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How do you revise effectively for A-Level Physics?

What i'm doing at the moment is past papers and then studying the topics that I get wrong afterwards. I was wondering what others are doing because i'm really trying to get the most out of my revision time.

same

I'm studying a section then doing a part of a paper for that section. Then at the end of the unit I'll do a few full papers then go back over what I need to study more.

Reply 3

David31415

My teachers said attempt to teach someone else that knows the topic then they can correct if not get a mate to teach it because they might word it differently and it might click better

Reply 4

mrcowentweets

Original post by David31415

My teachers said attempt to teach someone else that knows the topic then they can correct if not get a mate to teach it because they might word it differently and it might click better

Teaching each other is a great idea. A good rule of thumb is that you don't fully understand something until you can teach it to somebody else.

I've recently read an excellent book about learning called Make It Stick and made a quick video summarising some of the key points:

[video="youtube;Xk1Z7AULUws"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xk1Z7AULUws[/video]

For physics specifically, you need to get plenty of practice answering past paper questions, especially calculations. You will also need to be very tight in your recall of key word definitions. If you study OCR, you may find these key word definition lists useful (they are based on past paper mark schemes). I have also created Quizlet sets out of them, which is a great tool for learning definitions.

(CowenPhysics.com also has specifications for OCR, AQA and Edexcel, with some revision videos matched to the specs - more to follow.)

Reply 5

SnoopY.

I presume you have these sources of information:
Textbook
Internet
Class/lecture notes
if you're lucky: lecture recordings

And in addition:
Past exam papers
Other practice questions.

Most effective way to learn combines using all of these sources. DO NOT do past exam papers exclusively. Also, don't start doing past exam papers until you have nailed all the topics principles.

First, some general tips:
- DON'T TRY AND MULTITASK. Focus on one key topic/principle at a time.
- Break your study time down into chunked sessions / 35/40 minutes and then have a short break doing something FUN. (Doing something creative during your break's has also been shown to increase effectiveness of your studying - make something. Either way, it's very important that you DO NOT THINK about your work whilst on your break. If it comes to it, find some nice pictures on the internet to look at.
- Create a dedicated study area. -< very important. Also, change your study area as frequently as possible - The mind likes variation.
- Study actively. Quiz yourself on the content.
- IF YOU HAVE THE TIME: )Summarise and then teach what you learn to someone else. Heck - make a "teaching" thread on one of these forums and write all about your course, principles ... help others with their homework .. whatever.
- Plan for having a lack of time. What you think you can do within a certain time, and what you can actually do ... not the same. Yeah?
- AVOID learning isolated facts. Make sure you understand what you are learning!
- Attempt to process information deeply. Relate new information to prior knowledge. Make information personally meaningful. E.g. for me when I think of resonance, I think of pushing my small cousin on a swing in the park. At a certain frequency, a small tap is all that is needed to keep the swing going at a nice pace. That's because it happens to be oscillating at the natural freq of the swing. - small things like that can help you nestle things in your mind....
Depending on how much time you have left before your exams, you need to utilise "spaced repetition/review" - google it.

- Some things that don't help:
1. Motivation to learn - doesn't matter how motivated you are. Just get the work done.
2. Time spent. - Quality of studying > quantity.
3. "learning styles". - forget learning styles, it's a load of ....

-some things that do help:
1. minimise distractions
2. maximise focus
3. Developing an accurate "metacognition" which essentially means being able evaluate, for yourself, how well you know a subject. People with higher metacognition do better.
4. OVERLEARNING information. It's a good idea.
5. Schedule your fun time. Make it actually fun.

ANYWAY. You have many sources outlined at the top of this post.

1. Survey through your text book or lecture notes on a specific topic.
2. Draw questions about the content without reading into too much detail.
3. Then go through and read it, write out the key points in a notebook. (BY HAND - forget typing your notes)
4. Then do practice questions on that specific topic.
5. Create a quiz on the topic, show and reveal revision cards... whatever. Just test yourself on the content at specific intervals. This is where that "spaced repetition" thing I was talking about comes in. Very very very very important.
6. repeat for all topics.
7. ONLY ONCE YOU HAVE COMPLETED ALL TOPICS START DOING EXAM PAPERS.

Good luck.