12th December 2024
There’s nothing more demotivating than spending hours learning something, feeling really accomplished, and then discovering that you have forgotten every bit of content by the next day, and knowing you must start all over again. By thinking about your learning style, you can revise effectively and remember what you have learnt!
Before starting to revise, it is important to explore and understand the way that your brain finds it easiest to pick up information. This is called your learning style. I wrote a post on learning styles here which may help if you do not know what type of learner you are. Most people don’t fit into a single learning style category so revising in a variety of ways is a good idea until you are really clear about what works for you.
A lot of revising involves wading through jotters, essays and textbooks, and finding ways to make the information more succinct and accessible. It is only when the information is in a concise format that you are likely to be able to remember it.
Visual learners absorb information best when it is presented in a graphical or pictorial format. They often benefit from charts, diagrams, videos, and written notes. These learners may struggle with verbal instructions but thrive when they can see the information organized in a clear, visual way.
Revision Strategies include using mind mapping, either on sheets of paper, or using online tools, such as Lucid. Mind mapping allows the brain to make connections between concepts and facts; once these connections are made, it is easier to remember larger sequences of information. Digging out coloured pens, highlighters and fine-liners is especially helpful for visual learners. They should also be encouraged to present facts in tables or as diagrams to make it digestible without screeds of text. Visual learners may like to use sticky notes to have a display of key facts around them, too.
Auditory learners prefer listening to information rather than reading it. They tend to retain information better when they hear it, whether that’s through lectures, discussions, podcasts, or even reading aloud to themselves. Auditory learners often excel in environments where listening and speaking are central, like classrooms or group study sessions.
Revision Strategies include using a voice recording of information and playing it back to yourself. Because there is probably a huge amount of content for your child to take on board, it is helpful for an auditory learner to first summarise the subject matter into a series of notes. This is an effective way of kicking off the revision journey in itself, but then recording and playing back the summaries will ensure the content is embedded into the longer-term memory. It is still possible to buy Dictaphones very reasonably which can prove better than using phones to record, as there are no temptations with a Dictaphone.
Kinaesthetic learners are hands-on learners who understand best when they physically engage with the material. These learners benefit from activities like role-playing, building models, or using physical objects to represent abstract concepts. Kinaesthetic learners often have a lot of energy and may find it difficult to sit still for long periods.
Revision Strategies are more challenging and potentially time consuming for the kinaesthetic learner. It would be a monumental task, and probably quite ineffective, to build a model of the First World War in order to remember the key facts about it. To find a pure kinaesthetic learner is rare, so it is sensible to try and identify other approaches that also work for you. Where you really struggle to learn a process that doesn’t have an obvious way to recreate it physically, sometimes walking around while reciting facts will help, or asking someone to test you, or creating sticky note displays of facts. These are compromises on the kinaesthetic approach, but, as they involve some physical engagement from the learner, will have better results than passively sitting and reading through mountains of notes.
Reading/writing learners process information through written words. They excel when they take detailed notes, write summaries, and read textbooks or other written resources. This style is often characterized by a preference for reading, writing essays, and making lists or outlines to help organize information.
Revision Strategies for these learners are most easily accommodated within the standard school and exam system. These are the learners who will have their textbook in front of them, they will read a section, summarise it into notes, and then found that they have retained the information. Using index cards is recommended for this type of learner, so they can keep topic notes close to hand and refer to them in snatched moments to boost their retention of information. A good challenge for a reading/writing learner is to summarise their summary and repeat until they have condensed a topic into as few words as possible. These learners should then use their notes to write out longer answers to check they are still able to fill in the gaps.
For all learners, once the main job of learning the content has taken place, they should always consolidate this by doing exam questions on that topic. This not only breaks up the monotony of carrying out the same process hour after hour but ensures that the student is able to successfully use their knowledge in practice.