Revisions

A friend with Psychology optional often keeps on telling me- If you don’t revise what you’ve read within a week, you forget 92% and remember only 8%. Well I am not sure about the factual accuracy of this statement but one thing is for sure: A lot of time, effort and energy go waste in Civil Services preparation just because of lack of timely revisions. We all know that revision is a crucial part of study but alas, very few actually revise in a proper manner.

Let’s start with what actually happens in the study cycle for somebody who starts the study- We read some topic. We underline/highlight important issues. Many of us jot down notes of the topic. A selected few practice writing answers/ solving MCQs and we move ahead. Following the same method, we finish all the topics of a subject – say Polity for instance-one after another. Then we are done with this, we start revising the initial topics: Preamble, Citizenship, Fundamental Rights etc. And to much of our dismay, we realize that we actually feel like we are reading the topic for the first time. And we end up re-reading the topic.

Now this adds to the pressure we already bear. As the revision continues, we start getting tense, and at time depressed because we remember very little from the first reading. Further there is time pressure- the planning of completing the revision in a stipulated time period gets collapsed. And this ends up in a totally haphazard, unplanned, demotivating bits and pieces revision. Most of us don’t even reach the last few topics while revising e.g. Constitutional and statutory bodies in Polity.

To summarize, this type of revision creates two major problems: A) Revision becomes re-reading, we don’t remember anything substantial from first reading. B) Revisions become sketchy; we end up confused after revisions.

With all these issues in mind, here I present a method for effective revisions. As I have always maintained, this may not be the best method. Everyone can try and test this method and decide accordingly.

First things first. Revision is not ‘re-reading’. While revising, don’t keep on reading something we know well. 1857 revolt and its causes is something you can easily cover in first reading. There is no need to go through this topic word to word again. Just skim through it, just read the headings and the rest you can link. So basically the revision should have at the max 20-25% reading as compared to the first reading. Yes for some complicated and loaded topics like Partition you need to revise with more intensity. But most of the syllabus this skimming method will do well. The idea is to save time in re-reading and utilize it for thinking, brainstorming and practicing.

Next thing is the timing of revision. The best method is to revise on a weekly basis. Every weekend you can revise whatever you covered in that week. Make it a point not to start new topic until and unless revision is finished. This will ensure that the first reading is still fresh in your mind. This specially holds true for Geography and Economics where a lot of facts need to be studied. Weekly revisions will ensure that you will need less time to revise and in this process you will consolidate your reading output. Now it depends entirely on your discipline whether you remain true to your schedules!

Now let’s focus a bit on how to integrate Revisions with our Input-Process-Output system. Output and practice is a major key in our study process. I believe practice should precede revisions to make revisions effective. If the topic is easy or commonly studied one like Population distribution in India, I would suggest go for practice immediately after the first reading. For more complicated topics practice before second revision. Now while practicing, write the answers (Mains) or solve the MCQs (Prelims) related to that topic and then analyze them. Note where you fell short in the answer- these areas we can say ‘gaps’ in the study. Then go for revision and target specifically these gaps to plug them. For example I solve questions after reading Fundamental Rights. On analysis, I realize that I am making errors in questions relating to Article 25 to 28. Maybe because of lapse of concentration or lack of understanding, this part has become a gap in my study. So while I revise, I will focus more on these articles. Thus, in a single go, I am practicing, I am finding out the gap areas and also I am revising only the needed part. This makes the revision accurate and effective.

Now we come to last day or last week revision. I would advise to revise in the same fashion in the last days- only the gap areas. Further you need to revise factual data like statistical information from Budget, Economic Survey, locations from Geography, facts from Science-Technology etc. Always remember that the last week revision should not be evaluation. Just brush up the information and avoiding any new substantial reading.

To conclude this, I think study is more like building a wall. There will be some gaps- some windows while you build the wall. Plus with time some bricks become old will get off the wall. Now what revisions do is to fill in the windows immediately after the wall is built. This avoids falling of more bricks as time progresses. So the focus must be to have a solid wall. Because at the end of the day, what we need is a wall which supports the edifice of our dreams!