Have you ever wondered about finding the best ways to effectively revise?
A learning blog created by Serena Fiero Lead English Teacher and Director of Swift Tutors in Wolverhampton.
Combined evidence gathered from global academic studies, research and experience proves that using a variety of revision methods is the best recipe for meaningful revision at both GCSE and A level.
Why using a combination of revision techniques becomes a highly efficient and stimulating mental exercise. Let me explain how group revision makes your learning capacity come to life.
- mixing up your methods helps you engage with the course content more effectively
- attending revision sessions or workshops creates unique opportunities for learning. It helps nurture the higher level critical thinking skills by opening up debates, arguments and discussions. In the process, pupils are often pushed outside their normal comfort zones and this can feel challenging or intimidating. I call this the ‘Gold Mine Effect’ because this is exactly the point where learning occurs and when students have to dig deep into their mental reserves or ‘mind palace’ to articulate a point effectively to others, to persuade or open up a new idea or point about a subject
- details and ideas discussed within these revision groups are often more memorable, more vivid and more understandable
- the effort required in expressing contrary points clearly, concisely and articulately is often what pushes students outside their usual realm of thinking
- students develop greater levels of confidence, soaring levels of self esteem together with the ability to believe that their own points, together with others, are valid and worthwhile
- learning in small groups can transport a student beyond their everyday thinking, creating learning that involves actively listening to other students, disagreeing or agreeing and backing up an opinion with relevant evidence or quotes
- learning in small groups enhances our ability to debate, to create counter arguments, to challenge others and extend our vocabulary thereby enhancing our debating skills
- learning with others fuels and accelerates our ability to verbalize points and develop greater skills of both written and verbal expression
- varying your method of revision helps you to stay engaged and more focused and avoids lapsing into avoidance, boredom or distraction
- learning is often part of a team effort: providing your mind with the opportunity to learn together in small groups turbo boosts individual learning
- we can stretch our mental capacity to memorize facts or concepts better by making meaningful connections and links to topics, facts and quotes that we have learned in a team setting.