2. The principle: INTERLEAVING
⢠When we learn something, we
forget it
⢠When we revisit something
weâve learned repeatedly, we
remember it better
⢠This is shown in the Ebbinghaus
Forgetting Curve
3. Interleaving vs blocking
⢠âBlockingâ your revision â
focusing on one topic for a long
time then moving on to the next
topic â is inefficient.
⢠âInterleavingâ your revision is far
more effective.
4. Interleaving and chunking
⢠For interleaving to work, you
have to break down your
revision into âchunksâ
⢠Itâs no good putting âBiologyâ
into your revision calendar â you
need to be specific
⢠GCSE Biology includes:
⢠Health
⢠Responses to the environment
⢠Evolution
⢠Ecology
⢠Cells
⢠Photosynthesis
⢠Organisms and their environments
⢠Protein functions and uses
⢠Respiration
⢠Genetics
⢠Speciation
6. Your tasks
Chunking
⢠Break down the subjects you
study into âchunksâ you can
revise
Planning
⢠Plan an interleaved revision
schedule to cover the chunks
you have created
⢠Build in rest breaks
8. The Flash Card â
distilling your
learning
⢠Distillation:
Because a flash card is
small, you need to boil
down your learning to a
key, easily-revised
summary.
Your notes Your flashcardRevision
9. Making an effective flashcard
⢠âChunkâ the learning down
⢠Each flashcard should be on one
key idea or concept
⢠The key information only should
be summarised on one side
⢠Use diagrams, bullet points etc
⢠On the back, put key words and
possible exam questions on this
concept
10. Organising your flashcards
⢠You will build up an array of
flashcards
⢠Colour code them to classify by
topic or exam section
11. Flashcards 2.0 â practice testing
⢠Write key questions on one side
of the card
⢠Write the answers on the other
⢠Keep testing yourself!
⢠Add a tick each time you get it
right, and a cross each time you
have to turn over to check
⢠Aim to get ten ticks next to each
question
⢠Also works with post-its!
13. Interrogation â asking âwhy?â
⢠One of the best ways to support revision is to ask why an idea or
concept is true â then answer the question.
⢠For example:
⢠In science, increasing the temperature can increase the rate of a chemical
reactionâŚ.why?
⢠In geography, the leisure industry in British seaside towns like Barry Island in
South Wales has deteriorated in the last 4 decadesâŚ.why?
⢠In history, in 1929 the American stock exchange collapsed. This supported
Hitlerâs rise to powerâŚ.why?
⢠Rather than learning facts by heart, asking yourself why they are true
will help you remember and understand them.
14. Mnemonics
⢠Mnemonics use the initial letters of a group of words to help
remember them in order
⢠They are really good for remembering sequenced information
⢠Here are some examplesâŚ
15. North East South West
Never Ever Support Wolves
Never Eagerly Snog Witches
Never Eat Shredded Wheat
Naughty Elephants Squirt Water
16. Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain
Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue,
Indigo, Violet
PHYSICS
17. My Very Easy Method Just Speeds
Up Naming Planets Simply
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Sedna
ASTRONOMY
18. I Value Xylophones Like Cows
Dig Milk
1 â 5 â 10 â 50
100 â 500 â 1000
MATHS
19. King Philip Came Over For
Good Sex
Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family,
Genus, Species
(biological groupings)
BIOLOGY
21. 5 Bones in Hand
Distal
Intermediate
Proximal
Metacarpals
Carpals
Can you create a mnemonic from this?
22. FLORIA
⢠FLORIA is a technique that provides âhooksâ for information in your
memory. Look at the following list of words for 40 seconds, then see
which you remember:
26. Using FLORIA
⢠Put the most important information FIRST and LAST
⢠When preparing revision materials, thing about how you can make
key information OUSTANDING
⢠REPEAT important facts
⢠Make key information INTERESTING using images, mnemonics,
sticking it on a post-it in an unusual place, associating it with a person
or eventâŚ
⢠Make links between information so the ASSOCIATION leads you from
one fact to another
27. Summary
⢠You can useâŚ
⢠Interrogation
⢠Mnemonics
⢠FLORIA
⢠âŚto help your memory retrieve key facts. Try them!
29. Making a mind map
⢠Start with the theme in the middle of
the page.
⢠Develop your main idea.
⢠Each sub-branch must relate to the
branch before it.
⢠Use only key words and images.
⢠Key words must be written along the
branches.
⢠Colour code the branches.
⢠Make things stand out on the page so
they stand out in your mind.
⢠Design images you can relate to which
will help you remember key
information
33. Using key words in mind mapsAlbert Einstein
Einstein was born in Germany in 1879. As a child, Albert hated school and
his teachers thought he was rather âstupidâ. In fact he was asked to leave
school because his teachers found him disruptive. He was a very curious
child and wanted to know how everything worked. When he was five years
old, his father gave him a compass, which he loved and took apart to
understand how it worked. When he was 12 he was given a geometry
book, which he read from cover to cover, and so began his love of maths.
Einstein had several jobs. His first, ironically, was as a teacher. At first he
failed the exam, but persisted and got the job. He then went to work in a
patent office where he would look at new inventions. When his scientific
papers became well-known, he was actively sought after by many
universities. He worked in German universities for 17 years, until the Nazi
reign, when he fled Germany because he was a Jew. He went to work at
Princeton University in the USA for the rest of his life.
He made some amazing discoveries in his work, that changed much about
the world. His first scientific paper was his Quantum Theory. He
discovered that light travelled not only in waves, as previously thought.
This discovery later led to the inventions, by others of the cinema and
television. His second major discovery was his theory of Relativity.
Daydreaming one afternoon, he imagined travelling on a beam of light, and
dreamt that the universe is curved. This daydream led to his famous
theory, E=MC2, and has led to many inventions for creating more powerful
energy.
Although Einstein worked hard his whole life, he also had many things he
enjoyed, and contributed them to his great brain. He loved music and
played both the violin and piano to a very high standard. He went walking
every day to relax and daydream and keep fit.
Einstein married twice, and with his first wife had two sons. He died in
1955 at the age of 76.
34. Make a mind map
⢠Pick a key topic in one of your
examination subjects
⢠Put the topic in the middle of
the page
⢠And begin!
41. Self-testing and diagnosis of errors
Understanding of the subject
⢠Did you get it wrong because
you didnât know that part of the
subject?
⢠Solution: focused revision
Exam technique
⢠Did you get it wrong because
you didnât read the question
properly?
⢠Or because you didnât do exactly
what the mark scheme wanted?
⢠Solution: repeated deliberate
practice
43. PQRST â the principle
⢠PQRST is a self-testing technique to be
used once you have revised a section
⢠Itâs helpful to have someone else to revise
with â a friend, family member etc.
⢠Hereâs how it worksâŚ
⢠P Preview â Read through section
headings. Read the final summaries. If
youâve used flashcards this will help!
⢠Q Question â Turn each section heading
and subheading into a question
⢠R Read â Read your questions and then
answer from the text. Mark or highlight
the keywords/ points
⢠S Say â Say your answer and explain your
keywords aloud to yourself or explain to
someone else.
⢠T Test â Go over the questions and test
yourself again days later â what can
you still recall to answer each of the
questions that you wrote?
44. Preview and Question
P for Preview
⢠Flick through your notes,
flashcards, mind maps or
whatever
⢠Focus on the HEADINGS
⢠E.g. âAcids and Basesâ in
Chemistry or âSettlementsâ in
Geography
Q for Question
⢠Transform the section heading
into a question (or questions).
⢠E.g. âWhat is an acid?â or âWhat
are the characteristics of bases?â
or âWhat features do
settlements have in common?â
⢠Itâs important to write your own
questions! This process engages
your brain and helps you
remember the information.
45. Read and Say
R for Read
⢠Re-read the questions you have
written.
⢠Answer from your notes,
flashcards, mind maps etc.
⢠Highlight or underline the key
words in the question and the
answer
S for Say
⢠Say your answer and explain the
key words aloud
⢠It helps to have someone to
speak to, but if not say it to
yourself â aloud!
⢠The process of transforming the
answer from writing to speech
engages your brain and helps
you remember it
46. Test
T for Test
⢠Test yourself again days later
⢠This will help identify where you
have got strong recall, and
where you need to work harder
⢠If you canât remember it three
days later â you havenât learnt it.
⢠Revise again!
47. An example â History
⢠P: go through notes/revision materials for The American West
⢠Q: What was life like for the Plains Indians?
⢠R: Read through the question and bullet point key answer ideas from
your revision materials
⢠S: Say them out loud
⢠T: the next day, Test yourself on them and see how many of the bullet
points you can remember
49. The principle: transform it
⢠âIâm just going to read through
my notesâ is not actually
revising.
⢠In order to remember
information effectively, your
brain has to process it
⢠You have to think about it in
order to remember it properly
50. What is âtransform itâ?
⢠âTransform itâ means taking
your revision notes and changing
them into a different form
⢠The process of changing the
information from one form into
another means that you will
think about it â and remember it
better
51. Turn your notes into
⢠A diagram:
⢠Bar chart
⢠Venn diagram
⢠Mind map
⢠Symbols
⢠Bullet pointed lists
⢠Audio recordings
⢠Post it notes
⢠Flash cards
⢠Questions
⢠Tests
⢠3D shapes
⢠Timelines
⢠And moreâŚ
52. Example
⢠Take a key poem from the English
Literature anthology
⢠Transform your notes into a
revision cube
⢠Each side is a category (you can
choose your own, or):
⢠Language
⢠Theme
⢠Form / Structure
⢠Context
⢠Author
⢠Interpretations
67. Summary
⢠âMemory is the residue of thoughtâ.
⢠Testing.
⢠Space it out.
⢠Keep asking âwhyâ?
⢠Build on what they know.
⢠Explain their steps in problem solving.
Hinweis der Redaktion
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19
20
22
24
25
26
This technique is pretty straightforward â keep testing yourself (or each other) on what you have got to learn. This technique has been shown to have the highest impact in terms of supporting student learning. Some ways in which you can do this easily:
Create some flashcards, with questions on one side and answers on the other â and keep testing yourself.
Work through past exam papers â many can be acquired through exam board websites.
Simply quiz each other (or yourself) on key bits of information.
Create âfill the gapâ exercises for you and a friend to complete.
Create multiple choice quizzes for friends to complete.
Rather than cramming all of your revision for each subject into one block, itâs better to space it out â from now, through to the exams. Why is this better? Bizarrely, because it gives you some forgetting time. This means that when you come back to it a few weeks later, you will have to think harder, which actually helps you to remember it. Furthermore, the more frequently you come back to a topic, the better you remember it
One of the best things that you can do (either to yourself or with a friend) to support your revision is to ask why an idea or concept is true â and then answer that why question. For example;
In science, increasing the temperature can increase the rate of a chemical reactionâŚ.why?
In geography, the leisure industry in British seaside towns like Porthcawl in South Wales has deteriorated in the last 4 decadesâŚ.why?
In history, the 1929 American stock exchange collapsed. This supported Hitlerâs rise to powerâŚ.why?
So, rather than just try to learn facts or ideas, ask yourself why they are true.
Rather than looking at different topics from a subject in isolation, try to think about how this new information is related to what you know already. This is where mind- maps might come in useful â but the process of producing the mind map, is probably more useful than the finished product. So, think about a key central idea (the middle of the mind map) and then how new material, builds on the existing knowledge in the middle.
Alongside this, when you solve a problem e.g. in maths, explain to someone the steps you took to solve the problem. This can be applied to a whole range of subjects.
When you are revising a subject, the temptation is to do it in âblocksâ of topics. Like below:
The problem with this is, is that it doesnât support the importance of repetition â which is so important to learning. So rather than revising in âtopic blocksâ itâs better to chunk these topics up in your revision programme and interleave them:
This means that you keep coming back to the topics. So, instead of doing a one hour block of revision on topic 1, do 15 minutes on topic 1, then 15 minutes on topic 2, then the same for topic 3 and 4.