieties about examinations. That's not a bad thing, because when you are slightly anxious about something it puts you on your toes and you generally perform better. The better prepared you are for the examination, then the less stress that you will have. This is where doing past examination papers and covering the work that you have to cover will put you in a better position when you are actually into that examination room.
Is cramming a good idea?
In general, I would say that cramming is not a good idea. I have to confess, I once tried it myself and stayed up all night, and it didn't work for me. I don't think cramming will work for other people unless they are very, very lucky. Much of the information I give in revision tips comes from my own experience and the experience of other colleagues. I wouldn't advise cramming. Everybody advises against it. If you cram you are beginning to get desperate for some reason. It's better to have a proper revision plan and make sure you carry that out.
When should I stop revising for an exam?
Really the night before the examination is the best advice. The degree of revision of course will be less tense near the examination because you will have done the bulk of the revision by that time assuming that you are not going to try to cram information in. So you should be looking at your notes and if you want to, at school at the morning of the examination, be thinking about one or two things, maybe about the examination or some various other things and be thinking about other things of course, be thinking beyond the examination but not putting too much stress on yourself. But the real work of the examination comes into the early part of the course when you start your real program of studying.
How can I make sure I don't forget what I've revised the day before?
Forgetting what you have revised the day before is usually caused by anxiety, if you're well prepared for the examination you're not likely to do that, and again having little rhymes that make no sense to other people, but will remind you of dates or different important aspects of a particular topic, is helpful. Remember the way you've set out your revision notes by having them in columns or having the main topic and then little strands, like a spider with the sorts of things that you need to remember. A picture is worth a thousand words, a diagram's pretty near a picture, and if you do that sort of thing, you will recall the information. And when you get into the examination room, of course, you should be jotting down on your examination paper when you read the questions, what comes into your mind at that time, so that when you come back to do that question later, it helps to jog your memory as to the things that you want to say.
