Top Ten Tips: Revising over the Holidays
By Adelina from the Student Team
Revising over holidays might be discouraging and stressful because studying doesn’t seem like the recipe for festive fun. However, it is crucial to plan your time effectively for revision… even if this doesn’t mean that you have to give up good food, spending time with your friends and family or going in a well-deserved vacation after all that hard work. ☺
But you don’t have to fear about it because we prepared some ‘Top Tips’ so that you can come back to Uni feeling both relaxed and well prepared for your exams.
We also record our top tips in a podcast, if you’d like to listen, find the link below:
Top Tip 1
Heading home or on holiday over the break? Pocket mods are ideal for revising when you are travelling.
Pocket mods are an amazing way to organise your work during holidays because they contain concise, easy to follow information. This ultra-portable planning and capturing sheet of paper will definitely make your life easier while travelling. You can choose the mods you want, such as a calendar, notes, to-do lists, reference sheets, daily planner, and more. Also, you can make the Pocket Mods yourself in order to customise it for your needs.
Top Tip 2
Cornell notes help you focus on the most important points and summarising is a great way to learn information.
Cornell notes is a system for taking, organising and reviewing notes that encourages you to reflect on your notes by summarising them briefly in your own words. Also, this system helps you understand the questions you may have after a lecture so you can plan your revision accordingly.
The steps that should be followed during Cornell notes taking system are:
- Recording the lecture in short sentences by using the note-taking column.
- Formulating possible questions after the lecture in order to clarify meanings, establish continuity and strengthen your memory.
- Reciting the answers for your questions in your own words by covering the note-taking column in order to make sure that you have a clear picture of your notes.
- Reflecting on the notes by asking yourself questions like: ‘What’s the significance of these facts?’, ‘How can I apply this topic in my exercises?’, ‘How do they fit in with what I already know?’.
- Spending some time every week to review your previous week notes in order to be able to make connections between different topics.
Top Tip 3
People learn in different ways: change it up every now and again to find something that suits you.
Everyone is different. Some of us learn best by listening, others have a really good visual memory and also most people learn best by using a combination of these two. Therefore, it is really important to explore which ways of learning you prefer. Nobody has a specific type of learning, but you might find that different ways of learning suit different moods! Also, if you prefer to work in a group you can try to establish a study group with your colleagues when you can work through the material together.
Top Tip 4
Different people are productive at different times of the day. Be aware of when you work best.
In a perfect world, you may be productive whenever you want. Unfortunately, productivity is a complex feature which can experience peaks and valleys. Therefore, it is really important to understand how your internal clock is working in order to be able to optimise your performance and reduce the less productive times in your revision period.
Top Tip 5
Flash cards and writing summarises in your own words are a great way to ensure you understand a certain subject.
Flashcards are sets of small, double-sided cards used to learn and revise details, keywords and vocabulary. Therefore, they are a valuable asset during revision time for any student.
You can use flashcards to test your knowledge because creating notes in your own words helps you to process the information and create connections in your brain. Furthermore, it may be useful to combine words and pictures in your flashcards because pictures are easier to remember than words (e.g. draw a chart/graph for figures and data or a little map for different locations). And good news! These pictures should not be pieces of art; simple sketches are more than enough.
Top Tip 6
KWL is a technique to help you find the information you already know and what you want to know and therefore helps you focus your reading.
KWL is a useful tool which helps you identify your goals and track your progress throughout your revision. In other words, by using it, you will be able to reflect on what you already know (K) and what you want to learn (W), which could include revision of partially forgotten material. Also, filling the L column consolidates the new information and your understanding of the topics.
Top Tip 7
Sometimes knowing the information isn’t enough and you need to demonstrate your understanding of the topic. By planning answers to your past paper questions you will be able to link themes and put your knowledge to practice.
Doing past papers before exams is essential because they can help you understand what you need to rehearse more, how to perfect your exam technique and also how to structure your time effectively during the exam. Also, doing past papers helps you get familiar with the structure of each of the sections and decide things like what choice you have over which questions to answer or how much time you should spend on each section.
Top Tip 8
Allow yourself time off to recharge so that your brain has time to reflect on the information learnt.
Looking after yourself is important at all times, especially when your exams added a huge amount of pressure in your stress pile. Planning your time well during exams will not only help you get your well-deserved time to relax but it will also give your brain the possibility to structure and process the information you learnt.
Therefore, feeling bad after going back from a break is not right. Studying 24/7 is unachievable and it’s not productive or healthy for you either, so always remember there’s nothing wrong with taking time off for you during the revision period.
Top Tip 9
Revision doesn’t have to mean reading and writing. You might find it more effective to listen to your revision notes.
If you feel that just reading or writing your notes doesn’t help you retain the information effectively you can always try a different way of learning. Some people prefer to hear the information rather than seeing it displayed visually and this is perfectly normal, you just have to learn how to adapt your style in order to find the one that suits you best.
Top Tip 10
If you need help accessing any Library resources, you can always use Library chat to ask a member of Library staff. Just open the Library webpage and click ‘Can we help?’ in the pink box.
We understand that revision may be stressful and if you have a question, be sure that a lot of other students have it as well. It can be tough trying to catch up when you feel you’re falling behind and this is why we have so diverse resources available to make your study easier. Don’t forget that we are there for you in case you have problems accessing them!
