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							Revision techniques

Department of German




Dr Tracy Johnson
     What should revision do?
1.   Check your understanding
2.   Make links and connections
3.   Remind yourself of forgotten material
4.   Reinforce your learning
5.   Identify and fill gaps in knowledge

(Cottrell: 2006)
    What is effective revision?


Where you interact with the material and
make it meaningful to yourself.

(Cottrell: 2006)
  How to revise
• What do you do already?

• Active learning:
  •   Creation not consumption
  •   Involves the whole mind and body
  •   Learn by doing the task
  •   Works on different levels simultaneously
   Acquire information
• Make sure you understand both the ‘big
  picture’ and the ‘core themes’
• Use your senses: VAK
  • Visual
  • Auditory
  • Kinaesthetic


• Proactive methods – create don’t
  consume!
  Search out meaning
• Mind-maps:
  • Patterns
  • Relationships
  • Themes
• Work with others
• Use mock questions to apply ideas
  Trigger recall
• Condense information to key terms – ‘pack
  up’ knowledge
• Mind Maps/diagrams – use of senses
• Mnemonics/Acronyms
• Object-association/Memory ‘Palaces’
• Rehearse recall
  Mindful state
• What helps you get in the right state to
  revise successfully?

• Planned time
  •   Reverse time-line
  •   Breaks and time off
  •   Variety
  •   Maximise concentration
  Mindful state
• Location:
  •   Well lit/ventilated/heated
  •   Free from distractions
  •   History of success
  •   Being with the right people


• Well-being:
  • Sleep
  • Lack of anxiety – sense of control
  • Avoid stimulants
     Bloom’s Taxonomy of Skills

1.   Recall
2.   Comprehension
3.   Application
4.   Analysis
5.   Synthesis
6.   Evaluation
  Analysis is:
• Being systematic and thorough
• Breaking it down into its component parts
• Internal analysis – how does the argument
  work?
• External analysis – contextualise it
• Could you explain it to someone else?
• A largely objective process
• Always asking questions
  Criticism is:
• Offering your interpretation
• Weighing up, judging, justifying
• Comparing and contrasting with other
  sources to evaluate
• Considering a range of perspectives
• Always asking questions
• A largely subjective process
    When practising:
•   Start by brainstorming
•   Then draft an outline plan
•   Consider fresh angles
•   Think of a range of perspectives
•   Time yourself for a full answer
•   Write down the timings in the exam
Thank you and good luck!