Revision Techniques Booklet

Revision Techniques Booklet

 The revision techniques document below is designed to be used with both staff and students.

The document covers a wide range of revision techniques aimed to help different learners, revise as they go through the course. There is a wide variety of revision techniques, explaining what the student need to do and the intended outcomes. These include mind maps, presentations, past papers, flash cards, quizzes, memory games, note taking, poster, check lists, revision notes around the house and mnemonics.

Using the booklet with Staff

• I hold staff meetings where the teachers go through the different techniques and link them to the different assessment tasks in their subjects, looking at the best ways to revise for each part. The teachers then share the information with the students. Staff are encouraged to use the revision techniques throughout the course with their classes, incorporating them into their lessons and homework activities, as well as using them to help students prepare for formative assessments.  

 Using the booklet with students.

• I have used the revision techniques with students in my weekly DP core class. The aim is for students to try the techniques and find which ones suit their learning style and / or can be matched for the different types of assessments they face in each of their subjects.
• Techniques such as audio presentations are quick and easy to set up. Every student in one class studied economics. In one lesson I put students into pairs and gave each with a part of an unemployment unit to create an audio presentation on. After 20 minutes each pair was able to share their presentation with others, uploading them straight onto each other`s phones. This is a good example of revising as a team as each student left the room with 8 different 2-3 minute audio presentations on economics on their phone. I shared the videos with the class` economics teacher who uploaded them on to the Schoology website.
• I have asked students to practice the different way of revising for homework and then discuss the pros and cons of each one in the following class, which allows them to see the wide range of revision techniques and choose the one that suits their learning style. 

The techniques in this booklet allow students to review the content they have covered in each of their subjects, as well as practice the skills they will be tested against in their exams. This will ensure the students are as well prepared as possible when it comes to the day of the exam, confident in the subject knowledge and what each type of exam question is asking of them.

This booklet goes through the process and learning outcomes of 12 different ways to revise for exams, helping students understand which way works for them and suits their learning style as early as possible to make the most out of their revision time. They may find that different techniques work for them for different subjects / types of exams. This will not only help them remember important information, but also make revision seem a positive activity, often resulting in a new product that suits how they learn, and less of a chore.

Where applicable, I have created YouTube videos to accompany some of the techniques which can be found here.

The process and outcomes of the following revision techniques are explained in the booklet:

1. Getting your work in order
2. Past Papers
3. Presentations (visual and auditory)
4. Mind Maps
5. Revision Posters
6. Flashcards
7. Quizzes
8. Checklists
9. Memory games
10. Note taking
11. Revision notes around the house
12. Mnemonics