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revision/memory

what is the best way to remember my revision for my GCSEs?
i have issues with memory and remembering what ive revised

Hi @kobraghost,

During my GCSEs I also noticed having difficulty memorising for subjects like biology that does require a lot of memorisation. To combat this, I began adopting two revision techniques: flashcards and blurting.

After practicing exam past papers, I would pick out the higher mark questions which typically involved answering a specific biological process. On one side I would write out the question, and on the other side I would write out the mark scheme in bullet points. Most of the time, I would try to paraphrase it without deterring too much from the answer just to help me comprehend the concept a lot better. Reflecting on the mark scheme is super useful as it's written out in a coherent and sensible manner, it also includes specific keywords which can score you a mark on it's own. You don't only have to use flashcards in this way, you could also just use them to cover any topic you require brushing up on.

I especially loved blurting because it made me feel the most accomplished when I got it right. If you don't know what blurting is, basically you "blurt" out whatever you remember from the content you just studied and identify any areas you missed out on and study that part again. I wrote out these 'blurts' as notes just so I can refer back to the textbook to see what I missed out. I repeated this over and over again until I covered the points I needed to, and it strengthened my understanding and memorisation on the topic as a whole.

Hope this helps,
Danish
BCU Student Rep

Reply 2

*LifeHappens*

Original post by kobraghost

what is the best way to remember my revision for my GCSEs?
i have issues with memory and remembering what ive revised

Here are some ways I'd recommend going about memorising revision:

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Look through the stuff you want to memorise and condense the info as much as possible (meaning you section out any unnecessary words or phrases you don't need to memorise); doing this can lighten the load you have to memorise and help you memorise it quicker

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Once you've done that, either take a plain paper or a new google docs/word document and write/type up all the info just so you're reading through the info and actively focusing on each word

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Right after that, cover up the info and blurt or use prompt questions to write/type as much as you can from your memory (you won't be able to remember all of it, but you'll get an idea of how much info you were able to pick up and which bits of info didn't stick into your memory)

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If your exam is more than 3 days away: then repeat that once every day or two days until you no longer need the prompt questions (if you're using them) or you can fully recite it - whichever bits you were not able to remember, underline or put it in bold so you know what parts you want to work on memorising

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If your exam is less than a week away: then repeat that once or twice every day until you're able to remember most of the content - if you repeat it more than once a day, always leave a couple hours gap so you come back to your study space with a "cleared out" head which tests your memory more (as you may have forgotten some of the info by the time you come back)

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Sometimes saying the info out loud can help or making a mnemonic for the tricky stuff to memorise helps get it in your head too

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A great tip: sometimes if memorising gets so tough or boring, print or copy down some exam-style questions that test the content (mainly find questions that test out the info you're working on memorising) and answer those questions - even if you haven't memorised all the info just yet, as you refer back to your revision guides/flashcards or as you copy down that info repeatedly, you're actively learning the info which helps memorising it too