Month: November 2022

Today we want to introduce you to some resources that will help you when it comes to revising more effectively. And scroll down to the bottom of the post for the link to the recording of Monday’s online workshop.

You can access most of our revision resources via our dedicated Revision page.

Our Revision Bites resource contains information about all the ideas we’re exploring this week, including pages on ineffective learning techniques and powerful revision strategies. And for an accessible introduction to the science behind our suggestions, check out the Learning Scientists site.

If you prefer your advice in book form, check out Pass Your Exam, a nifty little number written by members of the ASC team which contains tips and advice on effective revision and more  – you can find it in the library.

What resources or tools have you discovered to help you revise more effectively? Why not share your suggestions on this week’s Padlet? All posts are anonymous.

Be sure to check back here for Friday’s post, where we’ll pick up on some of the key themes from the week and respond to some of your questions and suggestions from the Padlet.

Last but not least, here are links to the recording of Monday’s online workshop on Effective Revision and the slide deck:

https://eu-lti.bbcollab.com/recording/5ab52ea85d5f404d82bf174f96633b9d

In week 2 of Exam Essentials, we’re focusing on Effective Revision.

Last week we acknowledged that it is impossible to study everything and identified the importance of prioritising what you revise and planning accordingly. But to make the most of the time you plan for revision, it’s important to be using techniques that are effective and efficient.

So that’s the focus of this week’s workshops, blog posts and resources – how to avoid ineffective and time-consuming techniques and instead supercharge your revision with approaches that are proven to work.

We’ll explore these approaches over the course of the week, but here are a few tips to get you started:

• be prepared to change and experiment – learning and revising effectively at university and in your specific subject may mean you have to ditch or adapt the way you’ve worked in the past
• recognise and avoid common but ineffective techniques – be aware that the way you’ve studied in the past might not work at university. In fact, common and popular revision techniques such as writing out or memorising notes have been proven to be insufficient for the type of learning required at this level
• make your revision active rather than passive – one reason these techniques are ineffective is because they involve taking a passive approach to revision. By taking a more active, focused approach to what you study, you’ll make your learning deeper and more sustained

We’ll unpack these ideas in this week’s workshops and blog posts but if you just can’t wait, you can read about it all in our Revision Bites resource.

Meanwhile, why not share your thoughts and experiences in our Padlet?  All posts are anonymous and we’ll respond to some of the key issues in a later blog post.

Don’t forget we’ll be running an online workshop on Monday and an on-campus workshop on Wednesday, all about Effective Revision. The online workshop will be available as a recording later in the week if you can’t make it along to either session.

Be sure to check back here for Wednesday’s post, where we’ll share the recording of the online workshop as well as highlighting some useful resources about revision techniques, and again on Friday when we’ll pick up on some of the key themes from the week and respond to some of your questions and suggestions from the Padlet.

Padlet link https://uod.padlet.org/gordonspark/hx9ucfgax6konjtc

Thank you to those of you who attended one of our Exam Essentials workshops this week, where our focus was on Planning Your Revision. If you missed the workshops, you can view the recording of the online session at https://eu-lti.bbcollab.com/recording/6bd776945cc4495d9c37d3f1b36712e9

Don’t forget we do it all again next week, this time on the theme of Effective Revision Techniques. Meanwhile, here are some of the key takeaways to come out of this week’s workshops:

• You can’t cover everything. Everyone was in agreement on this one. Especially with the exams following on directly from the end of semester, there just isn’t time to extensively revise all the material. So it’s important to prioritise by identifying your strengths and weaknesses and focusing as much time as possible on the things you don’t yet know. It’s a hard thing to do, but you have to accept that you probably won’t be able cover everything
• Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs) and lecture aims & objectives can help you determine what material you might need to prioritise. Each module has a set of ILOs which outline the learning you should be able to demonstrate by the end of the course, whilst individual lectures and classes will often have even more specific learning goals. You can use these aims, objectives and outcomes to get a sense of where you currently stand in relation to the desired learning, and to prioritise accordingly
• Revision plans need to be achievable and balanced. It’s easy to produce an impressive revision timetable which has you working like a well-oiled machine and covering all the content on the course. But it’s entirely counterproductive, and even harmful, if that timetable is impossible to achieve and only leaves you feeling overwhelmed, stressed and overworked. This is where the previous points about prioritising come in – your plan needs to be realistic and achievable and needs to include looking after yourself and striking the right work-life balance

Next week we’ll look at effective approaches to learning which help you to maximise the time you are able to give to your revision. Join us for one of the workshops and keep checking back here for next week’s blog posts. In the meantime, have a great weekend.

Today we want to introduce you to some resources that will help you when it comes to organising your revision. And scroll down to the bottom of the post for the link to the recording of Monday’s online workshop.

Our Revision Bites resource has a section on Scheduling Effective Revision, including some advice on revision timetables and an introduction to two important concepts which can supercharge your revision – ‘spaced practice’ and ‘interleaving’  .

There’s some more detailed advice on timetabling your revision in our set of three Sway Resources – Organising your Revision, Avoiding Procrastination, and Focussing your Revision.

One of the keys to revising successfully is staying focused and motivated. If this is something you feel you struggle with, or you’d just like a few more ideas, you might want to check out our recorded Lightning Sessions on Focus and Motivation and Avoiding Procrastination.

If you want a break from online resources, two members of the Academic Skills Centre team have co-authored a book called Pass Your Exam which contains lots of tips and advice – you can find it in the library.

What resources or tools have you discovered to help you with scheduling your revision? Why not share your suggestions on this week’s Padlet? Your comments there are anonymous.

Be sure to check back here for Friday’s post, where we’ll pick up on some of the key themes from the week and respond to some of your questions and suggestions from the Padlet.

Last but not least, here’s the link to the recording of Monday’s online workshop on Planning Your Revision: https://eu-lti.bbcollab.com/recording/6bd776945cc4495d9c37d3f1b36712e9