how the science behind memory can help you revise

​We all know there's a variety of ways to get things to stick in your head: texts books, spider diagrams, post-it notes, mind-palaces, reading out loud, singing your revision and even sleeping with your notes under your pillow (note: we have no proof of the last one...).
 
If you have a basic understanding of how memory works you can incorporate this into the way you revise. 

Here are some simple tips to shake up the way you're trying to remember those revision notes, and it might give you a better chance of encoding the information rather than just regurgitating it back up onto your exam paper.
 

1. Practice retrieving information rather than just recognising it. There's a difference between knowing information and being familiar with it.
2. Revise in bursts. Short bursts of revision time are better for your brain than cramming everything into one day.
3. Start with the unknown. Each time you sit down, begin with what you don't know or can't remember.
4. Practice makes perfect. At the end of every session try to answer some questions based on what you've done that day. By putting it into practice you'll see what you actually remember, and what you need to spend more time on!

 
For more information about these tips and the neuroscience behind how memory works see this Guardian article by Tom Stafford. or check how you revise best by clicking here for an article we wrote with the Student Housing Company.