How can i remember my revision

The researchers told the two groups there would be a test on the material they had learned, and asked each group to predict how well they would do on the test. The predictions were curious:. But this is where things get so fascinating:. When the researchers brought the students back a week later to test them on how much they could remember about the sun or sea otters, the results were completely the opposite way round compared to what the students had predicted!

The Testers were surprised at how much they could remember — and not only did better on the test than they had predicted, but handily outperformed the Re-Readers!

You want to move on to the best revision techniques as soon as possible, in particular, practising testing yourself on what you know. Studying using practice testing feels hard. Facts tend to stick out in your mind if you make them silly. One way of doing this is by using mnemonics. In addition, you can use images as emblems.

Another memory technique is to make sound associations. Listening to a recording of your notes or an essay can aid memory. There are portable digital recorders available that can be plugged into a computer.

You could make facts stand out by adding an accent to them or transforming them into a poem. This will make your notes much more vibrant and engaging. Explaining concepts to another person is a way to ensure you understand them yourself.

If you collect your notes and put them on a PowerPoint, then you can present them to your friends, family or even an audience of Beanie Babies. This kind of role reversal enables you to switch from passively absorbing information to actively distributing it.

You may even realise you know more than you thought. Laboriously scrawling notes in black pen is not sustainable. To introduce some variety, why not try using mind maps? You can make a mind map aka spider diagram with a blank piece of A4.

Memories are stronger if they are personally relevant or meaningfully associated with things we like or care about. It might sound counter-intuitive, but taking even just a 20 minute walk before your exam rather than sitting and going over your notes desperately can improve your memory and brain power!

Why not try this with a tricky topic and see if it makes a difference background music of Girls Aloud Best Of album optional. The key is transferring information from your short-term memory into your long-term memory, and the way to do this is through repetition and practice, using different techniques to revise the same concepts. Download your free revision guide and get top exam tips, advice and handy revision hacks!

Sign me up. View our courses. If you have to remember things in a certain order for your exam, making up a mnemonic like this can be a great way to help you. Mnemonics work by creating more meaningful associations and giving you cues to help you retrieve the information from your long term memory.

Researchers Shetty and Srinivasan looked into the study skills of Dental students and found that the use of mnemonics were associated with higher exam scores. If you use mnemonics to aid your revision, comment and let us know what they are — you might be able to help someone else out too!

Is this really helpful?