What is your studying ritual....?

Question

for exams, what do you do to revise?

Would especially like to hear from A grade students in particular A Level students.

No stupid answers please as they won't be getting a best answer only a thumbs down!

Thanks.

Answer 1

I have ADD so my study rituals are very specific.

I can't just "read" an assignment.  I have to take notes while I read or I retain very little of it.

During review I tend to stick with my notes more then referring back to the chapter studied.  

I also tend to read things out loud when reviewing.  It helps me stay focused and keep information straight.  This part is very important because I am not a detail-oriented person so I tend to miss important bits of information in my rush to get the big picture.

Answer 2

I'm not joking- I am sooo grateful to CGP revision guides!!

especially the science ones.

I've just done my GCSEs (results thursday!! ) and predicted all a*s except the odd a and b

For science- i read each page of the revision guide thoroughly and then write down loads of notes. for key info i try to look away and recite the paragraph from memory. i then rewrite it until i know it. lol sounds tedious but really works!

but i didn't manage to do that for all of it this year cuz i didn't start my revision soon enough and so some pages i just read briefly and surprise surprise i screwed those parts up :(

but for my yr 10 modules i did this thoroughly and got 100% in my chemistry GCSE! :O (97 in phys 96 in bio)

for maths just do loads of questions and gradually do them without looking up the method or formula...

and english... haha i can't comment because i did absolutely sh it. :(  

Answer 3

well for my gcse RE exam me and a friend went to the cemetary before the exam and i just read trough everything i had written in my books to her, didnt help her but helped me, cuse i was like teaching her, and it stuck with me.

but usually all i do is read before i go to sleep, i know they so not to but i think it prints in my mind while i sleep. I get pretty good grades :D A's and b's

Answer 4

Mindmap everything then review it at certain intervals, proven to stay in your brain. See books by Tony Buzen for how to do it successfully.

Answer 5

I have a great memory so I used that to my advantage. I just reread whatever I need to know and memorize everything. It's not everyones strength, but it is for me. Also, rewriting some of the material you need to know is helpful. People remember a lot of what they write down more than what they read. Also, try and say what you are learning. While you do that, just close your eyes without looking at the paper, and say what you have just read. In time, you will be able to have everything memorized and you'll ace the test! Good luck!

Answer 6

I usually go to Starbucks sit down with a cup of joe and got at it. I stay there because they are few distractions like TV, plus the background noise doesn't bother me. I had 3.75 in undergrad.  

Answer 7

for my standard grades, i would study upstairs in my room ( i didn't have tv in my room so no distractions), but i would make sure that it was tidy first, tidy area, tidy mind, help you concentrate. I would get a hot drink like tea or coffee, set a timer for 45 mins ( i would only study for 45 mins at a time then take a 10-15 min break, if you  study to long your brain becomes overworked and stops absorbing information). For me i would write down all the important facts on a separate piece of paper, it was the best way of studying for me. Also it sounds silly, but if you can make up stories for all the important facts that you need to remember, it really helped me remember mathematics formula's, good luck. xx

Answer 8

First off, I take notes in class (on my laptop, I'm in college, but you can do something similar even if you're not), and then, when I get home, I take the messily-written, disorganized notes and re-type them so they are neat, clean, organized and -most importantly- revisited in my brain. You wouldn't believe how much this helps.

I stay on top of my reading, and use the vocabulary in the book to supplement my class notes (ie, I put them all in my notes-- this isn't so much because I need to know the vocabulary, but it forces me to spend more time with the material). 5 days or so before the test I print out all my notes from the unit and review them, highlighting the bare bones of what is important. I make flashcards and run through them once a day, and read through my notes once a day. If I still feel unprepared, I re-skim the book. The night before a test, I go to bed at a normal time (no cramming needed), and in the morning I wake up and skim my notes once. Walk to class, ace the test!

(NOTE: all this sounds like a lot of work, but it really only takes a few minutes outside class a day. Cramming is far more difficult and time consuming)

Answer 9

So, first step is to do all of your homework. Most of the questions on your homework will pop up on an exam, especially if your homework was reading.

As far as night before studying goes, if there is something you just can't remember, copy it down over and over. It usually only takes once for me to remember it. Copying helps your memory.

Or, if you don't want to do that, repeat information out loud to yourself in your room. That helps A LOT.

I would not suggest just reading your notes over. That is not going to help much.

These techniques have always worked for me, and I am going for valedictorian. :)

Answer 10

I never re-write notes in "fair copy", it's a waste of time. I have long since learned the habit of writing notes in a form that makes sense on re-reading later, without re-drafting. The "mind maps" technique is also useful.

There is one thing worth knowing (which may be a disappointment to those looking for quick-fix study techniques), a fact that's known to all memory experts (those who can recall the sequence of six entire packs of shuffled playing cards after one viewing) : effective memory development does not work by cramming things in, it comes from trying to recall what's already there.

Take a moment to think what this really means.

You can stuff in all sorts of things from now till doomsday, reading texts over and over again. But it's the (sometimes difficult) task of trying to recall things that causes neural links to be formed and developed, associations made, and ultimately allows things to be recalled. No amount of cramming does this ; only trying to get stuff back out of your head does this.

This is why, if for example you're a budding mathematician, it is solving problems and working through exercises that develops mathematical skills, not reading mathematicals treatises.  Solving problems forces you to work at recall, and that's what develops mathematical ability. Mathematics is not a spectator sport.

Exactly the same principle holds true for other topics, like language, chemistry, physics, literature, geology, anything you like.

Read and revise all you like, but then sit down with the books put aside, and try to write down all you know about a topic - the best way of doing this is using past exam papers and answering questions. Once you've written your answers, use your textbooks to amplify them.

That's how you'll form the neural associations that result in increased memory capacity for the recall you'll depend on in real exam situations.

A few final observations : intense study in lumps of more than about twenty to thirty minutes is a waste of time. Chop up your work plans into chunks of not more than half an hour, then take a five minute break, more if you need it. Revise repeatedly ; for a single study session the percentage of accurate recall drops off with time faster than you think, but with repetition, the percentage of accurate recall increases and increases each time. So every few days, before you start the next revision session, skim through what you did before, and let the re-inforcement process work for you.

One more observation, from personal experience : few things are as satisfying as reaching the solution of a tough problem, whatever the discipline. Let this satisfaction become addictive.