4. Retrospective revision timetable

The more uncommon approach to revision timetables is the “retrospective” method which involves evaluating your performance from past sessions and adapting the schedule to your weaknesses.

 

Essentially this is the opposite of the prospective method so when you set up your spreadsheet, this time you will include your topics in the first column. Then the subsequent columns will consist of the dates that you studied them which will be highlighted in a specific color identifying your ability to recall the information that day.

 

Personally, I use green when my knowledge is sufficient, yellow when my knowledge is adequate, and red when my knowledge is poor. Additionally, I'll use various shades of those colors for a more nuanced assessment of knowledge recall.

For example, a darker green means I understand the concept better than a lighter green.

 

To choose what to study on a particular day, you will need to consider two important questions:

 

1. How long has it been since I've studied it last?

• Prioritize concepts that have not been studied recently.

2. What color is the concept highlighted in?

• Prioritize concepts in red first and then yellow.

 

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Image 57

Image 58

This ensures that the concepts you are unfamiliar with are covered more often than those that you are familiar with. The goal by exam day is to have all the concepts highlighted in green.

 

Look below for an example:

 

A

B

C

D

-

F

G

H