During the exam time and during extended study periods, most students often tend to cram as much course content as they possibly can and often leave ‘revision’ for the last, or don’t revision at all. It is a famous misconception amongst students to first study as many topics possible, hoping to recollect what is learnt later during revision time. Generally, this Is a recipe for disaster, Because the human memory doesn’t work like that. An important part of thorough studying and recollecting what is learnt, will always remain ‘Revision’. Before we understand the strategies for revision, it is important to understand why the usual method of keeping revision to the last minute doesn’t work.
Let us first understand how the Human Memory works.
A diagram on ‘How humans store Memory’
– You begin with learning as many topics and course content as you can. This course content is taken to your ‘Short Term-Memory’ by your ‘Sensory Memory’. At this stage if you don’t focus or pay enough attention to what you are trying to learn, you many not recollect it at all. E.g. You are reading about the ‘Medieval period of Europe’ if you are distracted by noise or are interrupted by your phone. You could forget what you have read easily.
– Perhaps you were paying attention to what you were reading about the ‘Medieval period of Europe’. After a moment of distraction, you are still able to recollect some facts about what you read. This is possible, only because the information is now stored in your ‘Short-Term Memory’. This is the stage where students often falter. When they feel they can remember a few facts from what they have learnt, they begin to feel confident in their ability to be able to recollect what is learnt later during ‘revision- time’ or during exam time (if they decide to skip revision time)
– Unfortunately, students often make the famous mistake of not getting the information that is stored in their ‘Short-term memory’ to their ‘Long-term memory’ by regular ‘Retrieval’ i.e. Revision. Hence, during revision time at a later stage or during exam time they cannot recollect substantial information about the ‘Medieval period of Europe’ that they have studied previously. They lose precious marks or end up feeling nervous.