Use learning outcomes for revision

To start revising, first look at your unit's learning outcomes. These tell you the knowledge and skills you will need to demonstrate, and therefore be assessed on. From here, look at the weekly content to determine where these outcomes might be covered. Multiple learning outcomes may be covered across different weeks. Do the same with your assessment tasks. Identifying these connections will help you identify important information in each week quickly, and determine what you might be assessed on.

You can identify learning outcomes of a particular unit from the Monash handbook. The learning outcomes for your unit may also be listed on the Moodle page. After locating the learning outcomes, it is important to identify weekly content and detailed descriptions of the assessment tasks. You can find them on the unit Moodle site.

The following examples provide detailed explanation about the connection between learning outcomes, weekly learning topics and assessment tasks of two units.

Set up a table with topics, assessment tasks and learning outcomes. Tick the box where you can find any links between the topic and assessment task and learning outcomes (by comparing the topic with the directive words and the content words in each learning outcome and in the description of each assessment task).

Example

Start revising the topic with the most ticks in relation to the assessment tasks and learning outcomes first, then continue with other topics with more ticks to the fewest ones. Use a variety of active study strategies when revising.

Important things to consider:

• Not all learning outcomes are assessed in an exam. For example, one learning outcome of the unit about game design, work collaboratively in a team environment, should be related to weekly discussion or learning engagement across the semester. It is unlikely that this learning outcome will be tested in the final exam.
• Start preparing for revision for the exam from Week 1, and remember to revise learning contents on a weekly basis.
• Spend more time revising the topics which are linked to several learning outcomes.
• Link each learning outcome to questions (and/or topics) in past exam papers (if you have access to them) and try to answer the questions on your own under timed conditions before checking the answer key. You might construct a pattern/template of solutions, i.e. step by step, to tackle a problem.
• Refer to key notes from lectures, tutorial workshops and reading materials during revision. Seek help from the lecturer, tutor and/or peers on topics that are not clear.