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RMIT University Library - Learning Lab

Maximising your study sessions

 

Organising information under topic headings

Use lecture notes and course guides to identify the most important topic. Summarise the main ideas and revise by making mind maps to show relationships between ideas.

Ways of organising information

There are many ways of organising information. Try some of the techniques below and see which ones work best for you.

Summarise your notes under topics

Key points

 

Supporting points

Details

  • Writing supporting points
    • include important details and examples
  • Use arrows to show connections between ideas
    e.g. long-term poverty → negative health outcomes
  • It is useful to colour code your comments and ideas

Categorise information visually

Organising information in groups

Instead of trying to remember hundreds of bits of information, organise information into logical groups.

Dogs categorised into logical groups

Using mind maps

Mind maps can be very detailed if you are building a plan for an assignment or brief, or if you are using them to organise your revision.

Complex mind map showing many relationships

Using post-it notes

Post-it notes can have handy summaries of topics or be used to form mind maps. They are easy to change, add to or delete.

Nine post-it notes organised as a mind map

Identify the topics that are likely to be on the exam

  1. Attend revision sessions
  2. Review the course handbook:
    • look at the course objectives
    • identify the main issues/topics that the course covers.
  3. At the end of each lecture:
    • highlight the areas that the lecturer has emphasised are important
    • think about how this information might be examined in the final assessment.
  4. Review past exam papers:
    • what type of questions have been asked, how many?
  5. Are any sections compulsory, what can be taken into the exam—notes, calculator, formulas?
Keywords: 
Exam preparation
Note-taking
Mind mapping
Study skills