Cramming
Let’s face it, nearly everyone has crammed
for a test, and it is likely that more than half of all students don’t study
any other way.
Unfortunately cramming has a causes a lot
of problems, and isn’t really efficient. Let’s break it down:
High anxiety
When you are cramming, you have a short
period of time to learn a lot – which means you are going to be a bit stressed
about it. Unfortunately this creates a bit of a feedback loop, because stress
makes it harder to remember things. Which in turn will make you more stressed,
and so on. So aside from feeling like crap because you are panicky, a bit
jumpy, and probably a bit nauseous, you are also going to be seriously
inefficient in what you do remember. Let’s not forget that high anxiety during
cramming will follow you into the test, and guess what? High anxiety will
likely cause you to forget stuff.
Wasted time
In addition to the time you waste being
inefficient because you are stressed, cramming itself is an inefficient way of
studying. There have been studies to show that your peak concentration only
lasts about half an hour. Meaning that after that it takes more effort to
remember less stuff. Now think about how inefficient it would be if you were to
cram for 3 or 4 hours. Not very.
No long-term retention
The way our brains work means that when we
are cramming, we only make short-term memories. Which might be enough to get us
through most of the test tomorrow, but sets us up for bigger failures later on.
See, the way education is set up means that teachers assume you know things
covered previous – that you actually remember, and understand, the stuff they
tested you on last term. This means that, if you crammed and no longer remember
something, it is going to be much harder to learn the next step.
So, what is the alternative? Study a little
bit every day. I know it sounds boring, and it takes discipline. But in the
end, you spend less time studying overall, and you improving your learning
dramatically. What looks like more work on the surface, is actually less work,
less stressful, and gives you more time for guilt-free enjoyment of the things
you really want to do.
For further reading on particularly bad
methods of cramming to avoid, check out this article: http://www.cracked.com/blog/the-7-dumbest-things-students-do-when-cramming-exams/
Information for this post largely sourced
from:
Tucker, K. (2016). Disadvantages of
cramming. Retrieved June 21, 2016 from http://classroom.synonym.com/disadvantages-cramming-tests-3960.html
