If your revision plan comes from TikTok, read this first…
3 study myths to ditch
It can be tempting to hyperfocus on revision to the exclusion of all else, ditching self-care, burning the candle at both ends (and in the middle), re-reading the textbooks in the hope that something will stick this time or procrastinating because you think more clearly after a 24-hour panicked hyperfocus revision session at the last moment.
3 revision myths to ditch
Cramming works best
You can concentrate only for so long, you forget two-thirds of everything you read if you only read it once, and assuming you have left your revision to the night before, mounting anxiety and sleeplessness makes it harder to move things into your long term memory where they are accessible and ready to recall.
Re‑reading = learning. Passive reading is a poor method for encouraging knowledge retention and is even worse for building the kind of active recall you need in exams. Even if you memorised the textbooks verbatim, this will help little when exam questions ask you to interpret, reorganise and apply that information in new ways. Successful revision is an active process of reorganising and sensemaking, building facts into models, ideas and images that you can remember, understand and bring into the exam as a mental library from which to devise your exam answers.
Background noise always helps. I'm guilty as charged with this one. Noise is a great distraction from whatever you want to be distracted from, and finding the perfect track selection to accompany your revision makes you feel busy, and feeling busy feels good when you are anxious, but how much of that activity is going to help in the exam room? Sadly very little, else every DJ would have a PhD.
So what really works? 5 science‑backed strategies for real revision
Spaced repetition
Spread it out - coming back to a topic over and again interspersed with other learning helps reinforce what you have learned more effectively than leaving it to the night before and cramming a topic in its entirety in one sitting. After all, it's those things we recall and use everyday that become unforgettable.
Since you forget most of what you read immediately, learning the same things more than once gives your brain more chances to retain more of what you've read. Trying to write out what you have learned after a rest also forces your brain to work for its supper, and this builds much stronger recall mechanisms than passive reading. Too much pressure is as bad as too little - aim for to stretch yourself just a little to recall what you learned in the morning or the day before.
Active recall (e.g. self‑testing - flip cards etc.)
Make revision an active process. Draw diagrams, explain how things work in ways that make sense to you. Create revision flash cards with questions on one side and model answers on the other, and then use them to test yourself. There are apps to help you build these 'flash cards' but sometimes writing things out by hand helps build connections better than typing and all you really need are some cheap filing cards from any of the high street stationers (Rymans, TG Jones, etc.).
Study “chunking” sessions (Pomodoro, but adapted)
Building individual facts into concepts, diagrams, models and ideas means you both understand those facts in context and have fewer discrete things to remember, making it easier to remember both facts and how they relate to one another.
Embrace problem-based learning
Since your exams ask you to answer questions based on what you've learned, mapping answers to imaginary (or past) exam questions can help you digest chunks of material and make them usefully available to you
Sleep is study
Your brain needs to be properly fed, watered and rested if it is to retain, digest, and understand what is being force-fed during revision sessions. Besides, much learning happens while you sleep, when your mind picks over everything it's seen during the day, ditching the extraneous and making sense of the rest, reinforcing connections and making new lateral connections.
How your Library can help
- A dedicated space for study, allowing the walk or bus ride home to act as a 'corridor' that separates deliberate effort from purposeful rest and sleep.
- Group study spaces offer comfortable, sound-baffled spaces where you can test one another's knowledge and motivate one another
- Individual Study Spaces allow you to focus and test yourself without distractions
- Space to rest with soft seating areas and immediate access to the tranquillity of Ravelin Park for when you need a rest and change of pace means you can change up the pace as and when you need. Even gazing out the window for 40 seconds can effectively reset your concentration! Check out my last blog post on the need for active rest as the very necessary counterpart to effective effort.
Last thoughts...
As the Library gets busy, we get occasional complaints that people are making a noise. Please be considerate of others trying to study, and if anyone is disturbing your studies, please discreetly text Library Security for assistance.