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Like it or not, note taking is vital component of successful revision. Your goal should be to summarize everything you know about the topic you’re studying, so collect together any textbooks, notes, videos or web pages on it.
There’s nothing to be gained from just copying text. You need to read, watch, listen to, understand and engage with all of the resources you’ve got available. If you don’t understand it, study something else in that session and talk to your teacher as soon as possible.
Remember, the purpose of revision notes is to summarize a big topic down into something that will prompt your memory in just a couple of minutes, multiple times, between now and your exam. It’s only by constantly revisiting topics that you commit them to memory, so your notes need to be concise enough to make that realistic.
This technique is as simple as it sounds. Rather than writing long blocks of text in your notes, you summarize the key points in lists.
Making notes as lists requires a certain amount of self-discipline. There are no use writing three or four line paragraphs
I’m not saying never write a long paragraph of information, but I am saying that if you do, you’re not writing a list. I would try to avoid long sentences and paragraphs unless you’re memorising a quotation.
2. Mind Maps
Sometimes when I create mind maps, they end up a bit of a mess and are quite difficult to understand afterwards. This isn’t ideal when you’re making revision notes, so it’s important to make sure they’re neat enough to be used again in the future. It would also be a good idea to colour code the lines and ideas. For example, if you were mind mapping the Second World War, you could have blue lines for the causes of the war, red lines for the key players in the build up, yellow lines for important dates, etc.
The key thing to remember when using mind maps to revise is that you’re not just drawing them and putting them in a folder never to be seen again. Whatever format your notes take, you’ll be referring back to them over and over again in the weeks and months leading up to your exam, so it’s vital that they’re neat and clear enough for you to understand them quickly and easily.
3. Diagrams
Some ideas are much more easily expressed using images than words, and if this is the case for you then by all means draw the image, or even print it out from your computer.
4. Flash cards
This is one of the most popular techniques with my students, and has the advantage of making your notes portable so that you can read through them on the bus, in the park, or anywhere else you might find yourself with a few spare minutes.
A word of warning though – I’ve seen flashcards used by students ten minutes before their exam starts, furiously flicking through cards trying to memorise it all at the last minute. If your only reason for using flash cards is that you want to be able to do that, I’d suggest abandoning that plan and focussing on the note method that works best for you.
Last minute cramming is a waste of time.
The way you lay information out on the cards is up to you, and you can pretty much use flash cards in combination with any or all of the other note taking methods. Lists, mind maps and diagrams can all make their way on to flash cards.
5. Posters
Posters are a great way to immerse yourself in your revision and make it part of your daily life.
Rather than writing your notes on normal paper or flash cards you instead take a thick marker pen and a massive piece of flip chart paper and you write your notes on that (again, it doesn’t matter if you use lists, mind maps, diagrams or a combination of all of them).
You then take these posters and put them on the walls around your bedroom (and the rest of your house if you can get away with it).
You’ve then got a fantastic revision resource to refer to every time you enter a room or go to the toilet. Just make sure you use them, or they’re a waste of time!
Ultimately it doesn’t matter what method you use to take your revision notes, as long as you remember that creating them has two purposes:
If your notes don’t serve those two purposes, then it might be time to have a look at the methods you’re using and decide if there might be a better way.
Quick word of warning before we get started:
You should not be copying out of the books!There’s nothing to be gained from just copying text. You need to read, watch, listen to, understand and engage with all of the resources you’ve got available. If you don’t understand it, study something else in that session and talk to your teacher as soon as possible.
Remember, the purpose of revision notes is to summarize a big topic down into something that will prompt your memory in just a couple of minutes, multiple times, between now and your exam. It’s only by constantly revisiting topics that you commit them to memory, so your notes need to be concise enough to make that realistic.
So how should your notes look?
1. ListsThis technique is as simple as it sounds. Rather than writing long blocks of text in your notes, you summarize the key points in lists.
Making notes as lists requires a certain amount of self-discipline. There are no use writing three or four line paragraphs
I’m not saying never write a long paragraph of information, but I am saying that if you do, you’re not writing a list. I would try to avoid long sentences and paragraphs unless you’re memorising a quotation.
2. Mind Maps
Sometimes when I create mind maps, they end up a bit of a mess and are quite difficult to understand afterwards. This isn’t ideal when you’re making revision notes, so it’s important to make sure they’re neat enough to be used again in the future. It would also be a good idea to colour code the lines and ideas. For example, if you were mind mapping the Second World War, you could have blue lines for the causes of the war, red lines for the key players in the build up, yellow lines for important dates, etc.
The key thing to remember when using mind maps to revise is that you’re not just drawing them and putting them in a folder never to be seen again. Whatever format your notes take, you’ll be referring back to them over and over again in the weeks and months leading up to your exam, so it’s vital that they’re neat and clear enough for you to understand them quickly and easily.
3. Diagrams
Some ideas are much more easily expressed using images than words, and if this is the case for you then by all means draw the image, or even print it out from your computer.
4. Flash cards
This is one of the most popular techniques with my students, and has the advantage of making your notes portable so that you can read through them on the bus, in the park, or anywhere else you might find yourself with a few spare minutes.
A word of warning though – I’ve seen flashcards used by students ten minutes before their exam starts, furiously flicking through cards trying to memorise it all at the last minute. If your only reason for using flash cards is that you want to be able to do that, I’d suggest abandoning that plan and focussing on the note method that works best for you.
Last minute cramming is a waste of time.
The way you lay information out on the cards is up to you, and you can pretty much use flash cards in combination with any or all of the other note taking methods. Lists, mind maps and diagrams can all make their way on to flash cards.
5. Posters
Posters are a great way to immerse yourself in your revision and make it part of your daily life.
Rather than writing your notes on normal paper or flash cards you instead take a thick marker pen and a massive piece of flip chart paper and you write your notes on that (again, it doesn’t matter if you use lists, mind maps, diagrams or a combination of all of them).
You then take these posters and put them on the walls around your bedroom (and the rest of your house if you can get away with it).
You’ve then got a fantastic revision resource to refer to every time you enter a room or go to the toilet. Just make sure you use them, or they’re a waste of time!
Ultimately it doesn’t matter what method you use to take your revision notes, as long as you remember that creating them has two purposes:
- Helping you understand a topic through the process of selection and summary
- Helping you memorise a topic through repetition (by reading through your notes and testing yourself on them. A lot)
If your notes don’t serve those two purposes, then it might be time to have a look at the methods you’re using and decide if there might be a better way.
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