Worksheet

F13.8 Revision that works

Exam preparation · GCSE · about 15 min

What this lesson is about

Retrieval practice, spacing and interleaving, and a planner that schedules them.

• Three methods worth your time
• What to stop doing
• A plan you will actually follow
• Use what is already here
• The night before

Questions 5 marks in all

1. [1 mark]Which revision method has the strongest evidence behind it?

   1. ARetrieval practice: testing yourself
   2. BRe-reading your notes
   3. CHighlighting
   4. DCopying out pages

2. [1 mark]What is spacing?

   1. AComing back to a topic days later, again and again
   2. BLeaving gaps in your notes
   3. CRevising one topic for a whole day
   4. DTaking breaks in a session

3. [1 mark]Why does interleaving feel harder?

   1. AYou must work out which method each question needs
   2. BIt takes more hours
   3. CThe topics are harder
   4. DThere are more questions

4. [1 mark]Re-reading notes feels effective. Why is it not?

   1. AFamiliar is not the same as known
   2. BIt takes too long
   3. CNotes are usually wrong
   4. DIt only works for practical topics

5. [1 mark]A topic is rated 2 for confidence. With sessions = 6 - confidence, how many sessions?

The task: build a revision plan

For each topic in topics (a name and a confidence from 1 to 5), the number of sessions is 6 - confidence. Print <name>: <n> sessions for each, from the least confident to the most. Then spread them over the days in days, one session a day in turn, starting with the least confident topic, and print <day>: <topic> for each day. At the end print sessions planned: <n>, the number of days you filled, and needs the most: <name>, the topic needing the most sessions.

# the two lines every program starts with: the commands, then the robot
from bugbot import *
connect()

# name, confidence 1 to 5
topics = [("Networks", 2), ("Algorithms", 4), ("Cyber security", 3), ("Data representation", 1)]
days = ["Mon", "Tue", "Wed", "Thu", "Fri", "Sat", "Sun"]

Plan your program here, then type it in and press Run.

Do it on the robot
www.bugbotlab.com/learn/f13-8-revision-that-works/
The simulator checks it and tells you when it passes. Nothing to install, no account.

Challenges

1. Change the plan so no topic appears two days running.
2. Add your own topics and confidences, and print a plan for the next fortnight.
3. Why does spacing work better than doing it all at once, even with the same total time?