Final exam season is upon one and all. Have you ever tried to study for a test only the night before? Cramming for tests is certainly the worst way to study and prepare.
To remember information long term, it needs to move from short-term memory into long-term memory. This is a process. If you cram for a test the night before, chances are the information will only be retained in your memory for the short term—so short that it could all be forgotten the next day. Obviously, if you can’t remember what you studied the night before, then stress level will rise and further cloud the ability to recall whatever was important to remember in the first place. On the other hand, reviewing material in chunks and over time—maybe even for a week prior, will allow the information to really sink in and be learned so that it’s easily recalled at test time.
Have you ever compared your scores on a test you crammed for with a test for which you studied well in advance? Which one did you score higher on? Chances are that you scored significantly worse on the test for which you crammed versus the other one. Cramming for a test will leave incomplete information in your head. Important details such as facts, figures, dates, and names of people or places, tend to be glossed over. Maybe important facts will be omitted. You won’t have time to think critically about important connections between different aspects of the topic or material.
Rather than trying to cram a semester’s worth of information into one miserable night of studying, it makes a lot more sense to prepare for tests well in advance. Even preparing one to two weeks in advance can make a big difference. Cramming causes anxiety and results in distractibility, resulting in lower scores. But perhaps the biggest problem with cramming is that the information you review in a cram session will in all likelihood not be remembered for more than the very short term. When it comes time to prepare for finals, you will have to start studying from the beginning. This can easily be avoided with some advance planning and discipline.
Want more tips? To receive the full details of this week’s Thursday Tips, subscribe here.
Visit S4StudySkills.com/Upcoming_Workshops.html for information about upcoming Summer Study Skills workshops.
