Revision!!!

I've been determined to get the A grades that I deserve this summer, i'm studying at AS level at the moment and I've been doing constant revision on average around 6 hours a day. I'm intensely studying law and sociology, however some of the stuff doesn't seem to be consolidating in my brain! I've adjusted my revision technique as such and it doesn't seem to be working. HELP ME !!! my main priority is law and in particular unit one seems to be going in one ear and out the other or I merely forget it days after revising it. ANY TIPS, MOTIVATION OR ADVICE?

Reply 1

RMNDK

Original post by AlderKate

Firstly, calm down.
I'm serious, obey me.

If you stress, you're going to start to envision crazy things, you're going to be more pessimistic, and that's gonna make you stress even more and distract you from revision. It's a vicious circle.
Once you relax, you can then realise where things are going wrong without suddenly panicking like crazy.

Secondly, it seems that it's a case of revision technique than a case of motivation.
How exactly are you revising?

Are you doing any of these methods:

--> Reading through the textbook
That won't work. This is reading the world's mot boring novel in the world, and you don't tend to remember those kinds of novels. Unless your book is beyond amazing and visually fantastic, or it really sticks in your head just by reading it (which I doubt), don't use this method.

--> Write notes from the textbook
I really really really don't understand why people do this. I see this all the time, my friend reads the textbook, then copies it word for word, and when I go test her she hasn't got a ****in clue.
This is what you are doing. You are going to literally make a carbon copy of the textbook, you're a human printer. Why the fuk would you do all that work? And more importantly, why does your copy make you learn, but not your textbook? Why not just learn the memorise the bloody textbook? Maybe I'm missing something, maybe rewriting every ****in word means it sticks in your brain. If you do this, and you find it's not working, I'm not surprised.

--> Rewrite your notes
Again, I see this in my revision freak friends, they have good notes, but for some reason, they feel the need to write the same thing again. "Oh I'm just making it into a flashcard", "Oh I'm just making it into a poster". Ok, if your notes are **** then by all means rewrite them and make it such that you understand them, and posters and diagrams are very useful as visuals. But don't just literally rewrite your notes. However, this rewriting thing is a useful skill.

--> Reading the specification
If you only read the spec (which I doubt you do), that's not enough. BUT it's good on the side. It's like a little checklist to see what you actually need to know for the exam because textbooks can be outdated.

So how are you supposed to learn?
Past papers!

Well, they come afterwards. What I suggest first is, yes read your notes or the textbook but like I said do not go for the whole thing. Maybe read a page or even a paragraph if you're struggling. And re-read it and pay attention such that you understand it. And then prove it by either saying it to yourself (I like to record myself uttering biological definitions) or writing it down as notes.

The difference is that your notes are notes you understand in your own words and that you've created from memory. Of course, don't write in pure words, like slang or abbreviations because you'll probably need technical or key language in your exam. That's the bits you need to really remember, but not absolutely everything. Once you're confident that you've understood the whole concept, prove it with past paper questions. I cannot stress enough, they are the holy grail of revision. They are a simulation of what's gonna be waiting for you this summer. If you're getting wrong answers, perhaps it's misunderstanding the questions, misunderstanding the topic, missing some key language or the way you word things. If you really don't understand the topic, or exactly what the question is asking, speak to a friend or a teacher. Seriously, exploit your teachers while you can. They're all yours, there's probably workshops as well that can help.