Study and Revision Skills

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• Study and Revision Skills

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What we are going to do

• This session will look at some of the skills
  needed if you want to make studying and revision
  effective.
• We are going to look at
• Motivation
• Organisation and time management
• Study Skills
• Revision Skills

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Exam revision skills!

• As you begin to prepare for your exams you begin
  to realise they need motivation and hard work!
• This session wont pass your exams for you, but
  it will look at some of the skills needed if you
  want to make your exam revision effective

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Why Bother?

• You may be taking 8-10 GCSE exams
• You need to complete coursework and revise for
  each subject
• You need to plan how you can do all this to avoid
  a last minute panic before the exams.

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Motivation

• To remember something thoroughly, you must have
  an interest in the subject and a reason to learn
  it.
• E.g. What will you gain from passing your exams?
• Increase your knowledge in a subject.
• Progression to further and/or higher education.
• Get the job you have always wanted.
• Sense of pride and achievement.
• Increased self-confidence.

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Organising your time
Time cant be managed, time is uncontrollable,
but we can manage ourselves and the use of our
time

• Good time management is crucial to your success
• Prioritising your workload
• Target setting
• Avoids work overload
• Improves motivation
• It makes you much more aware of future coursework
  deadlines and exam dates.

When done skilfully, it allows you free time to
socialise and enjoy yourself!
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Organising your surroundings
Where? Make sure you will not be disturbed You
need to be comfortable You need plenty of
space Not in-front of the TV! When? Are you a
morning or night person?
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Ways of Learning
1. Get into groups of five people 2. Come up with
SIX different ways of learning and/or revising
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Ways of learning

• Researching from a range of sources
• Abbreviating class notes/books into your own
  words
• Tape yourself reading your notes listen to this
  in the car or when walking around
• Write important notes on large bright paper and
  tape them around the house
• Mind mapping
• Making up rhymes-mnemonics
• Work in pairs/groups-sharing ideas quizzing
  each other
• Research on the internet e.g. BBC revision site,
  SAM Learning

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Study Skills

• Study Skills you should be developing
• Reading and researching from a range of sources
• Picking out the relevant points from a
  paragraph
• Linking arguments together
• Developing your expertise and confidence in a
  subject
• Referencing quotes properly
• E.g. Author (Date) Title Location published
  Publisher.
• You need to take more responsibility for your
  own learning and becoming an INDEPENDENT LEARNER

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Research Skills

• Seven steps to the research process
• 1. Identify and develop your topic
• 2. Find background information
• 3. Use the library to find books,
• newspapers, journals
• 4. Find internet resources
• 5. Find audio video resources if applicable
• 6. Evaluate what you find
• 7. Reference what you find

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Some tips for making notes

• If you are making notes in class listen carefully
  to the speaker, when they emphasise important
  points make a note of them and highlight it.
• , underline or use colour to draw
  attention to important points.
• Keep your notes brief (i.e. dont just copy!).
• Keep your notes dated and well organised.
• Use bullet points, diagrams and mind maps to make
  the notes most useable to you.
• Put your notes/bullet points onto coloured paper.
• Abbreviate your notes onto note-cards for your
  revision.

Box
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Revision skills
Reward yourself
Focus

• Testing yourself
• Reading making notes
• Mind mapping
• Memory aids
• Using rhyme rhythm
• Images pictures

Balance
Health
Plan
Environment
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Storage ideas
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Get on Top of Things

• Dont let the amount of work you have to do scare
  you.
• Break work down into manageable chunks.
• If you are having trouble concentrating have a
  break and come back to it.
• Talk to your friends, teachers, parents to see if
  they can help you.

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Revision Timetable

• The secret is planning and time-management.
• Four steps to planning a revision timetable

1 On a calendar from now until the end of your
exams, mark the dates of your exams. Also include
dates when you know you wont be revising
(birthdays, part-time work etc) 2 The days
before each exam are likely to be taken up with
last minute revision. Mark these dates off as
well. 3 Count up the number of days you have
left and begin to allocate them to the number of
exams you have. Remember some subjects will need
more revision than others. 4 Divide the work you
have for each exam into topics and decide what
topic you are going to revise on each day. Dont
forget allow time for breaks!
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Memory

• You remember...
• 10 of what you READ
• 20 of what you HEAR
• 30 of what you SEE
• 50 of what you SEE and HEAR
• 70 of what you SAY
• 90 of what you SAY and DO

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Memory

• We all learn and remember in different ways
• Different ways you use your memory
• Short-term and long-term memory
• e.g. saying ideas aloud in your own words will
  help transfer information from your short to long
  term memory
• Recall and recognition
• Passive learning and active learning

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Memory Techniques

• Peg words Using visual association to help you
  recall a list of items in by creating pegs
  which trigger your memory. E.g. remembering
  enzymes Maltose malteaser and Lactose feet
  with no toes!
• Mnemonics Using rhythm and rhyme to remember
  lists. E.g. Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
  (colours of the rainbow). E.g. The phases of
  mitosis interphase, prophase, metaphase,
  anaphase, telophase I Paint My Aunts Toes
• Past papers Excellent way of recalling your
  knowledge and getting used to working to set
  times in set ways.
• Flash cards These help you condense your notes
  and are quick to learn from.

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You will all succeed because

• 1. You will have organised your time well.
• 2. You will have stuck to your revision
  timetable!
• 3. You will have used a variety of revision
  techniques.
• 4. You will have practised previous exam
  questions.
• 5. You would have reduced stress by giving
  yourself breaks during your revision.
• 6. You will find out what is needed on the day
  (e.g. times, rooms, equipment etc).
• Remember you are not alone if you are
  struggling always ask your for help with your
  revision