How to revise for biology exams
As a biology teacher I frequently work with students who have reached their A Level studies and are still uncertain about the best way to approach their revision. The reality is that revision is a skill, and you can’t expect to be good at it unless you learn how to do it, and keep practising. This short article will discuss a few evidence-backed revision strategies in order to help you maximise the benefits of your revision time.
Evidence-backed strategies that you could build into your revision include:
- test yourself
- spaced repetition
- elaboration
- mixed practice
Note that while techniques such as summarising, reading, and highlighting are common, these revision methods have been shown to be less valuable than others discussed in this article. This doesn’t mean that they are ineffective for everyone, but if these are currently your main revision methods of choice, you might want to consider incorporating some of these other techniques.
Test yourself
Testing can serve a range of purposes, such as showing you where your strengths and weaknesses lie, improving understanding of question types, and working out how to use your time in an exam. Beyond this though, research has shown that the act of taking a test can improve retrieval of information more effectively than continued study of material. This is known as the ‘testing effect’; the very process of retrieving information from the memory works to improve retention.
There are many different ways to self test during your revision, so you can choose a method on the basis of how much time you have and which revision stage you have reached.
Consider the following methods of testing yourself during revision:
- Flashcards: write a key word or question on one side of a card, and the definition or answer on the other; you can then use these cards to test yourself frequently during and after revision sessions.
- Basic recall questions: quick fire questions that allow you to test your recall of the basics can be really helpful when you’ve reached the end of a topic and want to do some consolidation; you may find questions like this at the end of a textbook chapter, or you could write your own.
- Past paper questions: most exam questions will require you to go beyond basic recall, so testing yourself with past paper questions is an essential part of the revision process that allows you to not only test your knowledge, but also to improve your exam technique; you may choose to use this style of testing a bit later on in your revision programme.
Revisit often
Repetition of content aids recall, and research shows that participants remember information for longer when study sessions are at least 1 day apart. This is crucial information when planning effective revision, because it means that you need to leave yourself time for spaced out repetition of the same content.
For example, you might:
- revise cell structure on day 1,
- then come back on day 2 and revise the same content,
- then test yourself again on that content a week later,
- and again a week after that.
This type of revision is known as spaced repetition, and it explains why cramming everything the night before the exam just doesn’t cut it when it comes to effective recall.
Explain and elaborate
You are probably familiar with the idea that teaching something to someone else is a great way to improve your own understanding of a topic, and research shows that teaching also improves retention of content over and above simply studying the material.
There are several ways in which you can incorporate this idea into your revision, all of which focus on the idea of ‘elaboration‘, i.e. you don’t just answer a question, but you are able to explain your answer in detail. You could:
- explain a topic to yourself out loud or on paper
- ask yourself questions about a topic, e.g. ‘why does this process occur in this way?’
- teach a topic to someone else, e.g. a revision partner or someone at home
Mix things up
Mixed practice revision, sometimes known as interleaving, involves mixing together different topics during revision, rather than studying a topic in a continuous block before moving on to the next. Researchers have hypothesised that switching between different topics or techniques keeps the brain more alert, preventing the attention from wandering.
You could incorporate mixed practice into your revision by ensuring that every study session includes a mix of topics and techniques, e.g. a day of revision could include:
- session 1: photosynthesis flashcards, biological molecules self-explanation, biodiversity practice questions
- session 2: heart structure quiz questions, photosynthesis practice questions, enzymes flashcards
- session 3: explain plant transport to a friend, cell structure practice questions
Bring it all together
The key to effective revision that is sustainable throughout your revision period will be to combine a range of study techniques in an organised way. So you should plan a timetable that allows you to revisit each topic more than once, with revision sessions that mix a range of topics and that utilise evidence-based revision strategies such as self testing and explanation.
References
- Dunlosky, J., Rawson, K.A., Marsh, E.J., Nathan, M.J. and Willingham, D.T. (2013) 'Improving students' learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from cognitive and educational psychology', Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14(1), pp. 4–58.
- Roediger, H.L. and Karpicke, J.D. (2006) 'The power of testing memory: Basic research and implications for educational practice', Perspectives on Psychological Science, 1(3), pp. 181–210.
- Cepeda, N.J., Pashler, H., Vul, E., Wixted, J.T. and Rohrer, D. (2006) 'Distributed practice in verbal recall tasks: A review and quantitative synthesis', Psychological Bulletin, 132(3), pp. 354–380.
- Fiorella, L. and Mayer, R.E. (2013) 'The relative benefits of learning by teaching and teaching expectancy', Contemporary Educational Psychology, 38(4), pp. 281–288.
- Firth, J., Rivers, I. and Boyle, J. (2021) 'A systematic review of interleaving as a concept learning strategy', Review of Education, 9(2), pp. 642–684.
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