Here is a familiar scenario. It is the day before a big calculus exam, and you have not studied for whatever reason (short on time, too many other exams packed into the same day, etc.). We have all done it. Maybe have another different scenario like… It is Thursday night, and you remember that you have a unit test in Physics tomorrow morning. Or maybe the scenario goes like this: you completely forgotten that you have an exam or procrastinating so much that you find yourself in a massive rush to learn all the new information before your exam the next day. This is what is known as cramming. And when this happens, cramming for exams often really does seem like the only logical step.
Cramming will work in the sense of performance on an exam administered right at the end of cramming. Most students get an impression that it really works, but it just works on the short term. It is accompanied with a dramatic forgetting rate after that. So why it might work? Cramming just before an exam can (in theory) allow you to remember information in the short term and enable you to take in enough information for the exam. However, this may will most likely mean that you’ll have no lasting connections to the knowledge, and you won’t develop any deep understanding of the information. You will also likely forget it the second you walk out of the exam.
To cram, or not to cram? That is the question most students ask themselves when headed towards final exams. In case you are one of them, we have the answer for you: Do not do it. Why? Because all research indicates that it is a terrible idea, and that you may in fact end up knowing less than you started out with. So why it might not work? There are many reasons not to cram last minute for an exam, which we are sure you have no desire to hear, but here you go anyway…
Cramming is essentially trying to stuff a load of information into your short-term memory in time for an upcoming exam. This has been proven to increase stress levels and can lead to panic and anxiety, making it a lot harder to take in information. Cramming for exams also usually results in reduced sleep time. It was found that sacrificing sleep to cram for an exam is counterproductive. that longer study hours were associated with academic problems because extra studying usually meant less sleep for the student.
In other words, pulling all-nighters is never a good idea. It may seem like a badge of honor, but an all-nighter does nothing to improve your learning or test scores the following day. Even more unsettling, the research also showed that your entire academic performance that week could be compromised. So, what should you do instead? Get the sleep you need and space out the learning throughout the semester.
But if you are going to cram, do it right!
If you are going to cram for your exams, cram but cram effectively. Reading the textbook until you fall asleep at your desk from sheer exhaustion is probably not the best way to prepare for an exam. Make a list of what you must learn before the exam. It’s important to be realistic about this – if you’ve left the revision until the very last minute (e.g. the night before) it’s probably too late to learn absolutely all of the information. You are best to prioritize and revise the most important topics properly, rather than trying to do too much and then getting yourself hyped up.
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