How do our students revise?

Student strategy in planning and executing revision for examinations appears to be an under-investigated area of educational research, frequently subsumed, where considered at all, under the more general category of theories of learning. Since students are known to exhibit strategic behaviours in their approach to learning, one should expect that student revision takes on a distinctive form due to the time and performance pressures that are exerted. In order to contribute towards filling the knowledge gap in this area, we have investigated the revision habits of a cohort of joint honours (Maths and X) students on a recent first-year module at the University of Leeds. We found that the students principally use traditional sources of revision material (lecture notes, example sheets, past papers), together with online materials such as e-assessments (where available) and web resources. Students revise both individually and in groups. They tend to use resources they perceive as giving high utility, and on-line access data showed evidence of some last-minute and late-night cramming. A key finding of interest is the possibility of a change in perception of the reasons for using web-based and textbook resources, with the Internet functioning as a source for exposition and textbooks being seen as a source for exercises. We conclude that lecturers should consider how to support student revision through judicious choice of online resources and supplying exercises that are designed for use by groups of revising students.