Exams and revision!?

[Cookalarcha]

Well guys ive got exams in about a month and im crap with revision and stuff, im just asking for any tips, advice or techniques you have to offer.
And dont give me a link for Bitsize please because thats just Obvious.

 

[Birdy]

depending on subject. Get the topics u know will be on the papers and rite down a card for each with like 20 important things to remember on them then study these oer and over by reading them and writing them out (but make sure you understand them at the same time) and then go over the rest of ur notes and highlite anything else that is a key thing to remerber.

Try to cover as musch as you can as I allways find the teachers say stuff will apear on the papers and 9 times out of ten it dosent appear is is a 1 mark question not a 20 mark question.

And with english.... DONT WAFFEL!! its v bad. Try to relate anyhting you write to stuff you have learnt from books and fact. Not just stuff u know.

REMEBER EVIDANCE IS THE KEY! WITHOUT EVIDANCE OF WHAT UR SAYING UR TALKING SH**!

 

[Sephiroth]

Or you can not revise then do really well like me xD
Try the old "i'll revise if you let me off school" trick i did... nearly missed my geography exam but that cursed sister told on me!
and yeah... like thatbird says just read your notes over and over but try not to fall asleep like i do

 

[Birdy]

sleep is good tho. U have to have plenty of that so u dont fall asleep in the exams

 

[waterproofbob]

Best thing for getting good marks in exams especially GCSE/A level stuff is past papers. Get as many as you can as examniners always put the same old style questions in year in year out. know the format and you're singing. Don't just look at them and then at the answers work thro them.

I'm not a good example as i suck at revising, but re-write your notes into more intense form. Start by reading them all then re-write them on say for an area like the great depression or whatever about 10 pages of A4, then redo this again as bullet points on revision cards as quotes etc. This way you'll know it inside out.
for things like maths and science either make or ask your teachers for a big page of all the possible equations and sit and again re-write them. its boring as hell but it works.

Good exam technique is also important, as mentioned don't waffle like i am here, If you don't know something don't mess about for ever on it move on.
Get a good night sleep before the exam, get a good breakfast and make sure you are hydrated.

If theres anything else that you're stuck in in particular there are plenty of ppl about on here who have some recently and some not so recently (not mentioning anynames, the old men know who they are) been through the exact same thing so ask. Par example any maths help you might need PM me.

I hope some of that stuff is helpful

 

[Traxata]

There's something else too


Due to the amazing way the human body was created ..... ( its a great organism but the brains in the wrong place ) if you can, stand on your head, or lean upside down on your sofa or some other form of chair, just to let some more blood & oxygen get to your brain, it helps you think ( trust me ) just don't do it for stupid lengths of time, because you will feel strange afterwards

but as with some things it doesn't always help everyone so my advice may just me more nonsense

 

[Birdy]

hmm thats a rather intresting tip

 

[Ronin Storm]

I hate revision. I find I hated it so much that I'd just sit flicking through pages not even reading properly. I just couldn't do it.

I find I'm an experiential learner; I need to do to learn. For me, working through past papers was crucial. I failed my Pure Maths A-level mock exam but by the time the exams came round I was tending to get A-grades on the past papers. I was really disappointed when I only got a B in the final exam. I just did paper after paper after paper. Some I did as open-book exercises, meaning that I allowed myself to refer to the text books as I did the questions. Later on, I just did them from memory.

I'm also a reflective learner; I learn from considering what I've done, both wrong and right, and looking at the specifics of what worked and what didn't. I find that staring at books, hour after hour, fails me completely. I learn nothing, get bored, get frustrated and then "have" to play for hours and hours when I "should" be revising. Instead, I find it better to read in short chunks, maybe 15 minutes at a time. Then I go away, leaving the book, and write down what I think I learnt. Then I go back, read the book again, check that I got it right. If I didn't, I re-read the bits I got wrong and then take a short break (15 minutes?), just do something random and not very taxing (like reading these boards, except when I'm playing TWG ) and just let the corrections sink in. I find that break invaluable as hind-brain time. Then I go back to a fresh piece of paper and write down what I believe I should have learned, both the stuff I got right previously and the stuff I got wrong. I check it again. Usually I do better on a second pass, though sometimes I get a different set of stuff wrong. Rinse, repeat.

That's a very personal perspective, for me. Maybe you'll find some stuff also works for you. As they say, YMMV.

 

[Taffy]

I'm doing loads of past papers at the moment, a lot of the grade depends upon exam technique. I've also broken revision down into hour time slots, and broken those down further into 15 minute sessions with a 5 minute break in between (play a couple of songs or something). This helps your brain to absorb more of the knowledge.

Plan revision as well. DO make sure that you have dedicated more time to subjects you are weaker on, and DON'T revise loads of heavier subjects in one day. For example, Monday night revision for me is an hour of Physics, an hour of Citizenship and an hour of Geography. I find Physics really hard, so I do that first whilst i'm not so tired. Then I do citizenship as it isn't particularly difficult and it gives your brain a rest from all those calculations and formulae. I have a natural ability with Geography and absorb the information from that easily, so I do that later on when my brain isn't at its full learning potential. Aim for about 3 hours a night during the week, and a bit more on weekends.

Work hard now, party harder during the 10 WEEK Summer holidays

 

[Wraith]

I would offer some advice, but I'm crap at revision as well. Just can't seem to get the willpower to focus on it. However, several good points have been made by others, so I'll reiterate the ones I find work best for me.

1. Find the style of revision that works best for you.
2. Plan your revision.
3. Work through past papers
4. Make sure you tackle it when you're fresh and alert.
5. Take regular breaks to let things sink in (but don't just take one long break )
6. Prioritise based on level of aptitude, importance and difficulty.

Good luck with the exams. Same goes to everyone else taking exams this time round (including me - the exams don't stop when you leave school / college / uni you know )

 

[thatbloke]

You will never be able to know absolutely everything about a given subject, so do not fret too much if a particular aspect of a subject is giving you trouble.

I personally work better in the evenings, to the point where I will have fun and enjoy myself during the day and then revise in the evenings. This works for me, and as already stated, everyone has a way of revision that works best for them.

If it gets to the night before an exam and you are still having trouble understanding a particular thing, then just leave it. Do not worry about it, chances are you will not understand it by the morning and staying up late trying to understand it will only give you a lack of sleep, affecting you for the exam and making you more stressed.

another thing:

MAKE SURE YOU GET THE SODDING EXAM TIMES CORRECT.

I know it sounds like a silly thing but make sure the night before that you know precisely when/where an exam is, and that if you don't then you find out.

I almost got bitten by this in my GCSE's, when I showed up at the incorrect time for an exam. Luckily I had showed up in the morning for what was actually an afternoon exam, so no harm done.

Trying to cram too much in at one time will be useless as in the morning you will forget it all. That happened to me ALOT so beware. Just spend time gradually building up and then re-inforcing your knowledge, rather than trying to learn a whole subject in a day. it doesn't work.

 

[DocBot]

just to let some more blood & oxygen get to your brain, it helps you think ( trust me )

If it works for you, great!

But physiologically speaking the brain is getting all the blood it needs (~ 25% of the total oxygen intake gets used by the brain) whether you're upside down or not.

 

[Taffy]

Might have a placebo affect on him. Or maybe it just gives him a headache. Who knows?

 

[DocBot]

yes, that's why I said "if it works for you, great!". Any trick that works is a good trick.

Though the head sits very well where it is.

 

[Taffy]

I only said placebo because i'd just revised that section of Biology

 

[DeZmond]

And with english.... DONT WAFFEL!! its v bad. Try to relate anyhting you write to stuff you have learnt from books and fact. Not just stuff u know.

REMEBER EVIDANCE IS THE KEY! WITHOUT EVIDANCE OF WHAT UR SAYING UR TALKING SH**!

I did English and on my Higher exam (scottish A level essentially) I wrote a big essay on how Shakespeare was talking about truth in Hamlet, despite never seeing any of this in any textbook or analysis of Hamlet before. And I got an A! Woot!

My studying advise is as follows: stick post it's with important quotes and facts around the house, and I mean all over the house. Leave no wall, door or drawer without a note. Do this for a week and you'll associate the notes with parts of your house, which being your home is easy to remember, ergo making study easy.

 

[Dragon]

As I am writing my final maths exam tomorrow I know what your current situation is like ... and my tip for you is to relax and don't haste with learning
you should learn everyday something and not everything on a single day. It may also help you if you get together with your friends and you learn together, but thats dependent on your character, wether you like it or not. And concerning your style of learning ... what fits best to you is best for you!

 

[Fi$hy]

I found timing was the most important part,

Easiest way for me, was 45mins on, 15 mins off, rinse and repeat..... After a couple of hours, take an hour break, and then back in...

In terms of technique, especially for GCSE where you need quantity rather than depth, just write out your textbook

Either way, if you go into that exam feeling like you put the effort in, then there's nothing to worry about!

 

[VibroAxe]

I Agree with Fishy, Timing is definantly the most important bit. Find out how long you can work for before your concentration goes, then drop a bit off that time and take breaks then. For example, I can work for about a 1:30 hour, with a 20min break.
Also, try to find ways that makes the subject relevant to you. Your much more likely to remember something if it has a context rather than just details

 

[Cookalarcha]

I hate revision. I find I hated it so much that I'd just sit flicking through pages not even reading properly. I just couldn't do it.

Yeah im like that too Ronin thats why i asked for tips and Bird i know wot you mean dont blab our tachers say PEE (Point Evidence Explain) for English quite simple real its just trying to get good quotes and lines from poems. It also realy doesnt help when the novel we are using for the exam TKAM "To Kill A Mockingbird" bah i hate it sooo boring and weve watched the black and white movie of it like 5 times in english my eyes are like this now .But yeah guys some good things there and some weird ones, might try the upside down thingy one if i can be arsed that is. I definatly will get lots of sleep for the exams, and on top of that my mums plannin for fish twice a week because its "brain food" for the exams. I have no complaints i like fish food V Good for you.