Revision TechniquesRevision TechniquesRevision TechniquesRevision Techniques

(for your geography (for your geography exams!)exams!)

This is a guide to help you decide which is your preferred

learning style

• It is important that you revise in a way that supports your preferred learning style

• If you don’t, then you may end up wasting lots of your time, and - worse still - you may end up remembering nothing!!

There are 3 main preferred learning styles:

• Visual• Auditory• Kinaesthetic (practical)

You may be a combination of any of these, but more than likely one type will be more predominant than the others

VisualRevision Techniques:• Mind map e.g. for geographical processes

of erosion, transportation and deposition • Form a ‘mental picture’ to try to ‘see’

the whole topic e.g. Population growth rates… causes…. How do they all link together? How do they link with what is happening next?

• Make a poster• Create a picture in your

imagination e.g. population pyramids colour-coded to show LEDC and MEDC

Visual learners• Allow white space between points• Use coloured pens / highlighters• Use pictures, video

• Make a diagram e.g. for cave, arch, stack etc. sequence of erosion

• Surf a revision site on the Internet e.g. Bitesize Geography

AuditoryRevision Techniques:• Record key ideas on tape/disc e.g. listen to

causes of rural urban migration before you fall asleep• Say key ideas out loud e.g. characteristics of

pressure systems • Tell key ideas to someone else or the

dog e.g. positive and negative effects of the One Child Policy in China

• Get someone to test you• Play soothing background music e.g.

classical, Jack Johnson, Dido, etc.

KinaestheticRevision Techniques:• Moving information on a page e.g.

create sorting cards for key words and definitions for erosion processes and match them up

• Associate information with actions e.g. Coastal Kung Fu for types of wave erosion

• Explain using gestures• Flash cards• Walk around• Use the rooms space e.g. one side of

the room for good points, the other side for bad points

What strategies can you use?

• Flash cards• Practice questions• Internet• Revising with /

testing friends• Labelled diagrams

• Writing notes• Writing lists• Underlining in

notes• Star diagrams• Mind maps• Mnemonics

Writing notes• It is better to rewrite notes than to

simply read through work• Don’t rewrite everything, you need to

cut down on the amount of information• Do make sure you have enough detail!

Summarise!

Writing lists

• Lists are a good way of remembering information or advantages / disadvantages for a topic

• Write lists as bullet points • Use small pictures to help you e.g.

Advantages Disadvantages

Lower fertility rate Female infanticide

When writing lists…….

• If you use a colour (e.g. green for good and red for bad) use the same colours every time

• 5 points is a good number to remember

• Little drawings are a good way of helping you remember points, even a silly drawing will help!

Using numbers!You may be able to remember

numbers more easily than names. If this is the case try to put figures with points where you can.

E.g. ‘Higher salaries’ would become ‘Higher salaries, factory workers can earn 3 times the wages of farm workers’

Using labelled diagrams

• An excellent way to learn especially for visual learners!

Underlining in notes• Its difficult to remember a page of notes

if they are all the same font and colour• Use colour / different sizes for heading /

key points• Underline key points or draw borders

round them like this!

• Use diagrams, lists and pictures to break up pages of notes

Mind maps• Like a star / spider diagram but

contains much more detail and demonstrates links between material more clearly

• Can have whole topic on A3 page• Geographical processes of erosion,

transportation and deposition

Revising with friendsADVANTAGES:

can talk about the workcan test each othereasier to remember facts if spoken out loud

DISADVANTAGESToo easy to talk about something more interesting instead!

Exam questions1. Use past questions as you revise

to make sure you have the notes / case studies necessary to get full marks

2. Test yourself under exam conditions

Mnemonics• Use the first letter of a series of words

to create another word• The sillier the better! E.g. Bring Soccer

Balls Tomorrow• Depositional landforms• Beaches Bars• Spit Tombolo• Mnemonic website http

://library.thinkquest.org/C0110291/tricks/mnemonics/index.php

Revision cards• Put separate topic / case study on

each card• Keep topics together• Don’t try to put too much

information on each card

Revision card examplePopulation pyramids

Transitional stage:

•Decreasing death rate

•Gradually decreasing birth rate

•Longer life expectancy

•E.g. Brazil

Other points!• DON’T leave it all until the last

minute• Organise yourself• Plan a revision timetable• Take breaks when revising e.g. 5-

10 minutes every hour• If you are worried speak to

someone!