Revision and exam techniques

2. Revision and exam techniques

3. Presentation Outline • How do I deal with exam anxiety? • How do I start revising? • How can I improve my memory? • Which revision techniques can I use? • How do I organise my time in the exam?

4. How do I deal with exam anxiety

5. Concerns • There is too much to learn • I don’t know what to revise • I don’t know how to revise • I don’t know where to start • I don’t have enough time • My notes are too messy/disorganised • I don’t know how to memorise things • I feel too worried to remember

6. Common problems • Not starting to revise early enough • Forgetting to revise key topics • Reading notes again and again • Not gearing revision to specific exams • Learning essays off by heart • Putting off revision – Lack of motivation • Losing interest • Unable to fit revision into schedule • Feeling overwhelmed

7. Reflect on Previous experiences • What revision or memory techniques have worked for you in the past? • Do you have any experience of using any particular memory techniques? • Are there any revision techniques or strategies which you feel have been less successful for you previously? • How are you planning to approach your revision this time?

8. Make sure you try to… • Reduce worry • Have good foundations – plan you revision strategies as soon as possible • look after yourself: • good nutrition and water • rest, exercise and relaxation • learn to remember (techniques) • revise – sleep – review This will help you deal with anxiety and improve your memory

9. How do I start revising?

10. Stage 1 Begin as early as possible. Familiarise yourself with what is required and plan: • Time: when will you revise? • Location: where will you revise? • Work: what do you have to revise? • How – what works best for you? To be a successful reviser you should: • Prepare • Organise • Memorise • Recall (Price and Maier, 2007)

11. Stage 2 Plan your revision strategy

12. Stage 3 Make a realistic timetable and stick to it: • When do you work best? • Plan your day: include targets, treats, meals and time to relax and sleep • Take regular breaks • Maximise your time – use short blocks of time

13. Stage 4 Select key issues to revise (use your notes from lectures/ seminars as a starting point)

14. Stage 5 Organise and reduce notes • Group and organise your material • Highlight and subordinate • Use numbered points • Highlight key words/phrases • Have plenty of white space so that you can see the information easily • Use different colours, pictures or symbols if these help you This helps you to understand and to remember the information.

15. Stage 6 Make master cards, question and answer cards, mind maps, graphs, tables and charts, etc.

16. Stage 7 Utilise memory techniques: • Record and listen to your notes • Place reminder notes around your study area • Draw diagrams • Use different coloured pens Don’t forget to: • Take regular breaks • Exercise • Adopt an active revision strategy Remember that there may be material which you use/learn differently

17. Stage 8 • Use past papers • Key themes • Blackboard • Short questions/essay questions • Practise timing and technique • Build up writing speed

18. How can I improve my memory?

19. Why do we remember? We remember when We don’t remember when • we make connections/links • it’s of personal interest to us • we write it down • we say it aloud or record it • we are stressed • we aren’t interested in it • we haven’t looked at it, thought about it or listened to it long enough

20. Memory capacity We can only commit a certain amount of information to memory at any one time. But we can do things to increase the amount we can retain.

21. Exercise 1 You will have 1 minute to memorise these words: Panda onion peach jeans car coke hare label hat puppy currant cab tie tea bean

22. Exercise 1 Write down all the words you can remember How many words did you remember?

23. Exercise 2 Try the same thing with the next list of words: window wall door blue purple green butterfly wasp ring necklace bracelet desk chair guitar drum

24. Exercise 2 Write down all the words you can remember How many words did you remember this time?

25. Compare your results Perhaps you did better with the second list? If so, this is probably because… • the words in the first list were in random order • in the second list the words were grouped into categories We can remember informationmore effectively if we organise itinto meaningful ‘chunks’

26. Learn and recall • Remembering more: • Organise material into meaningful, connected sections • Use techniques that suit you personally – people remember best in different ways • Longer, more effective recall: • Repetition – review material often • Adopt active strategies and practise using the material • Use memory aids

27. Repetition • Whatever our personal memory style, repetition is key to learning and remembering long-term • We can’t hold much in our short-term memory so we have to move things from our short-term memory to our long term-memory • And then we have to be able to retrieve them promptly when we need them in the exam • Reviewing the material regularly makes the ‘memory pathways’ to the information stronger

28. Which revision techniques can I use?

29. Repetition technique • Carry mini revision cards on a key-ring. Look at them in ‘dead’ moments such as in queues • 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10 days then randomly. This technique works on the fact that if we repeat something intensively to begin with, it becomes more secure in our memory, so we can gradually leave longer gaps between revisions

30. The ten Envelope technique • Number 10 envelopes from 1-10 • Write 10-15 related facts on separate mini-cards • Put them all in envelope 1 • Test yourself once a day: • Move all the facts you can remember to envelope 2 • Leave the ones you don’t know in envelope 1 • Every time you remember a fact, move it to the next envelope; every time you forget it, leave it where it is • By the time the fact reaches no.10, you should know it

31. Different types of memory Cottrell suggests using your senses to ‘train the brain’ (2007, pp. 129-31): • Visual memory – diagrams, charts, using different colours, pictures, cartoons • Tactile and motor memory – writing, tracking information, reading out information without sounding the words • Auditory memory – music, recording, vocalising, study groups How do YOU remember things best?

32. Mnemonics: what makes them successful? They should be: • important to you • logical • dramatic • funny/bizarre • colourful For example: RHYTHM: Rhythm Helps Your Two Hips Move The order of planets in average distance from the Sun:(Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto)My Very Easy Method: Just Set Up Nine Planets (The Mnemonics Guide, 1997).

33. Narratives Cottrell (2007, p. 132) quotes a ‘story’ which will support the recall of the bile pigment bilirubin (an anti-oxidant which protects the cells of the body against the effects of free radicals): ‘Billy Rubin always wore a yellow T-shirt. He worked at the local prison where he protected the cells from a local terrorist group, The Free Radicals’.

34. To sum up, Grouping and labelling • use the power of association • breakdown material into categories • find associations between items/points • develop these into revision sheets Techniques • Question and answer cards • Revision groups • Use past exam papers • Use your visual memory • use recordings • create narratives • stick reminder cards around your desk and home • Create information maps, flow charts, spider diagrams etc. • Recite aloud, make jingles • Move around • Interact with others – try revision tests with your friends • Use mnemonics

35. How do I organise my time in the exam?

36. Before the exam Find out: • Length of exam • Number of questions. Any compulsory questions? • Type of questions • Regulations? • Ensure that you have revised enough subjects • Find out if you need to take in any specific materials such as a ruleror a calculator into the exam.

37. In the exam • Are you comfortable? • Can you see a clock? • Listen carefully to any instructions given • Try to remain calm • Start to read through the paper as slowly and calmly as possible

38. The paper • Read the instructions on the paper very carefully; read the paper twice • Make sure that you are aware of any compulsory questions • Take note of any instructions regarding choice of question • Make a note of how much time you have for each question • Do not panic if you do not see the questions you were hoping for

39. Plan your time • Note the marks for each question carefully • Estimate how much time you have for each question • Plan to spend an appropriate amount of time on each question • Keep an eye on the clock • Follow your plan

40. Answering the questions • Read the question carefully • Answer each part of the question • Use your plan • Write in answer books as directed • Note how marks often relate to the question • ‘Give three reasons why…’ 3 marks • ‘Name four…and describe…’ 8 marks • Do not write a page when there are only three marks available

41. Short answer questions • if it is broken into sections, make it clear as to which section you are dealing with • make it as easy as possible for the examiner to mark your answer • stick to the point • don’t waste valuable time • factual/descriptive? • details of a procedure, naming an item, describing its use, differences or similarities? • take note of the mark system • answer all parts of the question

42. They are analytical, critical and creative They are usually worth large percentage of marks each Follow instructions Do not overlap subjects Essay questions • Answerthe question • Look out for key wordsand direction words • Follow usual essay format: • Introduction • Main body • Conclusion

43. Finally, • Do not leave too early • If you finish early, read your work through – you may have more to add • Always leave time to check your work • Check spelling, punctuation and grammar • Move on when you get stuck

44. References Cottrell, S. (2007) The exam skills handbook. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Price, G. and Maier, P. (2007) Effective Study Skills. Harlow: Pearson Longman.