Copied notes become revision material when every key line is turned into a question that you answer from memory, with the notes closed. This worksheet gives you the conversion table, a filled example and a weekly routine.
The skill underneath is retrieval: pulling an idea out of your head is what makes it stick, while rereading only makes it feel familiar.
How do I turn a note into a question?
Work through your notes one key idea at a time. Do not try to convert the whole page in one sitting.
- Underline the claim. Find the sentence that says what happens or what something is.
- Choose a question type from the list below.
- Write the question on a separate sheet or card, with the source topic noted.
- Write the model answer underneath, in your own words, then cover it.
- Test yourself a day later, then a week later.
| Question type | Starter wording | Use it when the note says |
|---|---|---|
| Define | What is meant by… | a term or definition |
| Explain | Explain why… | a cause and effect |
| Compare | State one similarity and one difference between… | two related ideas |
| Apply | Use the idea to predict what happens if… | a rule or pattern |
| Calculate | Work out… given… | a formula or relationship |
| Correct | This answer is wrong. Find the error. | a common misconception |
Worksheet template
| Topic | Note line (short) | Question type | My question | Answer from memory | Checked against notes | Retest date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Filled example: rate of reaction
Note line copied from a class handout: “A higher temperature increases the rate of reaction because the particles move faster and more of the collisions have enough energy to react.”
| Topic | Question type | My question | Answer from memory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rate of reaction | Explain | Explain why a reaction between magnesium and dilute acid is faster at 40 °C than at 20 °C. | Particles have more kinetic energy, so they move faster and collide more often. More importantly, a greater fraction of collisions have at least the activation energy, so more collisions are successful. |
| Rate of reaction | Apply | A student says doubling the temperature always doubles the rate. What is wrong with this claim? | The rate does not simply double. The effect depends on how many more collisions reach the activation energy, so the change is not a fixed multiple. |
| Rate of reaction | Correct | “At a higher temperature the particles collide harder, so the reaction is faster.” Find the weakness. | It gives only half the reason. It must also say that more collisions per second happen, and that a larger proportion have enough energy to react. |
Notice that the three questions test the same note in three different ways. The first checks whether you can produce the explanation. The second and third check whether you understand it well enough to spot a wrong version.
What does a weak copied note look like?
A note that reads “Temperature: rate goes up” cannot be turned into a good question, because it carries no reason. Before writing a question from a short note like this, expand it: rate goes up because what, at the level of particles?
If you cannot expand it, you have found the exact place where your understanding stops. That is more useful than another neat page.
The weekly routine
- Write 5 to 8 questions from one topic after you finish learning it.
- Answer them from memory the next day. Mark each one right, partly right or wrong.
- Keep wrong and partly right questions; retire those you got right twice.
- Add the wrong ones to a mistake log with the cause.
- Build a mixed set with the original mixed-practice builder once you can answer each topic alone.
For a schedule that spaces these attempts, see the recall and review plan. To move from a worked example to a blank question, try this worksheet, and browse the full set on the resources page.
Our teachers start a first lesson by asking a student to explain one page of their notes aloud. That shows quickly which lines are understood and which are only copied, and it is a natural starting point for online one-to-one tuition.