Riveting Revision? How can you revise effectively? Intro Not here to tell you what to do but to show you how my faculty approaches revision and the planning of it – take what you think is useful and discard what is irrelevant to you.

The Many Faces of Revision…

What is the problem with revision DO you TEACH revision? Think… Pair…. Share… What is the problem with revision Describe it to the person next to you

Phase 2: possibly make revision notes Phase 1: Read Revision workbook Own notes Text book refresher Relevant websites e.g. quizlet What most students do? Passive revision exam Phase 2: possibly make revision notes Hope knowledge has stuck enough to answer an exam question and be successful Flashcards Revision book Mind maps Graphic organisers This might not describe your students but it describes a lot of borderline students who don’t make sufficient progress because they don’t know how to / want to revise independently

What should students do? Phase 4 RAG knowledge Phase 1: Read Red – no knowledge – learn again – maybe try a different technique Amber – good factual knowledge but can’t apply to an exam question Green – can answer exam questions on this topic confidently Revision workbook Own notes Text book refresher Relevant websites e.g. quizlet now focus on your red topics – be effective and target revision What should students do? Active revision cycle Exam Practise – short / long answer questions Quiz yourself (flash cards / quizlet – other online quizzes) Timed exam practise Essay plans for longer questions Phase 2: make revision notes – learn content Gojimo Graphic organisers Quizlet Mnemonics Cornell notes Post it note revision Flashcards Revision book Read, cover, write, check Mind maps Share this with students at the start of the course and at the end of every section or when you ask them to revise for a knowledge / exam practise test. Teachers have to set high expectations for revision and enable students to do it and hold them to account if they don’t Phase 3: test yourself

Revision SHOULD happen a few months before the exams begin Scaffolded revision… …When should they do it? Revision SHOULD happen a few months before the exams begin It must be planned for

“ When it comes to retaining information, not all methods are created equal.” ALEX QUIGLEY ‘TOTAL RECALL’ …Variety is the spice of life revision

Self-explanation (explaining how information is connected) Outcomes Practice testing Distributed practice (the opposite of cramming – spread revision throughout the course) Interleaved practice (mixing different kinds of material within a study session) Elaborative interrogation (explaining why a fact / concept is correct) Self-explanation (explaining how information is connected) Summarising – but successful when students are shown how to summarise Imagery for text – not applicable to a wide range of subjects Mnemonics – but useful for short-term memory Rereading – although it is the most commonly used Highlighting – can actually harm student performance/ability to make inferences TOP 3 PRACTICES

This is where modelling interleaved practice is essential 10 Revision ideas Mindmaps Flashcards Foldables Cornell notes Revision books Post-its / mind maps / posters Past paper practise Exam question planning Graphic organisers RAGging knowledge Key Tip This is where modelling interleaved practice is essential

Simplemind mind-mapping app – for smart phones and tablets Paid version is better

Flashcards

Make foldables

For students who find it difficult to reduce down key information Cornell notes will help. The principle was developed at Cornell University – one of the most prestigious universities in the USA. It involves dividing up your page (or using a template) which you use to give your notes structure. It forces you to be brief and pick out the key points.

The “Cornell Method”

Revision books – mix it up!

Mind map Papers Write an essay or exam questions on A3/A4 paper. Mind map as much as possible in relation to the question. When finished, the student can use their notes to add more detail (in another colour so they know what to go over)

Post-its and posters Movable revision! Students can stick them around the house Don’t let students put them EVERYWHERE– it may be overwhelming

Past Paper / exam Q practise Longer essay Question in the centre of paper table cloth – 4 corners of the table – each student takes a different paragraph and colour pen and then move around Each student has a different colour pen so you can see who knows what Take a picture – of the cloth – each student can then plan the essay

RAGging For unit topics For subtopics For specific key terms/ key events etc. Auditing knowledge

Useful revision websites / apps: Quizlet Gojimo Get Revising Reviser Flashcards+

Revision Tip Paragraph Summaries

HIGHLIGHTING DOESN’T WORK! It can be a good method for picking out key chunks of information of key words – but how many times have your students sheets looked like this?

Why doesn’t highlighting work? One of the main problems is that it is already a very familiar strategy and using it involves little effort. Most people don’t have a strategy for highlighting. Another reason to ditch the highlighters is that when a revision technique feels too easy, it usually is. Scientists have found that successful revision should involve ‘desirable difficulty’. The added difficulty is harder to stick with but it proves longer lasting in the memory.

Try this instead… In class/at home, set the task of reading through a text and making notes, ask students to write a post-it summary at the end of each paragraph. This exercise forces them to extract the key meaning from the paragraph and reduce it down to something more palatable and memorable.

From these two pages in a text book… e.g. From these two pages in a text book…

To 5 brief Post-Its

If you then take the post-its away from the text, you have a series of notes that can be arranged For self-testing To sequence key points into a flowchart or diagram Obviously you might need a greater degree of information, but this method is a good start

Download revision apps to smart phones / tablets: £1.49- £1.99 approx. Useful revision apps: Download revision apps to smart phones / tablets: £1.49- £1.99 approx.