Biochemistry Revision Using Mindmaps - Can You Master Science and Ace Your Exams?

Can Mindmaps Help With Your Biochemistry Revision?

Finding Your Way Around Your Mind

Have you ever come across the mind-mapping revision technique, invented by Tony Buzan? Personally I’m a huge proponent of this method, not just for revision but for other purposes as well – writing articles and essays, approaching problematic assignment questions, planning out projects or trying to work out an answer to a knotty problem in regular life. You can probably think of other purposes to which this technique might be put too, at least once you are familiar with it. It's an immensely versatile system, and can be turned to a whole host of different purposes!

Get Great Tony Buzan and Mind Map Links!

* ThinkBuzan - Official Mind Mapping software by Tony Buzan

ThinkBuzan - official site from Tony Buzan, inventor of Mind Mapping. Download iMindMap, the only official Mind Mapping software and try for free. Buzan's Mind Maps are used by over 250 million people for clarity of thinking, brainstorming, learning,

* Tony Buzan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

* The Mind Mapping Site

Mind Mapping training, courses, information & software from Illumine Training - leading Mind Map specialists UK and worldwide - Buzan Mind Map workshops.

Biochemistry and Mind-Maps: Learn the Fundamentals of Biosciences

Techniques Of Mind-Mapping

If you haven’t come across it before, the method basically involves taking a blank sheet of paper, writing your main question/problem/thesis/revision subject in the middle of it, and drawing a circle around it. Then you just let your mind go crazy with free-associating on that subject: anything that comes to mind in relation to it, you draw a line from the circle in the middle and write down the associated thought.

E.g. if your original subject was fruit-flavoured drinks (okay, the biochemistry of fruit-flavoured drinks, Ms. Pedant!) then [fruit-flavoured drinks] would be in your circle. Emanating from all around it would be lines leading to thoughts like, orange, raspberry, sugar, artificial sweetener, preservatives, manufacturers, vitamins, vegetables, health, 10-a-day, etc.etc.

Then you can elaborate further by making connections between these thoughts, e.g. you might draw a line between ‘raspberry’ and ‘health’ if you have heard or read that raspberries are especially good for you. If you have reason to believe that this is because of, say, vitamin C content, then you might write, ‘Vitamin C’ on the line that connects the two.

You can also elaborate on particular thoughts e.g. you might draw another circle around ‘preservatives’ and draw lines out from it leading to thoughts that occur to you about this subject, e.g. ‘E numbers’, ‘safety’, ‘use-by dates’, ‘natural’, ‘artificial’, etc. This process can be continued on outwards until you feel you have exhausted your present stock of thoughts and knowledge on the subject. In the meantime you have provided yourself with a visual representation of the subject you want to revise or explore in an essay, etc., which you can use as a guide for your revision or essay structure.

Mind-Maps And Studying Biochemistry

And you can apply this to your biochemistry studies how? You can apply it to any area of biochemistry. TCA cycle? ‘TCA cycle’ goes in your middle circle, every molecule at each new step of the cycle perching on spider legs emanating outwards, and the connections, enzymes and electrons etc. which fly off and are exchanged, described along the lines interlinking them. Sub-divisions of the subject are granted their own ‘circle’ and little web of ‘legs’. And so on for every aspect of this deep and glorious subject!

How did we ever revise or write an essay before Buzan came along? Sometimes I just don’t know.