When we revise A Level History for the purpose of performing better in exams or any assessments, then we have a choice of what exactly to revise. For most students, that choice is simply made from choosing different areas of content to revise – For example, somebody currently studying the Soviet Union under Stalin may elect to spend more time revising economic developments than the terror.
In this post I will argue that whilst revising content is obviously important, it is only half the story. By concentrating revision energy on content only, many students miss the other piece to the puzzle and fail to work on their question answering techniques enough. This will be especially crucial during 2021 with much content curtailed due to lack of learning time and a number of teacher/exam board based assessments likely to be used to grade students.
In this environment, the student that is a master of technique as well as content will achieve their best grades. Let’s now compare how we can use technique as well as content to revise for A Level History assessment.
– Using Content to Revise For A Level History –
Timeline of events leading up to World War II
All students should be familiar with using content to revise. As we can see above we have a standard piece of content that a student may use for revision. A timeline of events can be used by students to learn important dates and events within a period and also to gain an overview of the particular period of study.
Content for revision comes in numerous forms and will be accessible through text books, revision guides, class notes, online material and other resources.
Learning the content you need to know is critical to your performance in any exam or assessment. Without this knowledge, we simply cannot answer questions properly, as we do not have the correct information available to use in our answers.
However there is another crucial component to answering A Level History questions well.
– Using Technique to Revise For Assessment –
All A Level history exams or assessments require students to do certain standard tasks regardless of the specific area of history being studied.
- Students will always have to answer questions that will require them to write essay answers.
- Students will always have to answer questions based around sources or extracts.
Because A Level history assessment always works in this way, that gives us the opportunity to revise or ‘work on’ the techniques required to answer these question types properly.
When revising our technique for essay questions we can look at working on a number of different areas such as:
- Interpreting and Understanding Questions
- Planning Answers
- Writing Introductions
- Structuring Paragraphs or Themes
- Writing Conclusions
Similarly, when revising for source or extract questions we can also look at improving in different areas such as:
- Planning Answers
- Identifying and Extracting Information
- Backing Extractions
- Evaluating Sources or Extracts
- Making Judgement on the value of Sources and Extracts
By understanding and practicing these different techniques we help to ensure that our A Level History assessment performance will improve, regardless of the specific content we are studying.
How To Improve Further at A Level History
Pass A Level History – is our sister site, which shows you step by step, how to most effectively answer any A Level History extract, source or essay question. Please click the following link to visit the site and get access to your free preview lesson. www.passalevelhistory.co.uk
Previous and Next Blog Posts
Previous – A Level History Revision Glossary – passhistoryexams.co.uk/a-level-history-revision-glossary/
Next – A Level History Topics – passhistoryexams.co.uk/a-level-history-topics