In a recent study revision techniques examined turned out to be really effective and these were testing yourself and spreading out your revision over time. Students who test themselves or try to retrieve material from their memory are going to learn that material better in the long run. Repeated testing means it will be in their long term memory, this is because the student is more engaged and it is harder for the mind to wander. When you get the correct answers it appears to produce a more elaborative memory trace connected with your prior knowledge, so you're building on what you know.
However the best strategy is to plan ahead and not do all your revision on one subject in a block before moving on to the next - a technique called "distributed practice". You are much better doing ‘little and often’ - as this helps build on previous knowledge.
Revision Cards
Flash cards (or cue cards) are a good way to review subjects because you learn as you make the cards, then you have an excellent tool to test yourself from, over and over again, until you know the answers. They can be used for testing the meaning of key terminology - key term on one side and the definition on the other, or writing down an exam question on one side and summarise the main points on the other. Use different coloured cards for different subjects. Get your friends to test you.
Revision notes
Things to find out:
•How many papers will you sit? One. Sections A & C only.
•Do you know which topics will be covered in each paper? Do you have the syllabus for the exam?
•Do you know how many questions you will need to answer in each paper? Have you seen all of the past papers and mark schemes?
•Have you covered all the content?
•What are the different question types?
•How will questions be marked (point marked or level marked)
•What are the common mistakes which are made in each subject?
Complete all the past papers you can.
