• Question: What was your mind-set for revision at school/uni? As you must've found out sitting down and reading a book about science cant be the most interesting things? how did you learn to study for exams and important situations which required the information?

    Asked by Harry C to Anne, Arthur, Rose, Ruhina, Thomas on 16 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Anne Canning

      Anne Canning answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      Hi Harry, I think there’s a difference between reading about science and having to learn specific things for an exam. I always find it easier to learn things if I write them down. So I would write notes on a particular subject and then test myself on them. I also found doing past exam papers very useful in understanding the format of the exams, the way the questions were asked and to test my knowledge to see what I had and hadn’t remembered. I also learnt that if there was something I didn’t understand whilst revising to ask someone who did understand, whether a friend or a teacher, rather than struggling on my own. Group study sessions as well were a great way of seeing what you know, I always find if I can explain something clearly to someone else then I understand and remember it well myself.

    • Photo: Rose Simnett

      Rose Simnett answered on 16 Jun 2015:

      I was never a natural at learning things in lessons so I had to do lots of revision. I would go through the notes from class and re-write them. If there was a note saying ‘read p.3 of the text book’ then I’d go and read that and write it out too. I would re-read and re-write my notes out a couple of times and make them very colourful and colour-coordinated . Each time I would re-write them I’d write less and less until I could fit the notes onto flash cards.
      I’d also do little test with myself, reading one line of notes and trying to remember what the next line said. I also did lots of practice exam questions too.

    • Photo: Arthur Wilkinson

      Arthur Wilkinson answered on 18 Jun 2015:

      For me the best exam revision technique was answering old exam questions (after reading through my notes, but not using them to answer the questions). If the answer was poor I’d do the questions again later on. This, as well discussing my answers with my lecturers, showed me where I was weak and needed to improve. It also improved my ability to put down paper the knowledge I had in my head from revision – I didn’t want to go into an exam with a head full of facts from revision but then find that I struggled to use these facts to answer the exam questions!

    • Photo: Thomas Farrugia

      Thomas Farrugia answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      Hi Harry – bit of a tricky question but I know what you mean. I reckon it boils down to motivation – I was quite lucky during O Levels to have a good memory and knowledge of my subjects, which meant I could study a few days before and get through exams quite easily – I also did my homework regularly on the spot.

      When it came to A Levels and Uni though I realized that it was a different kettle of fish – there was so much material to cover that it had to be broken down into smaller chunks and tackled on a daily basis – especially for A Levels (nearly flunked my first biology in-school test because I couldn’t cover all the material in one evening!). I used to put in around 75 minutes daily on each of biology and chemistry, and at times it wasn’t the most exciting of things, particularly when having to go over the same topic numerous times. What was enjoyable was the realization that I was learning – being able to crack a new question, having a different perspective on chemical reactions because of new material learnt, or simply taking a break and reading up on a different topic in my book (Loved doing this for biology ).

      In terms of revision I would regularly go over my notes and explain them to myself whilst scribbling things down on rough paper (used to get through piles of it!). When it came to Uni I would write up my own notes using material form the lectures and books, provided I had the time – otherwise it’d be a case of reading the book and underlining. I’d work out any problem questions given as part of the revision, and leave the past papers till the last few weeks so that I’d have covered the material well enough to be able to answer them (otherwise it can be a bit demoralizing), and would then write my answers out and keep them for reference.

      I think what I mainly learnt from Uni was how to learn – it involves dedicating time to reading up on a subject, researching it and practising the required skills. And that “the more you sweat in times of peace (doing revision), the less you bleed in war (actual exams)”.

      Lastly – if you can’t cover a subject completely, don’t worry – go in with the mindset of “I know x% of this subject and will answer this paper to the best of my ability”. Always tackle each question, and get a good night sleep before the exam rather than cramming. And give yourself some time to unwind the night before.

    • Photo: Ruhina Miller

      Ruhina Miller answered on 22 Jun 2015:

      I firstly went through my notes to make sure that I understood everything properly; if there were things that I didn’t understand I would look into this further by researching on the internet, library, or asking friends. After this I would sit down and learn the material by writing things down to memorise them, or rewording things to make it easier to remember or shorter, etc. After all this I would take a look at past year questions to see where the gaps were in my knowledge, then go back to re-visit these areas. In terms of mentality it’s about committing yourself to revision even though there’s other things you would rather be doing. Don’t get me wrong – science is fun and some parts are great to revise, but life isn’t all fun and you have to endure the less enjoyable moments because you can’t avoid it forever

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