Cram It

It’s that time of year again. Summer is coming, but there’s one last hurdle to go.

You have no less than six, 800 page, pristine, unopened text books, and 21 hours before you have to prove you understand everything in them.

So maybe your finals aren’t exactly tomorrow, but you’re going to wait till it’s down to the wire anyway.

Yeah. You probably should have already started.

But there’s no turning back now, so armed with an array of snacks and stimulants you’re gonna spend the next 21 hours trying to ramrod some education into that cranium of yours.

I have one little piece of advice for anyone who’s planning to cram over the weekend. Abandon hope.

Seriously, it’s almost universally upheld that cramming is one of the least effective study methods.

And even if you managed to jack hammer all the information into your head, most likely it’ll all be gone by next semester.

But that’s what you’re paying for right? To learn… and then forget… and then have to learn it again later.

And when was the last time having something crammed into you sounded pleasant?

Just not a good idea.

There are all sorts of theories on how the human brain functions and how learning actually works, but the important thing to do is to find out what methods work best for you.

No doubt you’ve heard of visual and auditory learners. Some people tend to pick up things better if they see it, others if they hear it. Then there are tactile or kinesthetic learners, who learn by doing.

Sometimes this can mean unusual or unorthodox approaches like recording things you think you’ll need to know and then listening to them played back. Or building little models to help you understand something. Like… how to build little models.

I guess if your olfactory or gustatory learner you’re gonna have a little difficulty… or you’ll have to be really creative.

But hey, if 1842 tastes like chicken, and that helps you remember the year, great. Or if the smell of wet cat reminds you of protozoans, more power to ya.

I just do not see how that is going to help you on a test.

Associations are another common way to try and get your brain to pick up on things faster than it normally would. But this can be tricky because if the associations themselves are too involved or complicated, you end up memorizing a bunch of associations and forgetting what they relate to.

I ate apple bacon this morning, and that comes from pigs, and the most famous pig is Wilber, and that’s really close to William and that should tell me something. His last name was Tell, William Tell… what has he got to do with apple bacon?

Some experts say the context of where and how you study are very important. When your brain records what you’re studying it also records where you, what you were thinking or doing around that same time. Contextual information.

And so by mixing up the times and places you study and the material your studying, it should be helpful in making things easier to remember.

Should be. I’m not sure how well that’s going to work, what with 21 hours left to go.

But hey, there’s no reason why you can’t spend part of your time walking around outside with flash cards instead of sitting at the same desk reading the same, similar-looking pages.

But that assumes you have time to make flash cards… just tear out pages of your book.

Lucky for you this condition is temporary. While learning is a life long process, cramming is by in large a byproduct of the educational system.

In the real world, most jobs and situations don’t expect you to know everything with out references. Of course, in the real world, there’s a lot more at stake than a grade.

So you can learn how to learn, or you can keep cramming for the rest of your life.

You’re still here? You are running out of time! Go study!

Transcribed by: Caitlin Y.

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