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Kelsey: How to Tackle Exam Periods
Kelsey shares the revision techniques that work for her.
Starting university can feel intimidating and the increased amount of content to learn can be overwhelming for exams, so it is important to know how to effectively revise. There is no right or wrong way to study, everyone is different and people have unique ways of learning new information. This post is to share what worked for me so you can hopefully gain some ideas that you might want to implement in your study sessions!
Keeping organised!
Personally, I have tried a multitude of techniques when it comes to revision, but the key is trial and error to see which method works for you. I found that being organised was the best solution to reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed. Putting a plan into place on how you’re going to tackle your revision helped me a lot, I have a small weekly planner on my desk which I fill out every Sunday to plan my week with my revision aims. I tick these tasks off once they’re completed, which is very satisfying! Ensuring I provide myself enough time to revise is also important, as it reduces my stress levels and allows me to feel confident in myself that I can learn the content thoroughly.
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Learning content
As for the actual lecture content, each person I know has different strategies when it comes to making notes. For me, OneNote worked best to store and organise my notes from each module. This way the information is all in one place and easily accessible so when it comes to the revision period, I don’t need to stress about finding them. Personally, I prefer revising on paper so I print these out for each module so I can have all the information I need to learn in front of me.
Once I have created my module booklets, I work through them, highlighting and picking out the key information, compressing the notes further. I also use ReCap (all the pre-recorded lectures are located here) if I struggle to understand the content.
Active recall
Being able to actively recall is so important as it shows you know the information thoroughly and allows you to be engaged. Possible ways to actively recall which have worked for me include:
- Using a whiteboard – this allows me to quickly create mind maps from memory and take quick notes when looking over topics
- Flashcards – a common one which works for many, write questions on one side with the answer on the other, test yourself!
- Practice papers – if they are available, I recommend completing past papers as it allows you to look for gaps in your knowledge and gain practice on working under exam conditions
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Study sessions
Meeting in the library and booking out a study room with my course mates allows me to be productive in a social setting. I find it very effective to talk with others about the course content and test each other with flashcards. My friend may understand a certain topic which I may not, vice versa, so it is a way of being able to help and support each other with revision.
Pomodoro technique
Struggle to stay off your phone or become easily distracted? The Pomodoro Technique helps me to stay focused whilst having frequent breaks. This is a time management revision strategy, typically with 25 minutes of revising followed by a 5-minute break, this process is repeated for the duration of your study session. I recommend a YouTube channel called ‘Abao in Tokyo’ who creates “study with me” videos so you can use to follow along using this technique, but there are many other channels which do the same!
Overall, feeling prepared and confident is important when it comes to an upcoming exam period but ensure to look after yourself with breaks and a good sleep schedule as it can be an extremely stressful time. As stated previously, each person’s revision strategies vary and the ones listed in the post may not work for you, these are just based on my personal experience. Discover what helps you the most to allow you to excel in your studies.
Good Luck!
Written by Kelsey, a BSc Biomedical Sciences student
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Illustrations by Eilidh Muldoon.