Stage 5: Understanding and learning the course material
Simply reading and re-reading the course materials will take you more time than you can afford, and is not an effective way
of learning material for an exam. Adopt what is called an active approach to learning for your exam. Different subjects demand different active methods but, generally speaking, this approach
involves you in manipulating or doing things with the material in a way that helps it to stick, so you can recall it later.
The first thing you need to do is to reduce the masses of information you have on each topic to a manageable size. This can
be done by condensing the notes down to key words and concepts. You can do this in a variety of ways.
Making summary sheets or cards
Andrew Northedge, in The Good Study Guide uses a diagram to illustrate this (reproduced as Figure 4). He notes that:
To boil the course down in this way, so as to extract its concentrated essences, is extremely valuable because it converts
the broad themes and the detailed discussions of the course into a form which is more manageable for the purpose of answering
questions in exams.
Figure 4: Summary sheets and cards
You can achieve this by following the steps below.
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Summarise your notes on a topic from the various sources you have collected together.
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Draw the main points from these notes, using headings and key points.
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Try to reduce these notes further to one side of A4 paper or even a small file card, using only the main headings and a few
associated key words.
Note that the mind-map we described above captures all these techniques in an economical way.
Assignments can be a very useful starting point for producing summaries. It can be very useful to look through them as you
revise, and compare exam and assignment questions on the same topic. How do the questions differ? What would the key differences
be between an assignment and an exam answer on the same topic? Think how you could use these ideas in an exam answer. Reduce
the assignment in the way we have described above and use this in your revision later on.
Making learning posters
You may find that, rather than reducing notes to small summary cards, you prefer to produce large posters detailing key points
on particular topics. Use pattern, colour, diagrams and drawings in your posters, and display them in parts of your home where
you might have an opportunity to gaze at them for some time and absorb the information. One student we know put them around
the bathroom! If you have a strong visual memory, then lively posters really help the remembering process.
Making audio tapes
Why not try recording material from your summary sheets, or cards, onto audio tape? Students who have a strong auditory memory
find information sticks if they hear it rather than read it. You could play the tape back to yourself when travelling by train
or car.
Using a computer
Besides other things, a computer offers the opportunity to organise, reorganise, and delete material, without having to write
everything out every time you make a change. It also allows you to make notes as you go along, file them easily, and add and
update them in your revision period.
You may even find that one of your software packages supports a facility for making notes. You will certainly have a range
of layout facilities and graphics to enhance your notes.
Activity 7
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If you have a computer, make a list or draw a diagram of the ways you could represent or organise different parts of your
notes. If you do not have a computer, you may be able to use one at your college or local library.
Self-help groups - revising with others
There is a great deal to be said for working with another student, or group of students, when you are revising. Other students
can help you keep the whole revision process in perspective, rather than letting it make you over-anxious. At another level,
there is no reason why you shouldn't share marked assignments, revision tips and plans with members of a revision group. You
may find that one of your group is good at devising a manageable revision timetable, and another can share some valuable ideas
about content for a tricky past exam question. Working together to produce condensed revision notes, or to brainstorm answers
to questions, can be particularly fruitful. What one person forgets, another may remember. You are not in competition with
other students taking the exam, so sharing revision is not cheating.
Teach to learn
One of the most successful ways to learn something well is to teach it. Select a topic that you feel you know well and try
teaching it to an imaginary person. As your teaching proceeds, you will quickly realise where there are gaps in your knowledge
and understanding. Immediately you will begin to identify clearly what it is you are explaining. You will become aware of
any aspects that you are less clear about, and can focus on those. Imagine you are explaining something to someone who keenly
and urgently wants to understand. It feels like a much more positive and purposeful activity. Sometimes you can even do this
to an interested partner, friend or fellow student. Try preparing a topic with which you do not feel familiar, in order to
explain it clearly to someone who wants to know about it. You may find this simple method works well for you.
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