{"id":76602,"date":"2025-04-18T00:05:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-18T04:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=76602"},"modified":"2025-04-18T00:05:19","modified_gmt":"2025-04-18T04:05:19","slug":"exams-coming-up-use-the-science-of-memory-to-improve-how-you-revise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/exams-coming-up-use-the-science-of-memory-to-improve-how-you-revise\/","title":{"rendered":"Exams coming up? Use the science of memory to improve how you revise"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI did revise\u2026 it just didn\u2019t go in!\u201d Sound familiar?<\/p>\n

What about \u201cI turned over the exam paper and my mind just went blank\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s worrying to feel like everything you\u2019re doing to prepare for an exam somehow isn\u2019t working. But you can harness the science behind how memory works to make your revision more effective.<\/p>\n

Engage and rephrase<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Going through a page of notes with a few different coloured pens, highlighting everything you think could be important, might seem an obvious way to revise a topic. But this is what\u2019s known as\u00a0passive learning<\/a>. There\u2019s little requirement for you to process the information and you don\u2019t have to think too much. You might well step away from your desk with no memory of anything you\u2019ve highlighted.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to discard the highlighters entirely, though. There\u2019s a better way to do this. Limit yourself to three or four highlights a page. Read the whole page first, then go back and highlight the three points you think are the most important. Now you\u2019re comparing pieces of information \u2013 and actually thinking about what you\u2019re reading.<\/p>\n

As this requires a greater depth of thought you are more likely to be able to remember this information that simply reading it alone.\u00a0Avoid passive learning<\/a>, be more active in your approach and you will remember more.<\/p>\n

When you have identified the core points, the next step is to then write these down in your own words. The process of rephrasing what you\u2019ve read increases the depth of processing and increases your likelihood of recalling it.<\/p>\n

Make it interesting<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Hopefully the information that you need to remember is interesting to you. This is good \u2013 interest leads to motivation and\u00a0motivation leads to better understanding<\/a>, which leads to better memory. Foster your curiosity: this will enable you to engage with the material, and motivate you to succeed.<\/p>\n

But revising can be a drag, and you may well be trying to commit things to memory that you aren\u2019t that engaged with. If this is the case, you can add interest yourself \u2013 such as by using stories, rhymes and acronyms that catch your imagination.<\/p>\n

For instance, you might struggle to fix the order of the planets in the solar system in your brain. Is Uranus closer to the Sun than Neptune, or the other way around? But it could be easier to remember that \u201cmy very energetic monkey just served us noodles\u201d \u2013 the first letter of each word being the same as a planet, and showing the order.<\/p>\n

Embellish the information<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Don\u2019t just read or make notes on the things you need to learn. It\u2019s worth taking the time to do more \u2013 it\u2019ll help fix the information in your brain.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0research study<\/a>\u00a0found that people remembered nearly a third more information when they doodled while listening than if they just listened. So if you\u2019re listening to a revision audiobook or watching an online lecture, doodle while you do it. Doodles that relate to the content will improve your recall.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re musical, turn your revision notes into a song. Melodies provide structure, which helps chunk information into meaningful units.<\/p>\n

Another great option is to gamify your revision. An old board game with question cards from a charity shop \u2013 maybe\u00a0Trivial Pursuit<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 can be repurposed to your revision needs. Setting questions will help you process the information, and playing the game with friends studying the same subject consolidates this learning. You might even have fun (and that enjoyment will help your memory, too).<\/p>\n

Keep it manageable<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Long, constant revision using the same approach to the same material is unlikely to be successful. Divide your time across the day and plan different activities and approaches to revision.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re\u00a0more likely to remember<\/a>\u00a0the first pieces of information and the last pieces of information that we read or learn in a study session. Use this to your advantage \u2013 have lots of breaks, so you have lots of starts and lots of endings. Start each revision session with something really important, and end with a summary. Then the important parts and the summaries will be the elements that you are most likely to remember.<\/p>\n

You can do it!<\/h4>\n

You\u2019ll no doubt have heard about the power of mental rehearsal and the strength of visualisation for success. But this doesn\u2019t mean\u00a0just daydreaming<\/a>\u00a0about getting top marks. What does help is thinking about the processes that you need to engage in to achieve success.<\/p>\n

Think about the good things you will experience when you achieve your goal, how you are going to achieve this and\u00a0record your progress<\/a>\u00a0towards it. Creating a plan, telling people about your goals, and rewarding yourself for each goal achieved have all been shown to foster success.<\/p>\n

Author Bios:<\/strong> Andy M Morley is Subject Lead: Psychology & Neuroscience and Paul John Taylor is Senior Lecturer, School of Psychology & Computer Science both at the University of Central Lancashire<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cI did revise\u2026 it just didn\u2019t go in!\u201d Sound familiar? What about \u201cI turned over the exam paper and my mind just went blank\u2026\u201d It\u2019s worrying to feel like everything you\u2019re doing to prepare for an exam somehow isn\u2019t working. But you can harness the science behind how memory works to make your revision more […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[13510],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-76602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-revision"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nExams coming up? 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