Active revision

Simply re-reading your texts and notes will do little to help you learn the material. You need to make your revision active to improve your ability to store and recall knowledge. Revision is best done on a regular basis.

Use the following strategies to make your revision more active.

Active revision strategies

	Test yourself by thinking of a concept & writing down all you know about it
	Check your answer and identify areas you missed or realise that you don't fully understand. You will need to revise these areas.
	Revise with others
	Studying with others, eg study groups, brings other people's ideas and understandings to the group. This allows you to exchange, clarify and expand your understanding of the subject.
	Re-organise your notes
	Look back over all your notes for common themes / ideas etc. Link these together to develop your understanding of that topic.
	Use visual aids
	Draw maps, diagrams, flow charts, pictures etc, to see and create associations. These are generally easier to remember than 'slabs of text'. Use highlighter pens.
	Past exam papers
	Look at past exam papers and practise answering them. Practising past exam questions helps you to prepare for and predict the sort of questions that might be asked and to work out the best possible answers. Create mock questions and dot point your answers. DO NOT learn by rote.
	Review your course work
	Look for strengths and weaknesses in your understandings. Fill in these gaps. Review lecturer's comments from lectures or from your assignments.

Further information

Good notes assist a lot in revising your work. For more information on developing good note taking skills go to:

Note taking
Reading skills

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Activity 1