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Whats the best way to revise for essay exams

Whats the best way to revise for essay exams

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I keep answering set questions in the hope that the repition will finally help me memorise the concepts. anyone know of a better and less labourious way?

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Originally posted by Vladamir no1
I keep answering set questions in the hope that the repition will finally help me memorise the concepts. anyone know of a better and less labourious way?
Understanding the concepts is far more important than memorization.

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Originally posted by rbmorris
Understanding the concepts is far more important than memorization.
true but if you need to elaborate them into 3 or 4 pages remembering names and titles of concepts there is a strong factor of memory....Help!!

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Obviously it depends on what the exam is about - different types of information can require different learning strategies. But generally it's a good idea to try to find as many connections as possible between the knowledge you already have and the knowledge you try to acquire, as well as between the bits of information you try to learn. It's also important to know what learning style works best for you. For example, if you are a visual thinker, things like colour coding and sketches may help you. If you are more aurally oriented, it may be useful to read the information out loud. My sister used to record vocabulary, poems and other things she needed to learn for school, and then she listened to them over and over again. I shared a room with her, and even though I didn't try to learn that stuff, I still remember a lot of it (more than of the things I were supposed to learn myself).

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The following works for me.

1. Read the book.
2. Make detailed notes from the book.
3. Make flash card notes from step 2.
4. Revise flash cards.
5. Take exam.

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Originally posted by Vladamir no1
I keep answering set questions in the hope that the repition will finally help me memorise the concepts. anyone know of a better and less labourious way?
Be academically gifted.

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Originally posted by Nordlys
Obviously it depends on what the exam is about - different types of information can require different learning strategies. But generally it's a good idea to try to find as many connections as possible between the knowledge you already have and the knowledge you try to acquire, as well as between the bits of information you try to learn. It's also important t ...[text shortened]... tuff, I still remember a lot of it (more than of the things I were supposed to learn myself).
This advice is highly sound, especially since a good exam result should merely be a byproduct of a very connected, and therefore thorough, understanding (connected in the sense of, say, the RHP spanning tree game). If someone does well in an exam on the strength of memorised, incoherent knowledge, one wonders what the point of taking the course was.

3 edits
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Originally posted by Vladamir no1
I keep answering set questions in the hope that the repition will finally help me memorise the concepts. anyone know of a better and less labourious way?
Do nothing. Then cram everything into one or two overnight sessions.

This works because pressure is your motivation. You know it's your last chance to get it done, unlike before.


Personally, however, I think you'll fail nevertheless.

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Originally posted by royalchicken
This advice is highly sound.
Thanks.

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The server is playing up once again. For 2 edits in the earlier post, read 1.

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Originally posted by Bowmann
The server is playing up once again. For 2 edits in the earlier post, read 1.
Hey, Rainmann, no one cares...

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Originally posted by Bowmann
The server is playing up once again. For 2 edits in the earlier post, read 1.
Maybe the server is playing the "I Don't Know How To Count" game.

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Originally posted by Nordlys
Maybe the server is playing the "I Don't Know How To Count" game.
It is. 3 edits now.