How To Create an Effective Revision Guide
/You are at the University, start to living in a Student house in Southampton. Now your study is not for you to get the grades. But you will use it in your professional life. Making good revisions is one of the things your will need to do every time from now. At the University and after. This is your real-life starting. Don’t forget. He is not your parents insisting to you take good grades. This is the World calling the best professionals for work. And the Labor market doesn’t give another chance. Then it’s on you now. What do you decide? Be a good professional! Don’t waste time.
Knowing yourself - Do you know your way to learn? notes? visual? questionnaire? you have to know the best way to learn. Let’s know some techniques?
1. Summary
This technique consists in rewrite the most important part of a subject in a white sheet. Here you have to write what you understand about the subject, write and give some examples. If you want that your summary works you must follow this sequence, for example.
- Separate the main idea from the seconds. Here you can discover the main idea after reading the text more than three times.
- Don’t copy from the book, read and tell what you understand with your own words. Your vocabulary is different from the book.
- Try to synthesize all in two sheets, no more.
The advantage of this summary is that you will get a review of the text in detail without reading all the subjects again. On the other hand, the time that you need to do this text is long. if you are visual you can try another technique that will help you to review. Organize a space in your studyhome to use for studies. Besides the desk.
2. Questionnaire
Another technique to learn more is solving questions. But it isn’t that simple. it does not only solve the questions. You have more things to do. Many people think that solve one question can learn something. To be more effective you have to solve 10 or more questions a day after you study the content. Take one day to solve 30 questions. It’s like a little test to yourself. Make a simulated test fortnightly. When you are solving the question don’t look for the answer that you probably have the final result. Take notes from what you miss, go to the content, and search for some explanation. you can’t understand ask your teacher. But don’t do this next to the tests. Don’t answer the question if you don’t know, be sure what you are doing. If you don’t know how to answer, back to the content and read again. Remember the simulated test? The prepare a day for you do it. Calculate around 3 minutes for each question and organize your student house in Southampton room to do it. Take the water close to you. Your supplies to solve. If you take more than one hour take some snacks too. Don’t leave on the table book or your notebook that you have notes. Turn off your cellphone. Take an alarm clock and turn on it. Don’t correct the test on the same day. This will train you to don’t stay anxious. After you correct the test take the question that you miss and back to the contents to review.
3. Mind map
If you are a visual person you can choose the mind map. Consist of a synthesis of content and the visual. This is a dynamic way to your brain. it likes it. You can abuse creativity, you can make it colorful, with branches, lines, balloons, or graphics. But don’t forget they have to obey a sequence. The mind map must be like this: the main topic in the center and you add the subtopics in the branches. Then take a white sheet, colored pencils, or pens and go for it. You can take a Flip chart paper make your Mind map to hold on the wall. But first, ask permission from the Southampton student accommodation manager if you can do it.
Use only words or little sentences. Don’t forget the images, you can draw some images and symbols that represent the content. I know that there are many apps to you make the mind map. But when you write your brain can retain more than you can imagine.
4. Teaching
Have you ever heard that when you teach you can retain more than 90% of the content? Then take your friends, a camera or the mirror and try to explain about the subject you have studied. You can take some notes on one paper and make a presentation. Or start to be a monitor in your University, you will see how much you can learn teaching others. Try to use only little phrases or words to read during your presentation. You can use your cellphone to record a video and watching your presentation. This will help you a lot. Don’t forget you live in a Southampton student accommodation, you can ask for your roommates to watch an explanation.
5. Flashcards
You can make flashcards. One side is the question or the image and the other is the answer. they can’t be big. You can make these cards to study alone or make a game with your friends. And you guys can take a prize for that one that answers all the questions. Like a cocktail easy to make. You can separate the cards that you miss. Box 1, questions that you miss; Box 2 - questions you were writing; and Box 3 - Questions that you could almost answer. When you will review the questions you can start with boxes 1 and after 3. The cards after that must be in box 2.
6. Underline
If you are using a book or notebook you can use this technique to sutdy. The intention here is to underline only the words or phrases that you know are important. But take care! Don’t underline the entire book.
7. Study sheets
These techniques are used to memorize long content. You can put the title of the content and below, using colored pens, you can note the subtitles or little explanation of the content. Symbols are so important in this case. This is good because you have to synthesize the content on one page. And they are not big.
Here are the methods to study. Now let’s see some tips to produce the materials.
- Make a schedule, don’t study one day before the tests;
- Note short phrases;
- Don’t forget the lectures notes;
- Before review read all the content;
- Organize your notes
- The wall of your studyhome and post its are one ally for you;
- don’t take a long time reviewing, remember is to study the subject again
Choose how do you like to study and never give up.