45LEARNING & REVISION TIPS
Came across this article at the website of an American school. I think it will find it interesting.
You should learn and revise the topics you have been studying because knowledge is worthwhile, and sound knowledge enables you to be successful in your tests and examinations. Revision should be a regular activity, not something you do the night before the test or examination. It does not take long to revise if you practice revising effectively. To be effective, make sure that you are not too tired, and that you have suitable surroundings. While you work, take regular short breaks. Remember - you should revise part of your work every week.
Revision is part of the learning process. The results of research into the process of learning show that it should be active - learning is more effective if it is done in an imaginative way, and using several of the brain's skills, not just reading. Writing, making drawings, and creating memory links, all play a part in making learning more effective, and more enjoyable, because they focus your mind on your work.
There are several techniques for learning actively. They all need lots of rough paper and several coloured pens or pencils to make them even more interesting. Here are some suggestions:
1. Read, Say, Cover, Write, Check.
Read a sentence or short paragraph from your notes. Go back to the start and say only the key words - the important words - again. Put a piece of rough paper over the page and write down the key words, using different colours, to make a list. Check to find out - did you spell them correctly, and do you know what they mean?
(The actions of speaking and writing use more of your brain than if you only read. This makes your brain work more effectively, and the words are more likely to stay in your memory.)
2. Create a mnemonic - an aid to memory.
This is best used for learning a series of things. Think up, and write down in colour, a sentence that has words that start with the same letters as the words you want to learn.
E.g. To learn the basic foods - "Peter Wants Cheap Fast Food Very Much" - this stands for Proteins, Water, Carbohydrates, Fats, Fibre, Vitamins, Minerals.
(While you are thinking of your sentence, you are learning the words you need to know. The sillier you make your sentence, the more likely you are to remember it!)
3. Create your own revision test.
Imagine you are the teacher - as you read through the topic, think up a question every now and then on the last bit you learnt, and write it down in colour. After about half an hour you should have at least ten questions.
(While you are thinking about each question, you are learning that part of the topic.)
4. Draw diagrams and graphs.
E.g.1. There are lots of diagrams in science - practice drawing them quickly in different colours, and labelling them correctly. E.g.2. Draw coloured cartoons of common objects and write down their French names. E.g.3. Study the graphs that you have drawn from tables of results in Maths or Science - invent some new results to practice drawing more graphs.
(While you are drawing the diagram or graph, you are learning more about the topic.)
5. Make a mind map of each topic.
Write the main key words - the topic title - in the middle of a large piece of blank paper. You then link the related key words - the sub-topics - with lines. You then link the sub-topic key words on to these, making a large network or web of related ideas - the mind map of the topic. You should draw this with colours representing each sub-topic, and small cartoon pictures to reinforce the ideas in the keywords. Remember that this is rough work, not a work of art! See the example at the bottom of this page.
(While you are making your mind map, you are learning more about the topic.)
A Sample Mindmap
mindmap.jpg
The Review - this is an important feature of effective learning.
After you have had a break you should always go over the topic you have just revised, again. This review should be quick - five to ten minutes - and you should repeat it again regularly - next day, then next week, and so on.
Your review can make use of your lists of keywords, or your mnemonics, or your test questions, or your diagrams, or your mind maps.
Dear Friends
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From India, Madras
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