THE TOPPER'S SYSTEM: Learn New and Old Content AT THE SAME TIME
Summary
TLDRThe video script emphasizes the importance of balancing new content learning with revising old material for exams. The speaker suggests prioritizing new content and integrating it with the old, using a method of spaced repetition and active recall. They recommend reviewing new topics immediately after class, creating mind maps for a solid foundation, and then using recall questions and practice exams to reinforce learning. For old content, if not well-established, the advice is to revisit it as if new, using the same process of skimming, mind mapping, and creating questions. The script also highlights the effectiveness of this approach through personal experience and encourages viewers to watch additional resources for a deeper understanding of the study techniques discussed.
Takeaways
- 📚 Prioritize learning new content each week before revising old content to stay current and avoid falling behind.
- 💡 Utilize class time to build a solid foundation on new topics; it's easier to learn while they're being taught.
- 🔄 Review new topics as soon as possible after they are taught to create a strong base, using techniques like skimming and mind mapping.
- 📈 Use spaced repetition for effective learning: revise on day 1, then day 4-5, and day 14 or later.
- 🧠 Active recall is crucial; start practicing questions from the first session itself to focus your revision and understand what to prioritize.
- 📈 For old topics, if well-prepared initially, continue practicing questions and spacing out repetition.
- 🔧 If old topics were not well-prepared, revisit them as if new, skimming, creating mind maps, and building a base before diving into specifics.
- 🔗 Creating a mind map for each topic helps in linking subtopics and understanding the big picture, which aids in long-term retention.
- 📉 Avoid the temptation to perfect the topic before practicing questions; doing so can lead to less retention.
- 📝 Start with recall questions or practice questions based on what the examiner is likely to test, rather than trying to become a specialist on the topic.
- 🔄 Implement active recall from the first study session to reinforce learning and memory.
- 📈 The process of working through questions and making mistakes, then revising, helps ingrain information better than passive reading.
Q & A
What is the main strategy suggested for balancing new content learning and old content revision?
-The main strategy is to prioritize staying on top of new content every week and ensure it is learned first. Then, fill the rest of the time with the revision of old content.
Why is it recommended to learn new topics while they are being taught?
-It is easier to learn new topics while they are being taught because you can take advantage of the current teaching and the context it provides, which helps in creating a good base for the new topic.
What are the steps to review a new topic after it has been taught in class?
-The steps include skimming through the material for a basic understanding, creating a mind map that links every subtopic together, and then going through general concepts to create recall questions or flashcards.
What is the space repetition formula suggested for revising new topics?
-The formula is to revise the topic on day one, then on day four to five, and then on day 14 or later. After that, review the topic with mixed practice questions closer to the exam.
How does the speaker suggest approaching old content that hasn't been well-revised?
-The speaker suggests grabbing one major topic at a time, pretending you've never learned it before, and following the same steps as for new topics: skimming, creating mind maps, and building a base before going through concepts and creating notes or questions.
Why is it important to start doing practice questions from the first session itself?
-Starting practice questions from the first session helps to focus the revision, understand what is more likely to come up, and what needs to be focused on in the next revisions. It also makes the revision process more efficient.
What is the significance of creating a mind map for each topic?
-Creating a mind map helps in linking subtopics together through a central idea, which aids in remembering the topic for a longer period. It also provides a visual representation of the topic's structure, making it easier to understand and recall.
How does the speaker recommend using recall questions during the revision process?
-The speaker recommends starting with recall questions right after creating a mind map and understanding the topic. This helps in implementing active recall from the very beginning, which is a more effective learning technique.
What is the role of active recall in the revision process?
-Active recall involves testing oneself on the material without looking at the answers, which forces the brain to remember and reinforces the memory. It is a key component in the revision process as it helps in ingraining the information more effectively.
Why is it not advisable to focus on perfecting the topic before starting practice questions?
-Focusing on perfecting the topic before starting practice questions can lead to inefficient learning and less retention. It is more beneficial to start with questions to identify areas of weakness and focus the revision on those areas.
How does the speaker suggest organizing and spacing out topics for a big exam?
-The speaker suggests using a spaced repetition method, organizing topics over a month's period, and revising each topic according to a specific schedule that includes initial revision, spaced repetitions, and mixed practice questions closer to the exam.
Outlines
📚 Balancing New Learning and Revision
The paragraph emphasizes the importance of balancing new content learning with revision for upcoming exams. It suggests prioritizing new content and integrating revision of old material into the schedule. The advice is to use class time effectively to grasp new topics and then allocate remaining time to old content revision. It also introduces a spaced repetition formula for efficient learning: review a topic on day one, then on day four to five, and again on day 14 or later, followed by mixed practice questions closer to the exam date.
🧠 Effective Revision Techniques
This paragraph delves into effective revision techniques, starting with creating a solid base for new topics as soon as they are taught. It recommends reviewing the material the next day to establish a fundamental understanding, creating a mind map to link subtopics, and forming recall questions or flashcards. The paragraph also highlights the significance of starting practice questions early to identify key areas for focused revision. It further discusses the process of active recall during revision sessions, emphasizing the importance of testing oneself with questions to reinforce memory and understanding.
📈 Organizing Study for Comprehensive Exams
The final paragraph provides a strategy for organizing study for comprehensive exams. It advises prioritizing new topics and only after mastering them, focusing on old content. For new topics, one should review them as soon as they are taught and space out revisions effectively. For old topics, if a strong base was established during the initial learning phase, revising becomes easier, involving practicing questions and spaced repetition. If the base is weak, it's suggested to revisit the topic as if new, creating a new mind map and base before moving on to detailed learning and practice questions. The paragraph concludes with encouragement and references to additional resources for further guidance.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Spaced Repetition
💡Mind Mapping
💡Active Recall
💡Skimming
💡Practice Questions
💡Revision
💡Exam Preparation
💡Central Idea
💡Content Balancing
💡Foundation
💡Intuitive Logic
Highlights
Stay on top of new content every week before revising old content.
Use classes to create a good base for new topics.
Review new topics as soon as they are taught to build a solid foundation.
Create a mind map linking every subtopic through one central idea.
Use active recall with flashcards or questions for future revision.
Space out revision of new topics using a specific formula: Day 1, Day 4-5, Day 14.
For old topics, practice questions and spaced repetition if foundation was weak.
Grab one major topic at a time and start as if you've never learned it before.
Skimming and mind mapping are crucial for creating a base for old topics.
Linking subtopics through a central idea aids in long-term memory retention.
Start doing practice questions from the first session itself to focus your revision.
Focus on what the examiner is testing, not becoming a specialist on the topic.
Active recall should be implemented from the first session of studying a topic.
The process of working out questions in your head helps ingrain information.
Implementing active recall from the start leads to better understanding and memory.
Creating a base with mind maps and then building on it is essential for effective revision.
Prioritize new topics and then tackle old content to avoid falling behind.
Use PA papers and question banks to create your own recall questions for revision.
Balancing old and new content is achievable by prioritizing and using effective study techniques.
Transcripts
I know that you probably have exams in a
month or two and yet you're having to
learn all of this new stuff in class
every single day and you also have all
the old stuff that you have to revise
for your exams so how do you actually
balance it all how do you make time to
both learn the new content stay on top
of it whilst also revising for the
mountain of old content that needs to be
studied I think no one really clearly
explains this but it's actually very
simple my advice is to stay on top of
the new content every single week and
make sure that is being done first and
then you fill the rest of the the time
up with the revision of the old content
that needs to be done because they both
have to happen right but if you start
focusing on the old stuff starting from
lecture one topic one and working
downwards like a dummy then you're
missing out on taking advantage of the
new topics that are being actually
taught in class right now it's obviously
going to be easier to learn the new
topics while they're being taught so
actually use the classes to create a
good base for that new topic even though
I know you have exams and I know you
want to be starting from the older
version getting on top of that first and
then you'll come to the new stuff even
though I know your brain wants to work
that way what's the point of pushing the
new topics till the end of your rision
you'll actually probably waste more time
that way overall and you'll waste the
opportunity of learning with every one
of your teachers with the people around
you that can help you it's the same as
that catchup video I made if you start
with the old content you will always be
behind so get ahead on the stuff you're
doing now you don't need to do it
perfectly just get the basics in for the
new stuff that's being taught and then
you can go and Tackle all the old stuff
that you fallen behind on but it's
easier said than done so let me explain
how you're going to study the new stuff
versus the old stuff the way you will
study and any topic will not change
whether it's new content or old content
let me repeat the process Remains the
exact same with a new topic after it's
been taught in class review it ASAP like
the very next day and that'll be the
first revision of that topic and in this
review your job is to make sure you get
a rock solid base of that entire topic
which for me means that number one I
skim read everything and get a basic
understanding of it then I create a mind
map that links every subtopic together
through one central idea after I've done
those two very important steps do I then
go through the general concepts and
create my recall questions my flashcards
whatever I'll be using to revise in the
future I have videos on how I make the
mind maps how I create my recall
questions how I go through the
information all of them in my live
studying series check that out right
here and that's all you need to do for
the new topics that are being taught
right now we'll come back to when we
actually do this practice questions Etc
but just do this first Revision in the
way I've described now for the actual
revision let me describe how you're
going to space out the revision of the
new topics and and the old topics and
how you're going to do it before the
exams your aim should be to learn every
new topic through space repetition and
I'm going to tell you my space
repetition formula that's worked for me
over countless years my friends my
mentees and so many people on this
channel what you do is you first revise
the topic on day one then you revise it
on day 4 to 5 and then you revise it on
day 14 or later and then after that you
just review the topic with mixed
practice questions closer to your exam
do this with every topic this is the
optimal way to space the material that
you're learning you don't need to repeat
the material seven times before it go
goes in your head just study Smart in
each session and all you'll need is
those two to three repetitions I've
organized and spaced out all the topics
that I had to study over A month's
period of time and I've done it for a
big exam that I had to do I'll put up
the screenshot or a screen recording of
it now but check the full video out to
learn how to actually space out all the
topic smartly as for the old topics that
you need to revise I'm going to be
honest it kind of depends on how well
you've done that topic during the year
like for me revising some of the old
content is piss easy because I created
such a good foundation for them I primed
them made mind maps made my questions
all of it while they were being taught
initially so all I'll really need to do
is keep on practicing the questions I
made and then space out the repetition
of that practice but some weeks YouTube
placement work all of it was really busy
it got really overwhelming so I
naturally just slacked off on the work
or the conditions I have to do those
weeks and that's normal by the way no
one actually spends 100% of their time
studying everything perfectly as it's
being taught so the fastest way now to
get really good especially if you have a
huge body of content that you haven't
revised much is to grab one major Topic
at a time and pretend you've never
learned it before and in the exact same
way that we did with the new topics in
the first revision number one skim it
all number two create mind maps and
create That Base only then go through
the concepts generally and create your
notes or questions or whatever you're
doing to revise the skimming in mind
mapping may take an extra hour but it is
a must because that single hour where I
looked at the entire topic created That
Base linked the subtopics together is
the only reason that I remember some of
the conditions that I learned 6 to 8
months ago even now because by doing
this extra step you'll be able to get
the whole big picture of the bunch of
topics or the bunch of conditions you're
learning and you'll be able to link them
together through a central idea that
makes sense in your head and because
that one central idea makes sense you
figured out what the similarities and
differences are between subtopics and
topics of that major thing that you're
studying you will remember it for much
much longer and even if you come back to
revise those topics way later you'll be
able to relearn the concepts go through
the general concepts again and quickly
understand understand it because you had
that one central idea that helped you
understand the topic very well after
that Bas is created going through
details learning the specific guidelines
or whatever specifics you have to
memorize is very easy because you can
place it somewhere on that mind map in
your head by the way when you're done
with that first session that physical
mind map doesn't really matter anymore
it's the central idea through which the
subtopics are linked together it's the
drawings the similarities and
differences between some things the way
everything works that is what you will
remember but what I'd recommend more is
actually starting to do practice
questions
from the first session itself using the
question marks or the P papers that you
have from school because those questions
are the key indicator for what your
examiner will be testing you on in your
actual test doing questions as soon as
you start revising a topic yes it's
scary but it will focus your revision
you'll start to understand what is more
likely to come up what do I need to
focus on in my next revisions and what
do I actually not need to give much time
to like for me the main questions they
ask about diabetes are the medications
the guidelines the investigations all of
the stuff that comes at the end of my
chapter in diabetes the pathophysiology
and the with exact mechanisms all of
that takes the majority of my like the
chapter up so if I spent ages reading
through that chapter am I not wasting
all my time when I could just be
focusing a lot more on memorizing the
medications and actually understanding
the guidelines inside out so do the
questions you're studying for an exam
you're not becoming a specialist on that
topic you need to focus on what the
examiner is testing now in the second
rision of the topic this is when I just
start by doing the recall questions that
I created in the first one by the way
for the topics I've already studied well
in the semester itself I would start the
revision my actual revision of that
topic by doing this revision session
first I would just start with the recall
questions cuz I've already done the mind
I've already created the question so I
don't need to do that again anyway just
wanted to clear that up in case it
wasn't obvious so I straight away start
by revising my questions what I'm not
going to do is revise the entire topic
again in the second revision and I know
most of you will be tempted to do that
you'll want to revise it again because
you hate getting questions wrong and
because most of you just want to be
right you're too scared to get questions
wrong you'll try and perfect the topic
as much as possible before you start
doing any of the questions which is so
counterintuitive you'll end up learning
less you'll end up remembering less and
it is just very dumb by waiting for the
4 to 5 days after you've done the first
revision of the content you are letting
yourself forget and by doing that you're
now going to be forcing your brain
thinking of all the details of
everything that the Mind map and how it
worked to remember the answer to that
question that process of working out the
question in your head forcing your brain
to remember trying hard the effort you
put in the more it is the more it'll
ingrain in your head head the more you
will remember the information yeah most
people know about active recall but do
you actually start implementing it from
that very first session of from the very
first moment that you start studying a
topic do you implement it straight after
you're making that mind map and
understanding the topic do you implement
it in that second session where instead
of just oh let me perfect and remember
all the details before I go to the
questions do you actually go and test
yourself on the questions because that
is what what's important and despite
watching all of these videos most of the
people I know despite knowing about all
of this still do the same things that
they used to do again I've shown how I
do the active recall thing in my live
session you will see me spending a lot
of time in my head answering the
questions working out if if I don't know
then I will try my hardest to work
through from first principles what do I
know about this from what I kind of
remember how can I work out the details
if I can't get to the exact details if I
get it wrong at least I put all the
effort in to remember it and then if I
don't get it then I'll go back revise it
from the the content that I got the
questions from the actual textbook or
the video or whatever and then learn it
and put it in my head in a different
weight this time so that I remember it
better the next time and overall for the
topic pretty much my third division is
the exact same as the second one I just
keep on doing these questions making
myself better at them learning the topic
in a better way so that I actually
remember for the exam it's a simple
process and again I go through a lot in
my videos like check any of these out
but the key difference in this second
revision now that I did all that mind
mapping and everything in that first
session is that because I created That
Base each part of the disease each main
concept makes such simple sense to me
now every subtopic concept whatever is
linked through one central idea and then
whenever I do questions whenever I
actually work through practice problems
now I can use my intuitive logic of the
topic and think about how I connected
the topic with my mind map and work
through like 80% of the questions even
though I did this this topic that I'm
studying right now like months ago I
literally only started doing this like
last September I started skimming
priming and creating mind maps for the
conditions that I needed to learn and
trust me for the conditions that I
actually did it for I remember them in
so much more clarity I it's more
intuitive to me compared to the
conditions that I just got too lazy to
do the actual mind maps for and just
dove in straight away I regret it so
much like it didn't matter whether I
made notes or questions or whatever the
only thing that I remember is how that
mind map worked I'm sorry I'm barging so
hard about this but it is such an
important thing to create That Base
first and then build on top of that with
the new topics with the old topics it'll
help you with everything so again that
is the one key piece of advice I have
create the base first then build on top
ofit that is how you should be revising
PA papers question Banks first create
your own recall questions that is the
main revision tactic that I'm using for
my exams right now even balancing the
old revision that you have to do and the
new topics that you have to do isn't
hard you prioritize doing the new topics
first get on top of that and then tackle
the old content because if you do it the
other way around you will always be
behind do one revision for the new
content like ASAP after it's TS and
treat that as your first revision
attempt it like four to 5 days later
then 14 days later do this with all of
your topics and with the old revision if
you you've done it well just start with
the practice questions if you've not
done it well then just make the first
base make the base properly skim mind
map all of it and then go through the
concepts learn it all properly you all
got this this is all very doable this is
a video of how I organized and spaced
out my topics live for an exam I had
earlier this year check it out I've
shown the spreadsheet that I used to
make it and this is a full 30 minute
guide on how to tackle big exams and
study them in a super smart way super
practical way honestly I'd highly
recommend both of these check them both
out if you enjoy the video please leave
a like spam the comments do all the
usual stuff help me out with the
algorithm check my insta out support in
every single way that you can share all
of that stuff and I'll see you in the
next one
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