Revision hints and tips
Revision, revision, revision. It might seem simple enough, but after a while reviewing the same series of notes for an exam can become a challenge. Dr Kathryn Woods, Dean of Students, offers her advice on how to approach revision effectively.
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Time management
Set yourself strict rules about the hours you work and make your hours count. Being in the Library from 10am to 10pm every day, or staying up all night revising does not equal good quality revision. All it does is tire you out and leave you panicking.
I think a good revision day looks like this:
- 10am-12.30pm – revision (good time to do reading/make notes)
- 12.30-1.30pm – find a pal to have lunch with/go for a walk/watch some TV
- 1.30-3.30pm – revision
- 3.30-4.15pm – tea/coffee break (maybe even some cake?)
- 4.15-5.30pm – revision (good time to make plans after a day of work)
- 5.30pm – hometime/turn off the computer
Make sure you have something fun planned at the end of the day as a reward for your work (seeing friends, going to the gym, cinema, pub, Netflix etc.). This will leave you happy, refreshed, and ready to learn the next day.
If you have anything nice planned during revision time (birthday parties, society events, nights out etc.), go to them! Revision time doesn’t need to be miserable. Just make sure you include the time they might take out of your revision in your assessment plan timetable.
Work Monday to Friday - give yourself the weekend as a break.
Where to study
If you can avoid it, don’t revise at home – there are too many distractions. Plan a revision day like going to work.
Find somewhere you feel comfortable and that hopefully isn’t too busy – the Library, spaces on campus, maybe even your local public library or a cafe. If you are looking for inspiration, check out Liz’s 5 best alternative libraries and Janki’s 10 best alternative study spaces in London.
Get other people on board with your schedule and go there together. This will help make sure you all start/leave ‘work’ on time. Don't let other people throw you off your plan though – there are a lot of exam revision saboteurs out there! You are helping them by sticking to your plan.
Find a style of revision that suits you. You will probably already know this having done lots of exams in the past, e.g. do you like making hand-written notes, or mind maps.?
If you are preparing for a written exam, the more you handwrite when doing your revision, the better. The information goes into your head and sticks there better (scientifically proven!). You will also be handwriting the exam, so it is good to get used to it.
Approaches to revision material
Analyse the questions – e.g. short essays, past papers – and think about how they are worded. What approaches are being asked for? What are the key words or concepts and the ‘obvious’ questions?
Generate ideas – identify five or six major points or arguments which you can be used to answer most questions. Often these are obvious from lecture/seminar notes.
Identify authors and controversies – what are the main schools of thought on a given topic? Are there any major developments between them? Who are the big individual players?
Identify key examples which illustrate your argument most effectively. For extra sparkles, try and memorise at least one quote and two pieces of specific evidence.
Revise for exams with essay questions, as if you are planning to write an essay. Use the essay model plan below to identify the ‘contents’.
Model essay plan
Introduction
- Statement of general context
- Main historiographical debate – why we are addressing this question
- Summary of main issues that will be discussed in essay
- Line of argument
Paragraphs (should be five to six in total)
- Statement of what paragraph is about and/or how it links with previous paragraphs
- Statement of main issues that need to be considered as part of this
- Historiographical perspective(s)
- Example(s) (broad and specific)
- Line of argument – what this paragraph adds to our understanding of the question
Conclusion
- Summary statement of what the essay has been about
- Brief summary line about what the different paragraphs have explored
- Your response to the question – what was the most important factor? How did the other factors you explored relate to it?
- Final line of argument
These tips may not be applicable to everyone, and if you are in doubt you should always reach out to your personal tutor or module convener.
Dr. Kathryn Woods is Dean of Students at Goldsmiths and a visiting research fellow in the Department of History.