Many students fail in their examinations not because they are stupid but because they did not prepare or revise well for their examinations. In this article, you will be guided on how to prepare or revise well for an exam.
Revising for an exam
To revise means looking over something that was learnt or written previously again and again more so in preparation for an exam.
For any revision process to be effective you must:
1. Have a timetable
A timetable will guide you on the time to revise and what to revise. It is a very crucial element when it comes to studies. Studying minus a timetable will be less effective as one may dwell only on one subject area.
2. Follow the timetable strictly
Having a timetable and not following it is like planting sugarcane and expecting to get a sweet banana from it. In other words, it is meaningless to have one and not use it strictly.
If according to your timetable you ought to study physics, for example, do not study English go for physics. That is when your revision will have meaning.
3. Balance your subjects well on the timetable
If you are doing eight subjects,s for instance, ensure that in your timetable all the eight subjects are appearing and are well balanced and equally distributed. However, mathematics should be done on daily basis and at least two times a day.
Remember mathematics is a doing subject and must be practised now and again. The number of sums to be solved a day should not be less than ten.
4. Have a pen and paper to write
Studying is different from watching a movie. It requires internalizing and organizing concepts that lead to understanding. For these processes to take place, you must write something down. Therefore, during revision,n you must have a pen and a paper to write key points or summary notes.
If you can, as you are reading and making summary notes you can formulate some questions alongside which you will answer at the end of the session.
5. Have revision books
Revision books will provide you with revision questions from the areas that you have gone through during your study.
For a subject like chemistry, reading and understanding notes is not sufficient to make you pass an exam. You also need to know how questions are asked and answered in an exam. So, revision books with revision questions are necessary during your study.
6. Be specific on the area to revise
For the revision process to be more effective, you ought to specify which subject, which topic and even which subtopic to study during the revision time.
This will help you to acquire or avail the specific materials that you will require during your study time. This will also minimize time wastage.
7. Avoid procrastination
Under no circumstance should you postpone what was to be done at a specific time to a later time. NO WAY. Procrastination brings about laziness which may eventually lead to a negative attitude towards a specific subject.
If it is time to study biology do it do not say that I will read it in the evening or tomorrow morning, NO.
8. Keep time
Time is valuable. Time lost can never be recovered. If according to your timetable each subject takes one hour, do not eat into the time meant for another subject doing anything else.
Time management is directly proportional to how effective your preparation or revision can be. Good or proper time management is equal to good or proper revision.
To reduce or minimize time wastage ensure that you have all that you will require before you begin your studies. Avail them prior to the time of the study.
