Welcome to the first in our series 'Physics Revision Secrets for Success'. I hope you get a lot out of these practical hints and tips to boost your GCSE physics grade.
Read on for our first 'Secrets for Success' revision tip!...
Ninja Your GCSE Physics with 'Little and Often'
Hopefully you've had a chance to check out some of the flashcards and video tutorials at GCSEPhysicsNinja.com? You might even have taken the next step and either started to make some flashcards on index cards, or purchased the printable flashcards?
Either way, remember that 'little and often' is the key to learning new stuff.
A handy tip is to leave your flashcard booklet in a place where you will see it every day. Pick one flashcard question a day and test yourself on it. A couple of minutes is all it takes!
This 'little and often' approach using Question and Answer flashcards will help you to learn and revise more effectively, whatever the subject.
The reason that this works is that our brains operate like a bit like paths in the jungle.
When you first learn a key idea in your GCSE Physics, it's like trying to hack your way through the jungle.
The first time you get through the undergrowth, you will have started to make the beginnings of a path - there'll be some broken twigs, footprints and so on.
However, it will be quite difficult to find that exact route in a week or two, as the jungle will have grown back.
So by testing yourself on the same flashcard the next day, and then the next week, you are finding that jungle path again, breaking more twigs and leaving more footprints. This makes it easier to follow the path next time.
Our brain neural networks operate in a similar manner. Each time you test yourself on an idea or method, you strengthen that neural 'path' so that you will be able to recall that idea easily in the future.
'Little and often' really does make a big difference
See you next week for the next tip in the 'Physics Revision Secrets for Success' series!
Wishing you success in your physics.
Olly Wedgwood