Big Picture Learning how to revise successfully Revision

Big Picture: Learning how to revise successfully Revision – Why bother? • To know the stuff! • To give you confidence • To know that you have tried your best

Big Picture: Learning how to revise successfully Revision – How do I start? You never plan to fail…you can only fail to plan: Benjamin Franklin supposedly once said, “If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail. ” Sir Winston Churchill is credited with another, oft repeated, saying: “Those who fail to learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. ” P O A Plan Of Action

Big Picture: Learning how to revise successfully Revision – What do I do? • Know what you need to know: For Biology, you have the sections in the revision guide clearly labelled. The learning outcome lists guide you on exactly what you need to be able to do for each topic. • Work out how much time you have got to revise: Be realistic about how much time you can spend. But don’t leave it too late! A revision timetable is always a good idea. Browse through EVERYTHING you are going to need to know – Skim read it. Get an overview of what you have to study BUT – Don’t spend too long! (10 mins)

Big Picture: Learning how to revise successfully Revision – What do I do? • Work out how much time you have got to revise cont…: Decide how long you have to spend on each section and write this onto your timetable/revision plan: eg. Saturday B 1 a & b Sunday B 1 c & d Monday B 1 e& f Tuesday B 1 g & h Wednesday Review ALL/Hardest parts Thursday TEST!!!

Big Picture: Learning how to revise successfully Revision – What do I do? • Plan what you will actually do in your revision time: Reading the revision guide alone is NOT ENOUGH!!! Make your revision ACTIVE: 5 min Mind Map of what you know so far 5 min – Pick out the key themes (Mind map outline/ headings on revision cards/ headings on a poster) 10 min on each ‘theme’ – 1) Preview skim read, 2) fill in notes on the ‘easy’ parts, 3) read in detail the ‘difficult’ parts, 4) make notes on difficult parts (diagrams if possible), 5) Apply a ‘memory trick’ for the hardest parts.

Big Picture: Learning how to revise successfully Making notes Mind maps – ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’

Big Picture: Learning how to revise successfully Making notes Traditional notes – with gaps! A reflex ………………. describes the sequence of events that happen in the body to protect itself from ………………. . for example ………………………. The sequence of stages is: St……………. . R…………… Sensory …………………………… neurone (across the spinal ………. . ) M…………. . neurone R……………. . Effector (eg. ………………………. )

Big Picture: Learning how to revise successfully Making notes Diagrams – either hand drawn or printed out but with gaps to label or annotate them. Annotations to pages in the revision guide e. g. highlighting or underlining or making notes in the margin (eg with the memory tricks) Colour

Big Picture: Learning how to revise successfully Memory tricks Mnemonics Hooks Associations – links with bits of biology you already know Use your senses Imaginative stories Rhythm Exaggeration

Big Picture: Learning how to revise successfully Review time Review your notes regularly: - Once the same day (5 min) - Once the day after (10 min) - Once a week later – even after the test! (10 min) Each time you review, dso, start and end on a different theme. This takes advantage of the ‘Primacy’ and ‘Recency’ effect.