A Genius Revision Technique

Make short notes. Do not read like notes  a novel

Imagine you are talking to a friend who describes to you the plot of certain movie. She explains to you vividly the outline of the movie. From her explanation, you decide to go and watch the movie.

When you go to a movie theater, you find yourself seated comfortably watching a movie that you understand. You feel good as the movie progresses because you can follow every action. You do not get lost in any of the scenes. The movie looks interesting and you laugh whenever the other viewers laugh because you can understand and follow the movie. Just before the move comes to an end, you somehow remember watching a movie that you did not like because you could not follow.  You also remember that, you could not follow the movie because you had not read any review and nobody had explained the plot of that movie to you. From that day, you decide that, in order to enjoy any movie in future, you will always read the review of the movie.

Similarly, to enjoy and understand when revising a topic or sub topic of any subject, it is advisable to do a review before actual revision. Therefore the revision will involve two steps which are:

1. Reviewing the Topic
2. Actual revision of the Topic.

Reviewing the Topic
After deciding which topic you want  to revise, first do a review. The review involves perusing through the topic and not intensive revision. Review should take very few minutes, 5-10 mins depending on the size of the topic. During the review, read the headings and sub headings. Look carefully at the diagrams, pictures, images and graphs. Note the key features in those figures and images but do not spend a lot of time cramming every labeling. If possible, count the number of pages  that you have to revise. Also you can check the dates when you were taught that topic. While reviewing, you can write down the subheadings and the key words that you notice.

Following the review, take a short break by looking out of the window or walking to door while trying to remember the few things that you have noted during the review process. Try to remember as much as possible before embarking on actual revision. Most likely, you will not remember much, even if you will have only a vague idea of the topic, that’s very fine, that’s the intention of the review. To give you a glimpse of the material to ease the work during actual revision.

Actual Revision.
This involves intensive and serious revision. Most students prefer to use class notes for revision, that’s fine. Start by reading the Heading or the title of the topic. As you read through the notes make short notes of only the key points. Note difficult facts and words in a separate piece of paper. Make sure you do note lose your short notes, you will need them close to the exam time. They are short and quick to go through within a short time.

It is difficult to concentrate while studying for long periods of time.  I would suggest that the maximum period to revise one topic is between 30- 60 min depending on your concentration span. When you realise your level of concentration is decreasing, take a break, watch a TV, tidy your room, arrange your desk or do something refreshing. Normally, the break should be short, 10-15 min. During this break, try to reflect on what you just read. You will find that you can remember small bits of what you were revising. This is a very good sign. If you find you cannot remember anything, do not lose hope, maybe you did not concentrate while revising.Repeat  the revision  for that topic.

When you are done with your revision, close the book and your short notes and try to remember as much as possible of what you have read. Do this before leaving your revision desk. Note down areas that you remember very well and those that are difficult to remember. Next time concentrate only on the difficult areas.

Summary
This two steps revision technique involves.
1. Review-Just peruse the topic that you want to revise for a few minutes before doing the actual revision
2. Do the actual revision by taking short notes, difficult facts and words. Reflect on what you have revised.

Try this method and leave a comment below.

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