Back to School : How to Avoid the Curse of the Cram!

We are coming up to that time again. It’s time for everyone to go back to school – but I think most post-secondary students suffer from the “curse of the cram”. This is what I call the time when you’re nearing exams and you realize you aren’t caught up, so you pull an all-nighter before your test. Does this help anyone? No. You just forget everything you’ve learned after you finish the test.

Once again, I’m here to save millenials. Or at least make your lives a little bit easier, whether you’ve just started university, are in the middle of a masters degree, or are somewhere in high school this is for all you students out there.

I know that most of the learning I retained came from studying after school by reviewing my notes. I don’t remember a time where cramming my studies actually helped me more than it caused me immense stress.

Studies also show that cramming will not benefit you on a test, and you are more likely to forget all information learned if you had crammed. It will not help you in the long term, which completely defeats the point of taking a class.

One super effective studying technique is spacing out your studying. Spacing is when you study one topic on a day, and leave a number of days before you go back and review it.

Another good review tactic is to do different types of problems, which is referred to as interleaving. An example would be doing a case study, then a definition problem, then a calculation. This allows you to study smarter, and to not have to study as much.

It appears that testing yourself can also allow information to stick in your brain. You can do this by quizzing yourself with cue cards, or by creating an entire practice test. Sometimes you can ask teachers or professors for previous tests so you can use them to test your knowledge.

This all being said, don’t study at night. Get adequate sleep. Study in the afternoon or the evening after you have eaten supper, so that you actually have the ability to be productive.

Edited by: Kim Rooney

Sources:
Kornell, N. (n.d.). Study better: Space it out and mix it up. Retrieved September 7, 2015.

Kornell, N. (n.d.). Study Better: Tough Studying Makes Easy Tests. Retrieved September 7, 2015.

Markman, A. (n.d.). Developing Good Study Habits Really Works. Retrieved September 7, 2015.

Leave your vote

0 points
Upvote Downvote

Total votes: 0

Upvotes: 0

Upvotes percentage: 0.000000%

Downvotes: 0

Downvotes percentage: 0.000000%

Related Articles

Responses

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Psych2Go

Hey there!

Forgot password?

Forgot your password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Close
of

Processing files…