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You ask anyone about what is the secret of getting good marks in exams and the answers will have one
thing in common - Revision. But while the answer seems so obvious the application isn't. However well
you understand and learn a new concept, if you miss to revise it, you will not be able to recall it in the
examination and the initial learning will go in vain.
What is revision? Revision is the act of rereading a topic so as to memorize it. We have been
memorizing and revising answers all through our student life and the importance is well known to us.
The practice of revision has always been important but you need to harness the power of revision now
than ever before. CA Final is the last frontier that you need to cross and revision can be your greatest
weapon in this battle. Let's understand little bit about memory before going further with the
importance of revision. Hermann Ebbinghaus, a German psychologist was among the first few people
who made a scientific study about human memory in the later part of the eighteenth century. He
suggested that we basically have two different types of memory. One is short term memory and the
other is long term memory.
Short term memory It is the part of the memory that retains information for a very short time. It is
very temporary storehouse where the brain keeps information for a very short period. A practical
example of short term memory in action is when in a party you are introduced to an unknown person
and you remember his name only for few moments. This is no different than getting introduced to a
new concept or topic during studies. Short term memory serves you for only few seconds and minutes.
Whatever we first learn gets stored in our short term memory. But as the name suggests, it gets stored
only for a short duration of time. in the absence of rehearsal or revision the information stored in the
short term memory fades away quickly. A couple of revision and rehearsals help in the information
storage for a longer period and that information eventually goes into our long term memory.
Long term memory Long term memory stores data and information that can be retrieved even after
months and years. Information in the long term memory is stored permanently. It is sometimes called as
the 'memory store' wherein all the learning throughout childhood is being stored by the brain. All the
languages, facts, personal experiences, skills, behaviors and understanding of things are stored in the
long term memory. Whatever you have not learned recently and still being able to recall is primarily the
information that is stored in your long term memory.
For the purposes of our discussion we will concentrate more on the long term memory because this is
where we want to store the information in the form concepts, answers and other data for easy retrieval
during the exams.
Why Revision?
Consider your memory to be a dense forest. When your first learn something, it's like clearing some part
of the forest to make a way. If you don't clear it again soon, the bushes will again grow and you won't
find the path that you initially cleared and created. However if you clear the path again before the
bushes grow the path becomes clearer. Repeated working over the passage ensures that the path
becomes permanent and smooth. Our memory works in the similar manner, when you first learn
something it creates memory impressions in your short term memory, in the absence of repetition the
traces disappear but when you revise it the impressions strengthens and repeated exposure places them
permanently in your long term memory. Once the information gets stored in your long term memory, it
doesn't require regular reviewing and can be recalled at will. This is how important revision is. Let me
correct myself This is how important 'systematic revision' is! Thus the revision should be 'systematic'
to be effective.
Some students take up a subject and complete it within 7 days and that happens 3 months before exam.
They ignore revision and pay the price in the form of putting in duplicate effort. They must understand
that the purpose is not to finish the subject and retain it for 7 days but the purpose is to learn and retain
till the day of the exam. For this systematic revision is the key.
I sometimes used to think 'what exactly these toppers do different that helps them not only clear CA
Final but secure a rank as well..!!' and I got the answer in an interview with Giriraj Ajmera (All India Rank
1 CA Final June 2009). He truly revealed the secret behind the success of toppers. When I got to know
about it, it appeared so damn simple and logical and still most of us fail to apply it in our study plan.
Now you must be scratching your head thinking 'what is the secret?' well without much ado I shall
disclose what he revealed to me. The secret is 'Revise all topics which you have read last day before
starting the next day's study'. Wow! It's that damn simple!
Forgetting curve
100
75
No. of Days
The above graph depicts how we retain new information that is fed in the mind. On x-axis we have
'Number of days' and on y-axis we have 'percentage of knowledge remembered'. When you learn
something new, you are able to recall almost everything for the next few minutes and hours but the
percentage of knowledge remembered falls drastically with the passage of time and after 24 hours you
only remember 20 percent of it. What that means is, you forget 80 percent of what you learn within the
next 24 hours! With further passage of time, the percentage of knowledge remembered further falls and
after 2-3 days you only remember about 5-10 percent.
As learned earlier, your short term memory stores information only for a few seconds or minutes and
discard it after that. Since the information is not being revisited / revised it considers it not worthy of
being kept for long. Let me ask you, for how long are you able to retain the information that you read in
the newspapers daily?
With every passing minute your memory about the new chapter deteriorates and since there is no
repetition, the information is discarded by the memory at the end of the first day. Your ability to recall
the contents of the chapter falls down drastically to around 20 percent. Think about it for a moment,
when you don't revise a new chapter within the next 24 hours, you forget 80 percent of it! In other
words if you had devoted 10 hours to study something new and do not revise it within the next 24 hours
then out of 10, 8 hours study becomes useless. Phew! That's huge!
When the chapter is still not revised till the end of the 2" day, almost all the information is lost from the
memory. You retain only about less than 10 percent. What that means is, in the absence of revision just
after the 2" day, 90 percent of your time and effort is gone.
And by the end of a few weeks you remember only about less than 5 percent. That's just next to
nothing. That is exactly what happens with you when you see one of those questions that you once read
but never revised. The question looks familiar but however hard you scratch your head you can't recall.
The good news is you can get over the forgetting curve! Repetition is what can come to your rescue.
Revise systematically and you can defy the forgetting curve. When you don't revise something your
brain thinks that the information is not something to be retained for long and voluntarily removes the
information from the memory. However when you revise something your brain understands your
willingness to keep the information and responds accordingly. Revising something gives your brain the
instruction that the particular information is relevant and to be retained in the memory.
Repeated revision tells your mind to store the information in your long term memory and once that
happens you don't forget. So the only way to ensure that you don't forget anything is by Revision. Have
you ever noticed what happens when you try to study something which is already stored in your
memory? For example, if I give you the table of 2 written on a piece of paper and ask you to memorize
it, what will happen? You will take the piece of paper, have a glance at it and return it to me by saying 'I
already know that!' Even if I'll insist, you will not actually spend time over it memorizing. Why? This is
because the moment you try to memorize something which is already stored in the memory, your brain
responds by saying, 'Hey, I already have this information stored in the memory!' therefore you don't
have to spend time memorizing it or revising it. It's all about how well it is stored in your memory.
This fact can be applied to your studies as well. When you come across a new concept, you need to
memorize it and it takes time. When your revise it, your brain understands that the information is
important and it retains it. Upon second revision, it further strengthens it in the memory. After a couple
of more revisions the concept gets stored in the long term memory and then the brain refuses to
memorize it further. Then moment you try to have another look, you feel bored and unwilling to revise
any further. That's because your brain tell you, 'hey c'mon I already have this concept perfectly stored in
the long term memory'.
So my friend, the secret to remembering something is revising it again and again yet again until you feel
yourself unwilling to revise any further!
the vastness of the syllabus of CA Final, revision becomes an integral component. It generally takes 2-3
months to cover the entire syllabus for the first time and as a result, a student is unable to retain what
he/she may have studied in the initial phases."
That's what happens in the absence of proper understanding of our brain and memory functionality. A
student is bound to forget 80% of what he learns first time within the next 24 hours. So why complain..!!
This is a natural phenomenon all over the globe! It is a scientific fact that we forget 80% of all that we
learn within the next 24 hours! Then the question is how to retain that stuff? And the answer is only and
only by systematic revision.
Break it down!
Since you forget almost 80% of what you learn within the next 24 hours. The practice of waiting to
complete an entire book before actually beginning with revision will only harm your retaining abilities.
That's just waste of time of effort. The solution is Break it down! It's not about completing an entire
subject, or a chapter, it's about time.
You must revise whatever you first learn within the next 24 hours. Revise it again after 3 days. Yet again
after 7 days. One more time after 20 days and you are done. Now you can be assured that you won't
forget it. However if you revise it 1 more time after about a month you could find yourself competing
with the budding rank holders!
Have a look at the below example, suppose you study something on 1st Jan then the revision schedule
should look like the below.
First Revision
Next day
21d Jan
Second Revision
After 3 days
6 th Jan
Third Revision
After 7 days
14th Jan
Fourth Revision
After 20 days
4th Feb
Key Takeaways
1.
When you first learn something, it goes to your short term memory.
2.
Information gets stored in the long term memory only through revision.
3.
Your forget 80% of what you learn within the next 24 hours.
4.
5.
6.
Students fail not because they don't study but because they don't revise.
This book was written by CA NITIN SONI.. CREDIT goes to original author only and this file is
available in his personal website in IMAGE format
Please buy the book for all 7 laws
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