Revision Planning
Making your revision timetable
The principle: INTERLEAVING
• When we learn something, we
forget it
• When we revisit something
we’ve learned repeatedly, we
remember it better
• This is shown in the Ebbinghaus
Forgetting Curve
Interleaving vs blocking
• “Blocking” your revision –
focusing on one topic for a long
time then moving on to the next
topic – is inefficient.
• “Interleaving” your revision is far
more effective.
Interleaving and chunking
• For interleaving to work, you
have to break down your
revision into “chunks”
• It’s no good putting “Biology”
into your revision calendar – you
need to be specific
• GCSE Biology includes:
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Health
Responses to the environment
Evolution
Ecology
Cells
Photosynthesis
Organisms and their environments
Protein functions and uses
Respiration
Genetics
Speciation
Planning interleaved revision
Your tasks
Chunking
Planning
• Break down the subjects you
study into “chunks” you can
revise
• Plan an interleaved revision
schedule to cover the chunks
you have created
• Build in rest breaks
Flash Cards
GCSE Revision
The Flash Card –
distilling your
learning
• Distillation:
Because a flash card is
small, you need to boil
down your learning to a
key, easily-revised
summary.
Your notes
Revision
Your flashcard
Making an effective flashcard
• “Chunk” the learning down
• Each flashcard should be on one
key idea or concept
• The key information only should
be summarised on one side
• Use diagrams, bullet points etc
• On the back, put key words and
possible exam questions on this
concept
Organising your flashcards
• You will build up an array of
flashcards
• Colour code them to classify by
topic or exam section
Flashcards 2.0 – practice testing
• Write key questions on one side
of the card
• Write the answers on the other
• Keep testing yourself!
• Add a tick each time you get it
right, and a cross each time you
have to turn over to check
• Aim to get ten ticks next to each
question
• Also works with post-its!
Memory Tips
GCSE Revision
Interrogation – asking “why?”
• One of the best ways to support revision is to ask why an idea or
concept is true – then answer the question.
• For example:
• In science, increasing the temperature can increase the rate of a chemical
reaction….why?
• In geography, the leisure industry in British seaside towns like Barry Island in
South Wales has deteriorated in the last 4 decades….why?
• In history, in 1929 the American stock exchange collapsed. This supported
Hitler’s rise to power….why?
• Rather than learning facts by heart, asking yourself why they are true
will help you remember and understand them.
Mnemonics
• Mnemonics use the initial letters of a group of words to help
remember them in order
• They are really good for remembering sequenced information
• Here are some examples…
North East South West
Never Eat Shredded Wheat
Naughty Elephants Squirt Water
Never Ever Support Wolves
Never Eagerly Snog Witches
PHYSICS
Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue,
Indigo, Violet
ASTRONOMY
My Very Easy Method Just Speeds
Up Naming Planets Simply
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Sedna
MATHS
I Value Xylophones Like Cows
Dig Milk
1 – 5 – 10 – 50
100 – 500 – 1000
BIOLOGY
King Philip Came Over For
Good Sex
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family,
Genus, Species
(biological groupings)
MUSIC
G
E
C
A
Do you know a mnemonic for this?
5 Bones in Hand
Distal
Intermediate
Proximal
Metacarpals
Carpals
Can you create a mnemonic from this?
FLORIA
• FLORIA is a technique that provides “hooks” for information in your
memory. Look at the following list of words for 40 seconds, then see
which you remember:
SHOE
GARDEN
GOOSE
MUSIC
AND
TAYLOR SWIFT
AND
CAR
HERB
WORM
SPIDER MAN
BOXING
GCSE
DUCK
NIPPLE
MOSS
PENCIL
GLOVE
WATER
GLUE
HERB
TURTLE
RECALL DURING LEARNING - FLORIA
First. Last. Outstanding.
Repeated. Interesting. Associated.
SHOE
GARDEN
GOOSE
MUSIC
AND
TAYLOR SWIFT
AND
CAR
HERB
WORM
SPIDER MAN
BOXING
GCSE
DUCK
NIPPLE
MOSS
PENCIL
GLOVE
WATER
GLUE
HERB
TURTLE
Using FLORIA
• Put the most important information FIRST and LAST
• When preparing revision materials, thing about how you can make
key information OUSTANDING
• REPEAT important facts
• Make key information INTERESTING using images, mnemonics,
sticking it on a post-it in an unusual place, associating it with a person
or event…
• Make links between information so the ASSOCIATION leads you from
one fact to another
Summary
• You can use…
• Interrogation
• Mnemonics
• FLORIA
• …to help your memory retrieve key facts. Try them!
Mind Maps
GCSE Revision
Making a mind map
• Start with the theme in the middle of
the page.
• Develop your main idea.
• Each sub-branch must relate to the
branch before it.
• Use only key words and images.
• Key words must be written along the
branches.
• Colour code the branches.
• Make things stand out on the page so
they stand out in your mind.
• Design images you can relate to which
will help you remember key
information
Mind maps can be mostly text
Or mostly images
Or both
Albert Einstein
Using key words in mind maps
Einstein was born in Germany in 1879. As a child, Albert hated school and
his teachers thought he was rather “stupid”. In fact he was asked to leave
school because his teachers found him disruptive. He was a very curious
child and wanted to know how everything worked. When he was five years
old, his father gave him a compass, which he loved and took apart to
understand how it worked. When he was 12 he was given a geometry
book, which he read from cover to cover, and so began his love of maths.
Einstein had several jobs. His first, ironically, was as a teacher. At first he
failed the exam, but persisted and got the job. He then went to work in a
patent office where he would look at new inventions. When his scientific
papers became well-known, he was actively sought after by many
universities. He worked in German universities for 17 years, until the Nazi
reign, when he fled Germany because he was a Jew. He went to work at
Princeton University in the USA for the rest of his life.
He made some amazing discoveries in his work, that changed much about
the world. His first scientific paper was his Quantum Theory. He
discovered that light travelled not only in waves, as previously thought.
This discovery later led to the inventions, by others of the cinema and
television. His second major discovery was his theory of Relativity.
Daydreaming one afternoon, he imagined travelling on a beam of light, and
dreamt that the universe is curved. This daydream led to his famous
theory, E=MC2, and has led to many inventions for creating more powerful
energy.
Although Einstein worked hard his whole life, he also had many things he
enjoyed, and contributed them to his great brain. He loved music and
played both the violin and piano to a very high standard. He went walking
every day to relax and daydream and keep fit.
Einstein married twice, and with his first wife had two sons. He died in
1955 at the age of 76.
Make a mind map
• Pick a key topic in one of your
examination subjects
• Put the topic in the middle of
the page
• And begin!
Past Papers & Mark Schemes
GCSE Revision
Finding past papers and mark schemes
• AQA: http://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/examsguidance/find-past-papers-and-mark-schemes
• OCR: http://www.ocr.org.uk/i-want-to/download-past-papers/
• EDEXCEL: http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/supporttopics/exams/past-papers.html
Example
Example
A more complex example
Self-testing and diagnosis of errors
Understanding of the subject
Exam technique
• Did you get it wrong because
you didn’t know that part of the
subject?
• Did you get it wrong because
you didn’t read the question
properly?
• Or because you didn’t do exactly
what the mark scheme wanted?
• Solution: focused revision
• Solution: repeated deliberate
practice
PQRST
Self-testing for revision
PQRST – the principle
• PQRST is a self-testing technique to be
used once you have revised a section
• It’s helpful to have someone else to revise
with – a friend, family member etc.
• Here’s how it works…
• P Preview – Read through section
headings. Read the final summaries. If
you’ve used flashcards this will help!
• Q Question – Turn each section heading
and subheading into a question
• R Read – Read your questions and then
answer from the text. Mark or highlight
the keywords/ points
• S Say – Say your answer and explain your
keywords aloud to yourself or explain to
someone else.
• T Test – Go over the questions and test
yourself again days later – what can
you still recall to answer each of the
questions that you wrote?
Preview and Question
P for Preview
Q for Question
• Flick through your notes,
flashcards, mind maps or
whatever
• Focus on the HEADINGS
• E.g. “Acids and Bases” in
Chemistry or “Settlements” in
Geography
• Transform the section heading
into a question (or questions).
• E.g. “What is an acid?” or “What
are the characteristics of bases?”
or “What features do
settlements have in common?”
• It’s important to write your own
questions! This process engages
your brain and helps you
remember the information.
Read and Say
R for Read
S for Say
• Re-read the questions you have
written.
• Answer from your notes,
flashcards, mind maps etc.
• Highlight or underline the key
words in the question and the
answer
• Say your answer and explain the
key words aloud
• It helps to have someone to
speak to, but if not say it to
yourself – aloud!
• The process of transforming the
answer from writing to speech
engages your brain and helps
you remember it
Test
T for Test
• Test yourself again days later
• This will help identify where you
have got strong recall, and
where you need to work harder
• If you can’t remember it three
days later – you haven’t learnt it.
• Revise again!
An example – History
• P: go through notes/revision materials for The American West
• Q: What was life like for the Plains Indians?
• R: Read through the question and bullet point key answer ideas from
your revision materials
• S: Say them out loud
• T: the next day, Test yourself on them and see how many of the bullet
points you can remember
Transform It!
GCSE Revision
The principle: transform it
• “I’m just going to read through
my notes” is not actually
revising.
• In order to remember
information effectively, your
brain has to process it
• You have to think about it in
order to remember it properly
What is “transform it”?
• “Transform it” means taking
your revision notes and changing
them into a different form
• The process of changing the
information from one form into
another means that you will
think about it – and remember it
better
Turn your notes into
• A diagram:
• Bar chart
• Venn diagram
• Mind map
• Symbols
• Bullet pointed lists
• Audio recordings
• Post it notes
• Flash cards
• Questions
• Tests
• 3D shapes
• Timelines
• And more…
Example
• Take a key poem from the English
Literature anthology
• Transform your notes into a
revision cube
• Each side is a category (you can
choose your own, or):
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Language
Theme
Form / Structure
Context
Author
Interpretations
The Revision Process
https://www.wku.edu/senate/documents/improving_student_learning_dunlosky_2013.pdf
Not very
effective
Highlighting
Re-reading
Summarising Texts
Why?
• Low challenge.
• Little thinking required.
• Makes the student think that they
are ‘doing something’
“Whatever you think about, that’s
what you remember. Memory is the
residue of thought.”
Daniel Willingham
More
effective
Practice Testing
Distributed Practice
Elaborate Interrogation
Self explanation
Interleaved Practice
Summary
• “Memory is the residue of thought”.
• Testing.
• Space it out.
• Keep asking ‘why’?
• Build on what they know.
• Explain their steps in problem solving.