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Everything you need to know about exam revisions

Posted Date: 07 May 2023 |Updated: 07-May-2023 |Category: Education |Author: |Member Level: Gold |Points: 35 |


This article explains various ways of revisions by which students can score well in examinations. Revision is a process to once again go through or revise what is learned. It is a way to assess the preparation and build self-confidence.

What is revision?

There is a difference between learning and revision. Learning is grasping the content. When a student listens to the lecture conducted by the teacher which can be online or offline, he is grasping everything that is taught. This grasping of knowledge is known as learning. Likewise, if he goes through the study resources for the first time then that is learning on his own. On the other hand, revision is rereading, rewatching or rehearing the content that he has already learnt. Revision is revising what is learnt. It is a process which helps in the easy recalling of the learnt data. After 24 hours, around 50-80% of what was learnt gets lost if not revised. After a month without revision, a student can only remember 2-3% of what he learnt. Thus, without dedicating a proper timetable for revising, a student only manages to waste the valuable effort that he spent learning the content. Revision does not take much time. Time is required to learn something new. Once learnt, a student has to hardly spend 10 minutes of his time for revision within the next 24 hours. This will save the data in the memory. By the end of the week, he has to spend hardly 5 minutes on the same. By the end of the month, he can revise the same content within 2-4 minutes.

Why students do not revise?

There are many reasons behind not revising. Some of them are mentioned below.

  • Some only like to learn the content. They feel that they have understood the data and there is no point in going through the same data again when they have fully grasped it. Going through it once again bores them. Their overconfidence prevents them from revising the content.
  • Some students feel that revisions are only meant to be done before examinations. Thus, they procrastinate revising. They keep learning new data but rarely care to once in a while go through what they have learnt in the past.
  • Some students do not revise because of a tight schedule. On an everyday basis, they jump from one task to another which will not allow them time to revise. From attending classes to submitting their projects and from learning what is taught to appearing in unit tests, they have too much on their plate.

Why is it important?

When a student learns something, it will be in his memory for some time. If he has learnt it with full concentration, it will remain in his memory for a longer period. Slowly and gradually, the student starts forgetting what he has learnt if the content is not revised regularly. After a few days, he may be able to recollect it but some part of it might be lost. After a few weeks or months, most of the content will be wiped out from his memory. This happens because he did not go through the study material once again. Only grasping the content is not important. Along with it, processing and storing it in memory is also important. Only when the content is stored in the memory, it can be recollected anytime necessary. For that, revision is necessary.

Apart from that, it improves the understanding of the content. Not every student has the same attention span. Some can understand the content completely the very first time whereas; others can only grasp a part of it. When students take some time off and regularly go through what they have learnt earlier, they are not only strengthening their memory but also getting a better understanding of what they are revising. The content of that particular topic will become clearer in their minds.

When a student revises, he will understand his strengths and weaknesses. Certain topics he will be able to recall easily and there will be certain topics where he will have to focus more. In this way, he can plan his study timetable and focus on areas where he has to concentrate more. Revisions increase the confidence of a student. The shorter the recalling time of study data, the better will be the self-esteem.

Revisions and examinations

Some students do not like to revise. They learn the content either on their own or by listening to the lectures. However, when it comes to revision they feel that there is no need for that because they do not know how important these revisions are for scoring in exams. Below mentioned are some points that explain the importance of revisions for scoring well in examinations.

  • Those students, who wish to appear in the examinations and excel in them, should regularly revise the learned content. It will help them in scoring good marks on their papers. Those appearing in the exams have to write their papers in an orderly fashion and by mentioning every small detail. That kind of storage of data can only be enabled when students go for regular revisions.
  • Revisions help in the quick recall of the data. In examination halls, students have to solve their papers within the given time. If they waste too much time recalling what they have learnt, they may not be able to cover their entire paper. Thus, frequent revisions will enable them to quickly recollect the learnt content without much effort.
  • Students usually go through the fear of examinations when the exam approaches. They suffer from exam phobia in the examination hall. It happens when they are not able to recollect what they have learnt. This kind of fear and anxiety will cause them to lose lots of marks. Students who regularly revise have low anxiety levels because they can recollect the data easily. Thus, they do not face these kinds of triggers.

How to revise?

  • Revision should not be kept until the last minute. Students should begin their revisions right from the start of their academic year. If they are learning new topics five days a week then they have to spend two days a week revising what they have learnt.
  • Revisions do not have to consume the same time as that of learning. When learning anything for the first time, a student has to dedicate some time until he understands all or at least a major part of it. However, when students revise, they have to make sure that they are doing it for brushing up their knowledge and allocate the time for revising in their schedule as per that.
  • There are plenty of data that can be revised as quickly as within a couple of minutes. To revise formulas or significant years in subjects such as history, students should write them down in an orderly fashion and stick the prepared list in a place where their sight frequently goes. They can stick it on the door of the refrigerator, on their study desk, or on the side of the mirror.
  • Students can write down data in the form of charts. Make use of mind maps that will enable them to write a summary of all the chapters that they have learnt. Carry cue cards with keywords written on them that will again help in quick revision of what is learnt. These simple tricks will help students to quickly revise what they have learnt without going through their textbooks or notes once again.
  • From time to time, students should solve previous years' question papers. This is one of the best methods to revise as well as to self-evaluate the preparation for the examination. Likewise, students can indulge themselves in group discussions with their friends to test and brush up on each other's knowledge.


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Comments

Author: DR.N.V. Srinivasa Rao10 May 2023 Member Level: Diamond   Points : 3

This is a very informative article from the author. Revision is something which is useful to re-look at the content that we have already studied earlier and to know whether all the information on the subject is intact within us in our mind.

Generally, when we are preparing for the examinations, we should keep a notebook and pen with us and all important points should be noted down. That will become a book for revision. So we can use that book when we want to revise the subject.

Referring to many books and new books is not advisable. I strongly believe that we should go through one or two standard books and keep reading them only. Once in a while, we may go through some books but we should not do that during revision.
In my opinion. a student who understands the concept well and has a strong basic knowledge need not revise many times. Forgetting the subject may happen only when we mug up without understanding the topic.



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