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YEAR 11 ASSEMBLY

How Your Brain Works: Effective Revision Strategies

10/01/22

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Your Brain

  • The cerebrum is the largest part of the brain.
  • The cerebrum controls may functions within your body: movement, touch, vision, hearing.
  • The cerebrum is also what enables you to think, plan, read, reason, process emotions and hold memories.

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Your Memory

Your cerebrum holds both your short term memory, and your long term memory.

When revising, the ultimate goal is to transfer the knowledge into your long term memory.

How do we do this?

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How You Learn

  • Your cerebrum consists of a network of billions and billions of neurons.
  • When you learn something new, a pathway is formed between your neurons so that you can revisit this knowledge in the future.
  • The more you revisit this knowledge, the stronger the pathway becomes, and the easier it is to remember.

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“Just like riding a bike”

  • Think about the first time you rode a bike.
  • Your brain had to think about where to put your hands and feet, how to pedal, how to steer, how to look at your surroundings, and how to stay balanced!
  • Now when you cycle, you perform all of these actions without even thinking.
  • This is because you revisited the activity so many times that the pathways between your neurons were strengthened.
  • The knowledge became embedded in your long term memory.

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Can you change your brain?

  • The more you use your brain, the more efficient it will become.
  • The more you use your brain, the more efficient it will become.
  • Your brain is constantly creating new pathways – your memory and your intelligence are not fixed!

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Why is revising so important?

The first time you learn something new, your brain has to create a brand new pathway between the neurons.

When you revisit this information, you will strengthen this pathway.

But not all methods of revision are equal!

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Revision Methods

It’s tempting to read back over your notes, to create a mind map or to highlight information from a textbook.

You may feel like you have done a lot of work, but in fact, this is not really a very good way of strengthening your neural pathways.

Our brains work best when they are challenged, as this forces our neurons to work harder.

The best ways to revise include spaced practice, interleaving, and retrieval practice.

At first, it may seem like these methods are hard and not yielding results, but sticking with them will lead to strong pathways and knowledge that is embedded in our long term memories.

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Retrieval Practice

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Retrieval Practice

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Retrieval Practice

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Retrieval Practice

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Retrieval Practice

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Retrieval Practice

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Spaced Practice

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Spaced Practice

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Spaced Practice

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Spaced Practice

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Interleaving

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Interleaving

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Interleaving

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Interleaving

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Interleaving

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Keep Your Brain Healthy

STAY HYDRATED.

NOT TOO HOT OR TOO COLD.

PHYSICAL EXERCISE.

CALM ENVIRONMENT.