Study environments can have a positive or negative effect on revision. A quiet area free from distraction is best for providing an increased ability to concentrate. Where as studying while listening to music or around noisy children can only lead to poor concentration and hence poor revision. If a quite place cannot be found at home, consider a local library or study centre.
Technology is updated day to day and by using modern equipment such as computers for word processing and the internet study can be done more efficiently and in less time. There are thousands of exam-like questions on the internet and also many exam preparation services which provide a variety of ways to examine. This provides the ability to instantly determine on which topics knowledge is weak and hence the chance to establish which topic to spend the most time on when revising.
It is useful to effectively utilising time when revising. It is a good idea to create a revision time table or some other form of a systematic plan to study. The idea behind this is to schedule which subjects and topics will be studied and also for how long and using what method. Another factor to remember when studying is not to stay up to late, this will only affect you study the following day.
While revising it is a good idea to follow a tried and tested plan of study but individuals should create their own variations of such plans to creating a more suitable relevant to them. Therefore each persons study plan should be individual to them. However, before creating a plan, it is important to take into consideration memory has different learning retention rates and can recall approximately:-
- 10% of what we read
- 20% of what we hear
- 30% of what we see
- 50% of what we both hear and see together
- 70% of what we say
- 90% of what we do
The greater our understanding of a subject the easier it becomes to adapt our knowledge to the exam by setting realistic goals and sticking to our plan we should be able to expect success as standard.
Systematically plan of study
- Read the text
- High-light key words
- Make your own set of notes from these
- Usin0g small tests remember important facts and figures
- Be able to write plenty of content on a topic from memory
- Draw and label diagrams from memory
- Relate information to practical situation
- Gain enough knowledge to be able to quote text from books out loud
- Answer questions out loud by getting family of a friend to help
- Mark incorrect answers and repeat until all our correct
These are key points in which I ensure to cover when revising. If I spend enough time revising and follow these steps, I usually gain plenty of knowledge, enjoy the topic and therefore enjoy the exam and gain good grades. The only thing I have to remember beyond revision is to remain composed in the exam room. As long as I have performed an appropriate and adequate amount of revision I usually will be.
Revision Timetable
Below is a revision time table personal to me. This is the best way for me to fit an efficient amount of revision into a week. Using this schedule I will have enough time in the week to attend college, complete any set assignments and do a sufficient amount of revision to gain good results, whilst still supplying myself with a day of rest.
My method of revision will follow my systematic plan of study of which all steps will be continually repeated for both subjects and all topics until each individual topic is complete. This allows me to use varied methods of revision, as one method may seem arduous and uninteresting. Also, using varied methods grants me the opportunity to recall information in different ways. Within this schedule, I plan to take a five minute break at thirty minute intervals and a fifteen minute break at eleven o’clock also, on revision days.
Bibliography
Fowler. FG & Fowler. HW (1985) The Concise Oxford Dictionary.
London, Guild
Jón Erlendsson (2005) Learning Retention Rates
Available at
[ Accessed 8/1/2007 ]