This week our seniors will be completing elements of coursework for sending off to SQA. After that they really need to be getting themselves organised for some intensive study and revision. I am sure any parent reading this will have their ideas about study/revision. In my senior school years I was great at making up plans and lists – sadly my great intentions/plans were not matched by doing the actual work. It was not until much later that I learned the trick was to find what worked for me and then get down to the work. Looking back if I could change two things this is what I would change:
- I wish someone had told me to do the work with others. In my time study was a solitary activity I would have done better by studying with other people – working intensively with them them and then going and relaxing as a group.
- I wish I had taken up the offer of my teachers to come in for extra help – your teachers are the best support you have they can point you to the specific things you need to work on and explore other ways for you to get to grips with ideas you are finding hard to understand.
The notes below offer a range of ideas around study and revision. There is real a danger that you spend hours reading these sources and finding others of your own. This is time you could have spent doing the actual work. So don’t spend too long on the sources (or on making up plans and not doing the work) it is a balance – between doing anything other than what you need to do and actually doing the effective study/revision which will make a difference. I hope you find the sources to be of some use.
- The article from the Guardian “The science of revision: nine ways pupils can revise for exams more effectively” is relatively easy to read and clear in its advice: https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2016/apr/19/students-revise-exams-revision-science
- The site called “icould” is written in a very clear way and covers both revision and coping with exam stress: http://icould.com/article/effective-revision/
- BBC health offer a good summary under the heading “Revision techniques – the good, the OK and the useless”: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-22565912
- Several Universities have a really good guides and there is a lot to be said for learning from how University advise their students how to approach things.
– Leicester: http://www2.le.ac.uk/offices/ld/resources/study/revision-exam
– Manchester: http://www.humanities.manchester.ac.uk/studyskills/assessment_evaluation/assessment/revision_strategies.html
– The Open University also have a 20 minute unit to help with revision techniques: https://www2.open.ac.uk/students/skillsforstudy/revision-techniques.php
At this point I am going to stop listing sources. Find the approach that works for you, revise with others and get support from your teachers. Most of all get your heads down and put in the time doing the work you need to do to succeed.