Are you spending hours revising, but nothing seems to stick?
Don’t quit! Instead, why not adapt how you are revising with a smarter, faster approach instead?
Step 1: Give Your Brain a Workout
You may well have fallen into the trap of passive revision. This means you might be:
- Re-reading notes
- Highlighting
- Copying from textbooks
Sound familiar? Of course at the time, it might feel productive. Trouble is, these methods don’t help your brain actively remember information long-term.
Instead, active recall forces your brain to retrieve information, strengthening your memory like a muscle.
Try these proven revision techniques:
- Cover up your notes, then explain the topic out loud
- Use flashcards with questions and answers
- Answer past-paper questions without looking anything up
- Study something specific and then apply it to a question.
- Teach the topic to someone else – including your cat!!
These approaches will challenge your brain and help you retain info.
Step 2: Space Revision Out For Recall
Even after a decent revision session, our brains often forget information fast unless it’s embedded.
Therefore, one option is to get stuck into some retrieval sessions to rewire your memory, and help you recall key info.
Try this simple system:
- Review a topic after 1 day – enables you to assess what’s gone in
- Review again after 3 days – helps you refine your revision
- Review again after a week, making sure you apply it to a question
- Mix up your study subjects each day to keep your brain fresh
- Use a revision tracker to keep you organised
Active revision like this always trumps hours of simply reading a text.
The Smarter Way to Get Ahead
Here at 121 Home Tutors, our tutor team have spent years perfecting how to achieve in exams.
As ever, every student is different.
That’s why targeted, personalised approaches work wonders with strugglers and those who are not quite sure how to achieve their best.
Aside from sipping a cuppa and tucking into our further reading articles below, our tutor team will actively show you how to achieve your potential.
All you have to do is get in touch with our professional team.
Further reading:
Brain boosting memory techniques
Productivity hacks to unlock potential
Image courtesy of TheTutorTeam
Tags: achieve potential, brain training techniques, how to practise recall, how to strengthen your memory, passive revision, study retrieval