Action Research on Revision Strategies

Sam Turner

Summary of Literature review:

What works, What Doesnt by John Dunlosky et al. Scientific American
Mind. This is a summary of their actual article (Improving Students
Learning with Effective Learning Techniques: Promising Directions From
Cognitive and Educational Psychology)
They reviewed 700 articles on 10 commonly used techniques. They found the
best approaches also result in long-lasting improvements in knowledge and
comprehension. Resulted in two clear winners

Self-Testing
o Via practice tests, flash cards, end of chapter questions etc.
o Hundreds of experiments show that it improves learning and
retention.
o Short, frequent exams are the most effective, especially when test
takers receive feedback on the correct answers
Distributed practice
o Rather than mass cramming distribute learning over time.
o For longer retention a group of students who reviewed work every
30 days retained the knowledge longer.
o Works as you quickly relearn what you have forgotten.

They also found that what doesnt work includes:

Highlighting - may actually hurt performance on some higher-level

Rereading on its own no shown long term benefits
Summarisation time consuming and ineffectual in trials

Blog: https://wordpress.com/read/post/feed/9600394/902043324 - Using

Research to Design a Revision Session.

This structure starts properly after 2 lessons

In one lesson, 3 topics will be referred to but each topic will also be covered in 3
lessons. The idea is that covering the content over 3 lessons in a row but in a
different format, one being recalling/testing will help with remembering it.
This gives revision lessons structure so students know what will happen but also
provides them a structure for their own revision at home.
My Application of the research
I have utilised the revision structure in the image above which combines the two
most effective revision methods as described in the first literature review.
My year 10 (Set 3) group had a mock exam on 9/2/16 and as I was ahead in the
teaching scheme with them I decided to try this structure with the class. It took a
couple lessons to get into the swing of it but then they really enjoyed it. On the
last lesson I gave them a sheet of past paper questions which touched on all the
content they needed to know for this mock. They were meant to have 15 mins
but were so engrossed in it and wanting to do well they asked for longer to
complete it which I was more than pleased to allow them.
For the 1st part of each lesson they completed past paper questions on a topic
they had revised the lesson before under timed exam conditions. Once
completed I collected these papers in ready for the 2 nd part next lesson.

For the 2nd part of each lesson they marked the past paper questions they had
completed the lesson before (a different topic to part 1). They annotated their
question papers with the correct answers where they had wrong answers and
also highlighted key words etc. that they may have missed when doing them.
For the 3rd part of each lesson I gave them more of a free choice of how they
were to revise the topic given. Activities they used included mind maps, making
cue cards, using key word sheets in a variety of ways, making notes.
As mentioned above this does take a couple of lessons to get into place fully but
has seemed very effective to date.
Results from Mock exam
In the Chemistry part of their mock 86.2% met or exceeded their base target.
55.1% exceeded their target grade. I was very pleased with these results. Most
of the students showed good understanding of the content and answered the
questions well, avoiding a lot of the normal issues that occur during exams (not
reading everything and so missing questions etc.). One student who regularly
achieved D grades in his tests achieved a B grade and was over the moon with
it!
Comments from students
About the Revision Sessions
Gave me a good insight into how a test will look and because of this I did and
better and easier experience in the test so it helped me.
I revised for the first time and it really helped me.
I liked it because it gave you the questions similar to the test as they were
worded similarly.
It was really helpful as learnt more in a short amount of time. It really helped.
I thought the revision sessions were amazing because it made sure we
understood everything and the extra after school sessions too.
It jogged my memory of different topics and therefore became effective.

I thought they were useful because you could see the different types of question
that might be in the test.
I liked the revision session because I found they covered a lot and helped me
know what I did and didnt know.
The revision sessions were good because I found that they were helpful in
seeing which topics I was good at and which topics I needed to revise more on.
I found marking the questions with the mark scheme helpful, as I could see
what they were looking for.
I found it really useful because I found out topics that I didnt know
I wanted a little more explanation on some bits but liked others
About their result in Chemistry
I am very happy with my result.
I was slightly disappointed, I wish I did better, but I think next time I needed to
work harder so I get that one more mark to get an A.
I liked the way the revision happened. Im really happy with my score because I
am big headed.
I am so happy. I did so good.
After receiving my score I am surprised as I thought I did worse but I missed out
on some easy marks by not reading the question.
I got a grade A which is a grade higher than I should be.
Summary
I will definitely be using this technique again. On the whole the students were
happy with the way the lessons ran and the results speak for themselves.
Next time I will collect in the main areas of error after the marking stage and
discuss as a class rather than going round individually to discuss errors as some
pupils felt they didnt get the explanations they need.

The evidence from the research is overwhelming in showing that the best
methods are regular testing and distributed practice.
In addition to revision sessions I am also going to spend 5mins at the beginning
of most lessons with GCSE students asking a couple of questions about a topic
they did a couple of months ago. This will add to the distributed practice and
constantly jog their memory to certain topics to aide their long term revision.