When we think about revision, what strategies come to mind? Often, we think of strategies like highlighting textbooks, watching lectures, or rewriting our notes. These techniques are all good ways to start, but they’re fundamentally passive; they don’t require much thought. To do really well at our exams, it’s essential to spend the majority of our time on more active techniques.
Passive Revision
Passive revision is when we engage with the material on a surface level, without thinking deeply about it. Even though passive revision techniques aren’t very useful, they can be tempting because they’re easier than active techniques. They also make us feel productive, even when we aren’t actually learning anything.
Common passive techniques include:
- Reading notes/textbooks
- Copying notes/textbooks
- Collating notes from different sources
- Highlighting
- Rewatching lectures
Active Revision
Active revision, on the other hand, makes us think. When we revise actively, we consider information in new ways and make connections between concepts. We also practice retrieving that information from our brains, ensuring we don’t just recognise information but we also recall it.
Active revision is much more work than passive revision, but it’s far more effective. Just a few hours spent on active revision can be as valuable as a full day of passive revision. This is great news because it means, if we revise actively, we can actually spend less time working and have more time left for fun!
Active Techniques
- Create diagrams/mindmaps. Taking information and representing it in a new format helps us think things through and understand it more deeply. This strategy is particularly effective for visual learners.
- Connect course concepts. Don’t always revise just one lecture at a time. Instead, ask yourself how the lectures connect to each other. How does what we learned in Week 1, for instance, impact on Week 10’s lectures?
- Brain dump. Choose a topic/lecture, then take a blank piece of paper and write down everything you can remember. Afterwards, compare with your notes and check what you’ve forgotten.
- Flashcards. Whether you make your own deck or use someone else’s, flashcards can be a great way to test yourself on key concepts. Just make sure you really are testing yourself, not flipping over the card before you’ve had time to answer.
- Practice questions. If your module has practice questions or past papers, these are great ways to test your learning. If not, why not write some of your own questions?
- Group study. Working with others can be a great way to learn. Try teaching a key concept to your peers, or quizzing each other on tough facts. Just remember to focus on your own progress, though, and not get caught up in comparing yourself with others.
Conclusion
Next time you’re revising, try switching out some passive techniques and replacing them with active ones. It may take more brainpower at first, but using active learning strategies will help you revise much more effectively in much less time.