How to Make the PERFECT Revision Timetable with Spaced Repetition
Summary
TLDRIn this video, first-year medical student Zayn from the University of Manchester introduces an effective study technique called spaced repetition for tackling the vast amount of content required for medical school exams. He explains that spaced repetition involves reviewing topics at increasing intervals over time, which enhances long-term memory retention. Zayn emphasizes the importance of active learning methods such as active recall and interleaving, which involve varying study techniques to gain different perspectives on the material. He shares his personal study schedule, which is meticulously planned on a weekly basis, and includes specific techniques for each topic at every repetition. Zayn also provides tips on how to identify weaknesses, understand the exam format, and organize study sessions to maximize efficiency. His approach to spaced repetition not only saves time but also makes the study process more engaging and less monotonous, ultimately leading to better understanding and retention of complex medical information.
Takeaways
- 📚 **Spaced Repetition**: Using increasing intervals between study sessions to improve retention.
- 🧠 **Active Recall**: Testing yourself on the material to reinforce memory and understanding.
- 🔗 **Encoding**: Linking new information to existing knowledge for better cognitive absorption.
- 📈 **Interleaving**: Varying study techniques to gain different perspectives on the same topic.
- 📋 **Efficient Note-Making**: Avoiding passive reading and copying, instead focus on understanding and linking information.
- 🚫 **Avoid Passive Learning**: Not relying solely on highlighting or copying from textbooks, which doesn't engage the brain effectively.
- 🌟 **Identify Weaknesses**: Marking topics you're weak in to focus on during revision.
- 📅 **Create a Timetable**: Mapping out a study schedule that incorporates spaced repetition and specific techniques for each topic.
- 🔍 **Understand Exam Structure**: Knowing the exam format, content weightage, and importance to your future before creating a study plan.
- 📝 **Layered Learning**: Breaking down information into layers from general to specific, making it easier to structure in your brain.
- ⏱️ **Flexible Planning**: Planning on a weekly basis, not minute by minute, to accommodate personal schedules and preferences.
- 🔄 **Technique Variation**: Using different methods for each repetition of a topic to challenge yourself and enhance understanding.
Q & A
What is space repetition and how does it enhance learning?
-Space repetition is a learning technique where a topic is reviewed over increasing intervals of time. It enhances learning by making the brain work harder during each review, thus increasing the likelihood of long-term retention of the information.
Why do many students struggle to implement space repetition effectively?
-Students struggle with space repetition because it's challenging to manage the increasing number of topics that need to be reviewed at expanding intervals, especially when dealing with a large volume of content.
What is the significance of encoding in the learning process?
-Encoding is the process of linking new information to existing knowledge, which is crucial for cognitively piecing information together, understanding it well, and remembering it long-term.
What is active recall and why is it important for learning?
-Active recall involves bringing information out of memory and testing oneself on the material learned. It is important because it forces the brain to work harder to remember information, which aids in long-term retention.
What is interleaving in the context of space repetition?
-Interleaving is the practice of varying the study methods used during each repetition of a topic. It provides different perspectives on the material and helps prevent getting stuck on a single way of understanding the content.
How does the speaker plan their revision timetable?
-The speaker plans their revision timetable by mapping out all topics, identifying weaknesses, and scheduling tasks on a week-by-week basis. They incorporate specific techniques for each repetition and ensure the revision method varies with each review.
What are the three layers of information processing suggested in the first repetition?
-The three layers are: 1) Skimming through main headings to get the general gist, 2) Looking at basic concepts while ignoring overly complex specifics, and 3) Processing the complex information and specifics that were initially set aside.
How does the speaker approach the second repetition of a topic?
-In the second repetition, the focus is on testing oneself using recall questions or verified flashcards and filling in knowledge gaps with resources like YouTube videos or lectures.
What is the strategy for the final repetition of a topic, according to the speaker?
-The final repetition involves general broad testing to stimulate recall, followed by focusing on specific resources to understand and memorize details required for the exam.
Why is it beneficial to vary the revision method for each repetition?
-Varying the revision method for each repetition makes the learning process more effective and less monotonous. It also ensures that the brain is challenged in different ways, which can lead to better understanding and retention of the material.
How does the speaker prioritize topics in their revision timetable?
-The speaker prioritizes topics by first focusing on weak areas marked with a red star, then addressing fundamental topics to simplify the rest of the revision, and finally, spacing out repetitions for challenging topics more than less challenging ones.
Outlines
📚 Implementing Spaced Repetition for Medical Studies
The first paragraph introduces the concept of spaced repetition as a learning technique for medical students, emphasizing its effectiveness in retaining information over time. The speaker, Zayn, a first-year medical student, discusses the challenge of managing thousands of pages of content and shares his strategy for creating a spaced repetition timetable. Key points include the importance of understanding the learning technique, identifying weaknesses, and using active recall and interleaving to enhance the learning process. The paragraph also stresses the need for efficient encoding and varying study methods during each repetition to gain a comprehensive understanding of the material.
📅 Creating a Flexible and Effective Study Timetable
The second paragraph delves into the specifics of creating a study timetable that incorporates spaced repetition and active learning techniques. Zayn outlines a step-by-step process, starting with mapping out all the topics and identifying weak areas. He then discusses scheduling tasks on a weekly basis, allowing for flexibility and personal preference in study timing. The paragraph highlights the importance of being specific about how each topic will be revised and the techniques that will be used at each repetition. It also covers the logic behind spacing out repetitions for challenging topics and the approach to less challenging ones, emphasizing the need for prioritization and effective use of time.
🧠 Approaching Each Repetition with a Learning Mindset
The third paragraph focuses on the approach to be taken during each repetition of a topic. It emphasizes the importance of starting with a broad understanding and progressing to specifics. The speaker explains that the first repetition is about efficiently encoding information, the second is focused on active recall and filling knowledge gaps, and the third repetition involves testing broader concepts before diving into specifics. The paragraph also discusses the rationale behind not starting with recall questions immediately and the benefits of using different study methods to make each repetition more effective and engaging.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Space Repetition
💡Encoding
💡Active Recall
💡Interleaving
💡Revision Timetable
💡Weakness Identification
💡Exam Knowledge
💡Layered Learning
💡Knowledge Gaps
💡Broad Concepts
💡Effective Study Techniques
Highlights
Zayn, a first-year medical student at the University of Manchester, is creating a space repetition revision timetable for his upcoming medical school exams.
Space repetition is a learning technique that involves increasing the duration between topic revisions to enhance memory retention.
Zayn emphasizes the importance of understanding information by linking it to previous knowledge, a process called encoding.
Active recall is crucial for learning, which involves testing oneself on the material to reinforce memory.
Interleaving, or varying study techniques during each repetition, helps gain different perspectives on the topic and prepares for trick questions.
Zayn suggests mapping out all topics and subtopics for the exam to identify weaknesses and structure the revision plan.
Understanding the exam format and content weightage is essential before creating a revision timetable.
A week-by-week planning approach is preferred for flexibility, allowing for personal scheduling preferences.
Zayn uses Google Sheets to plan his revision timetable, incorporating specific techniques for each topic revision.
Focusing on weak topics first and then fundamental topics makes the rest of the revision process easier.
Each revision session should have a clear, specific goal and method to ensure effective learning.
For challenging topics, Zayn's formula includes two repetitions in the same week with a two-week gap for reassessment.
Less challenging topics may only require two repetitions spaced out over the four-week revision period.
The first repetition focuses on understanding and encoding information efficiently.
The second repetition aims to test recall and fill knowledge gaps, using resources like videos and lectures.
In the final repetition, broad concept testing is done before focusing on specific details for the exam.
Zayn provides a template for his revision timetable in the video description for viewers to replicate.
Active studying and making each repetition different increases the efficiency of space repetition.
Zayn's method aims to help understand and retain information effectively even with a large volume of content to cover.
Transcripts
right i have my medical school exams
coming up in a few weeks time them
there's thousands of pages of content to
get through so i think it's finally time
to make my space repetition revision
timetable hey guys welcome back to the
channel my name is zayn and i'm a
first-year medical student at the
university of manchester a lot of us
know about space repetition but no one
really knows how to implement it
effectively and cleverly plan their
revision in these spaced intervals so in
this video i'm going to show you my
study schedule for the next few weeks
i'll show you my exact thought process
when making it and i'll show you how i
make the space repetition timetable
actually work before we dive in space
repetition is a learning technique that
involves you repeating and revising a
topic over a duration time where this
duration is increasing after every
repetition the core idea is by studying
something on day one then day four then
day 14 and then day 40 by revising in
these spaced intervals by revising in
these space intervals you increase the
chances of you forgetting that
information so that when you come back
to revisit it your brain will have to
work a lot harder and it's much more
likely to actually stick i know it
sounds simple but the reason that most
students aren't able to actually use
space repetition in their revision
despite how effective it is it's
impossible to do with all of your topics
it's all good to repeat one or two of
the topics in those space intervals but
what do you do if there's 25 of them all
needing to be repeated every week those
repetitions increasing over time as well
but the thing is there is a smart way to
cleverly plan your revisions and do them
using space repetition simply reduce the
amount of repetitions that you need to
do by making the method that you're
using during each repetition a lot more
effective for each of these points of
repetition let's say you're doing
studying that is passive in ways that
don't engage your brain like if you're
passively reading for example again and
again the same paragraph if you're
making notes just copying the textbook
if you're highlighting the textbook but
if you're doing these sorts of things to
revise yes it feels like you're doing a
lot but none of them will help you
cognitively piece information together
understand it well learn it and then
remember it long term the better ways to
learn the information just involves two
simple things in coding efficiently and
then doing active recall aim to
understand information by linking it to
your previous knowledge because that's
literally how our brain learns and
absorbs information the first time it
comes across it it's called encoding and
if you learn to do that efficiently if
you organize and structure information
well in your brain you will remember it
for a lot longer and that will make your
sessions down the line a lot more
effective do that the first time then
the second time and third time focus on
active recall bring information out of
your memory test yourself on what you're
learning cover it up and then recall it
again the ways you're doing active
recall would involve recalling your
questions doing practice questions
making flow charts doing constructive
teaching any method that forces you to
forces your brain to work harder to
remember the information that you learn
in that first session the second thing
that i always try to make myself think
about when i'm actively revising in
those base intervals is how i'm making
my method different every time at every
repetition this is called interleaving
it should be varied it should be
challenging it's basically just studying
the same topics at those different space
intervals with a different technique so
that you gain a different perspective on
that topic so for example in one session
you do questions in the next one and the
next time you repeat it you make a
diagram on the board instead or in the
next one you do a discussion not
interleaving and revising the same way
using the same method for every single
topic is a mistake and that's the reason
most students don't do well with trick
questions or get stumbled up very
quickly in their exams it's because they
aren't used to looking at that content
from multiple angles they're just
they're just used to studying it you're
using that one lens so always rely on
effective study techniques and then just
vary them each time you do that
repetition that's all you need to do if
you do that you'll understand and
remember the information really well
even if you only go through it two or
three times before your exams now let's
jump into the actual revision timetable
i'm gonna try and break it down and be
as specific as possible step one is
mapping out the subject listing out
every single possible topic that needs
to be studied for that exam literally
add all the chapters and broad topics of
your subject or module onto a paper or a
board and list all the subtopics
underneath them i've done this by
dividing my content up into anatomy
clinical skills and all the cases that i
had to study during my term and then
after that i labeled the topics that i
felt particularly weak in with a red
star the first tip i have for this step
is that you need to identify your
weaknesses point them out on the board
circle them start them whatever you need
to be able to know them so that you can
effectively space and think about your
vision out later a lot better the second
tip i have before we jump into actually
creating the timetable is to arm
yourself with exam knowledge the format
the amount of content the weightage of
the paper how much this actually matters
to your future trust me you want to do
this before you actually start making
that timetable so you don't end up just
meaninglessly scheduling 10 plus hours
of studying every single day for the
next few weeks step two is scheduling
and spacing out all the topics and tasks
that need to be completed before the
exams to do this i've made a timetable
for the final four weeks of my revision
on google sheets i've planned it all out
to incorporate space repetition and i've
made it a lot more effective by
including the specific techniques that
i'd be using at each repetition for
every single topic but instead of trying
to schedule my life minute by minute for
the next four weeks what i prefer so
much more is planning on a week by week
basis so for every remaining week before
the exams i have a list of tasks and
topics that i need to complete at the
end of every single week and that makes
a lot more flexible you have the whole
week to get a list of tasks done if you
don't feel like working on monday or on
wednesday you still have thursday friday
saturday sunday all of those four days
to get your stuff done it leaves enough
room for your personal preference and
your personal schedule it doesn't
require heavy planning minute by minute
all you need to do is get those tasks
done by sunday have them completed that
is the deadline and if as long as you're
strict with yourself about that i think
this plan is very effective as you can
see i have a column of all the topics
divided into my pbl cases clinical
skills and anatomy just like i did on my
board anyone can replicate this i'll
actually leave a template down in the
description you can replicate this if
you want to just replace the headings
with your topics or your modules now
after i have a look at my weak topics
those star topics that i focused on
initially and after i make sense of the
fundamental topics that i want to get
done first so i can make the rest of my
revision a lot easier after i focus on
those i'll use those and start adding
them to my first week unlike most
timetables however you can see the tasks
that i add for every revision of every
topic you can see how specific it is on
there i say exactly how i'm going to
revise that topic to make sure the
revision is varied throughout each
repetition and that i am revising
effectively at each point and to make
sure that i'm revising effectively right
from the beginning instead of just
saying yeah i'm gonna revise asthma on
monday what you do instead is you say
review powerpoint six seven and nine and
make questions on them as soon as you do
that you immediately clarify exactly
what you need to do four weeks in
advance and now you basically ensure
that your revision is effective at every
point of your
every repetition and that will reduce
the amount of time that you put in
anyways for me at least if i know
exactly how i'm going to be studying and
if the way i'm going to be studying is
already laid out i'm much less likely to
actually avoid doing it as you can see
i'm very particular about how much i'm
revising a particular topic the way in
which i'm doing it and how i'm applying
space repetition as well for some of the
topics i'm doing two repetitions of the
topic in that same week which usually
means that i'll do something on day one
and then um i'll leave three to four
days gap in that same week and then
attempt to repeat that topic again using
the specific techniques listed and then
after i do these two repetitions in that
one week i leave it leave that topic for
like two weeks i come back to it and by
that point i've forgotten so much of it
so that then me testing myself is a lot
more effective so for challenging topics
my formula is usually day one then day
three to four and two weeks later
basically as for the handful of less
challenging topics i've only given them
two repetitions in the four weeks and
obviously it's spaced out but i'm making
the decision to not repeat it three or
four times because i want to be able to
prioritize my weaker topics for those
extra time that i have anyways that's my
logic with space repetition it's quite
easy to implement and it will be very
effective even if you have those few
weeks and all of those hundreds of pages
of content to get through now that
you've made your timetable what are you
going to do at each repetition of the
topic as you can see from my timetable
the way i revise at each point differs
because each topic has to be approached
in a different way at the first point or
the first repetition my focus is
understanding my main focus is always
going to be in coding efficiently trying
to take that information in layer by
layer and then side by side make my
questions the ones that i'm going to use
for future revisions this first
repetition can be done through reading
notes your textbook your anatomy skills
class whatever it is you need to be
taking the information in layer by layer
this means spending the first 10 minutes
looking through the main bolded headings
getting the general gist and the
understanding of that chapter that's
what i think of as the first layer
skimming through the content then the
second layer would be you looking at the
basic concepts of the chapter ignoring
the overly complex specific stuff then
after you've established that baseline
that's when you'd go to the third layer
and process that information the
information that is overly complex the
specifics the things that you don't
understand you need to be able to have
this learning mindset when you're
reading something the first time because
that is how your brain organizes and
structure the structures the information
it makes it a lot easier for it to take
knowledge and if you're giving your
brain easier information first then
medium then harder because now it can
structure and make links between all the
things that you're learning at the
second repetition as you can see from my
timetable my goal my priority is always
going to be testing myself using my
recall questions or some verified
quizlet flash cards and then filling my
knowledge gaps of the stuff i didn't
know using a good youtube video by ninja
nerd or watching some important lectures
at this point i've left enough time
between my first and second repetitions
to kind of forget what i've learned so
that my brain has to work harder to
recall the knowledge if i don't know the
concept if i have gaps i make sure to
start that and start those weaker
concepts and then i make sure to just
fill in those gaps in that revision
session itself and at the final
repetition the third one since it's been
a while since i last attempted that
topic probably what i focus on is doing
an activity that helps me generally test
myself on the broader concepts first and
then i come back and look at some
resources and read the specific details
that i need to know or wrote memorize
for my exam the reason i don't just jump
into my recall question straight away in
that third session is because i now
realize that after it's been two weeks
since i've studied that topic i'm not
gonna remember most of it even if i try
my hardest which means that most of my
questions will just end up being read
and because of this i always start with
a general testing the general broad
testing could involve an active
discussion making mind maps something
that is going to force me to construct
whatever i know from scratch without
having any questions or anything but
just a name of the topic and me having
to just talk about that topic that i
feel like is a really good way of
stimulating your brain to remember and
recall things and then help your brain
very much understand those main concepts
and then after i've done this after i've
just tested myself using this that's
when i look at specific resources that's
when i focus down and read through the
things that i need to really know and
memorize for the exams the drug names
the channels all of that sort of stuff
and then to finish off the sessions yes
i do then go over my recall questions
and make sure my understanding is top
notch it isn't hard to study like this
it's a lot more effective and it's a lot
less boring than just studying something
from your book i'm doing effective
active studying for every topic and
making every repetition of that topic
different which makes my space
repetition a lot more efficient and if
you do this properly you will understand
and retain the information literally
after two or three times of going
through it before your exams i know we
have exams coming up so to learn to
quickly memorize large amounts of
information in a short period of time
check this video out i go through two
effective methods that i use back in the
ib for my content based exams and for my
more problem-based exams as well thank
you so much for watching i really hope
this helps and i'll see the next one
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