Cramming For Exams

Discussion in 'Education & Learning' started by Avigail David, Aug 2, 2015.

  1. Avigail David

    Avigail David Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    May 20, 2015
    Messages:
    360
    Likes Received:
    285
    There I was in college. Full time. The world hung heavily on my shoulders with loads of subjects I found illogical and useless-- at the time. Of course, excuses for putting off studying ahead of time for exams were misplaced at the time. I could have gained 10% higher and better grades if I hadn't crammed all that information in one go.

    I got away with feint attempts at putting off studying for exams until the last minute. Sleep suffered. Mental exhaustion took toll.

    And as the exams week drew near, I'd pump up adrenaline rush pushing all that information in my head. I wished I didn't cram. That sliced out a portion of joy in my college days.
     
    #1
  2. Magalina Lilis

    Magalina Lilis Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 10, 2015
    Messages:
    114
    Likes Received:
    82
    Oh, the regrets from the past. Some classes I would prepare for in advance and others a few days prior.

    Nowadays, I take college courses with a different game plan for fun. Since it is not the final grade that is my reward, I find myself coming across a topic and doing my own research. Must admit, in other areas of my life, procrastination creeps up on me far too often.

    Of course, my college student children cram for their exams. One studies just enough and slides content with a B average with only occasional A's. The other has a 4.0 average. I think, it has to do with how much you retain during the semester, along with how the Professor sets up the exams.
     
    #2
  3. Avigail David

    Avigail David Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    May 20, 2015
    Messages:
    360
    Likes Received:
    285
    So do I. I take Certificate graduate studies for the pleasure of studying and interest. My homework were handed in promptly. I took to gusto mode of studying until satisfied about what I learned.
     
    #3
    Magalina Lilis likes this.
  4. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2015
    Messages:
    2,880
    Likes Received:
    2,465
    I've learned this style of reviewing for exams when I was in high school. I would wake up before 4 am and study in the living room. The radio would provide soft music so there would be a distraction because at that hour, extreme silence would be scary, hahahaaa. But what I read would really be plastered on my mind, much easier to remember than when I review during normal hours. With that, I always had good grades when the exam results were given.
     
    #4
  5. Jenn Windey

    Jenn Windey Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 22, 2015
    Messages:
    341
    Likes Received:
    264
    When I went back to school for my second degree I was so much more prepared. I was also much older. I would start every semester by calculating how many pages I needed to read a day in order to keep up and I did this without fail for every class but one.

    I had to take a finance class, being an accounting major I had actually already taken several finance classes. And I don't know for sure what happened in this class but I never read any of the textbook except for the homework and the demonstrations on how to do the actual math itself for whatever it was you were calculating. I was in a panic when it got to the finals although at that point I was doing better then average in the class. It was the first time I never read a text book EVER in any class since kindergarten. Well I got an A in that class, just goes to show that sometimes just understanding the math is all you need.

    I liked school, when I retire I will go back. I spent endless hours in the library researching all sorts of stuff that interested me. I don't want a masters, I just like to study stuff. :cool:Of course it might be about aliens or something else weird but hey!
     
    #5
    Corie Henson likes this.
  6. John Donovan

    John Donovan Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2015
    Messages:
    379
    Likes Received:
    149
    I also wish I wouldn't have stressed myself over school that much. I think that it took me years off my life expectancy, and it just ruined a time which should've been the sweetest for me.
     
    #6
    Corie Henson likes this.
  7. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
    Staff Member Senior Staff Greeter Task Force Registered

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2015
    Messages:
    24,326
    Likes Received:
    42,620
    I have crammed for tests but did not find that to be a good strategy. If I were really behind, I would have to cram but I tried not to be behind. As long as I kept up with the class, I found that the best time to study for a test was two or three days before the test. The day before the test, it's best not to even think about it. I can't say that I can do it with every subject, but if I am able to understand the subject, I will do so much more than by memorizing study points. When I was teaching paramedic courses, my best students were those who could understand what was going wrong with a person who was suffering from a medical or traumatic emergency, and who could understand what the various treatment options did, and why. That was so much more effective than memorizing therapeutic effects, side effects, dosages, and algorithms.
     
    #7
    Corie Henson likes this.
  8. Carlota Clemens

    Carlota Clemens Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2015
    Messages:
    430
    Likes Received:
    322
    I don't know about you, but while I found effective cramming techniques for exams and was then confident of my knowledge, which always gave me good grades, with the pass of the time I found that it was kind of worthless cramming just because of the rush of an upcoming exam.

    While I can remember many of the things I learned then, a large percentage of such knowledge was ephemeral, and vanished once the exam results were given.

    However I have also realized that the older we are, the easier it seem to learn without needing of cramming. Something you learn today gets into your "knowledge bank" and stays there. No repetitive memorization needed to achieve this. Or at least this is how learning seems easier to me after age 35/40.
     
    #8
    Corie Henson likes this.
  9. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2015
    Messages:
    2,880
    Likes Received:
    2,465
    @Carlota Clemens, I remember that term knowledge bank. Our college professor was always egging us to read because it is an advantage if a person is a wide reader. He always gave an example and usually it is the quiz show on tv. That if we read a lot then we know a lot so when we join a quiz show then we can become a millionaire. Simple logic, hahahaaa.

    And when I got older, it seems that I am getting at ease with everything. Whereas before I was having a hard time reading the Readers' Digest magazine, later on it got easier because I have come to understand and master English words and phrases including the idioms. And now that I am an adult, attending trainings is a breeze since I already have a hint of the subject matter.
     
    #9
    Carlota Clemens likes this.
  10. Tom Locke

    Tom Locke Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2015
    Messages:
    1,222
    Likes Received:
    2,296
    One of the reasons that I made a radical change in my degree course was that I decided to study something that I had a genuine interest in. The result is that I have a degree made up of computing, 19th-century literature and linguistics, a bizarre combination if there ever was one. I felt that I was studying IT more because I had to rather than because I wanted to. Things got a whole lot easier when I was actually engaged with the subject.

    At least I can say that there can't be too many people around the globe with a degree composed of the disparate elements that mine has.
     
    #10
    Corie Henson likes this.
  11. Carlota Clemens

    Carlota Clemens Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 6, 2015
    Messages:
    430
    Likes Received:
    322
    @Corie Henson, certainly reading, watching the news and all other source of every-day information improves the knowledge bank you are referring to, and while it seems like our memory is not longer serving us as good as in the past, certainly our retentive is way too much better at this stage, and we can learn just about everything with easiness as long as the subject is appealing to us.

    Sometimes I have tried to get into learning things that didn't move me, and this way is harder to learn, but basically due to lack of fond interest.
     
    #11
    Corie Henson likes this.
  12. Corie Henson

    Corie Henson Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 11, 2015
    Messages:
    2,880
    Likes Received:
    2,465
    @Tom Locke and @Carlota Clemens, it is loud and clear in your posts that something interesting to us is easier to read and learn from than one with a subject that is alien to us. When I was hired by the bank for my first regular job, I had zero knowledge of banking. On the very first day, I was required to attend the so called basic banking orientation that was conducted for 2 whole days. It seemed that my brain was swelling from the information that I had collected which were of no interest to me at the time. Fortunately, when I got my first pay check, the job became interesting enough, hahahaaa, and learning got easier.
     
    #12
  13. Jennifer Graves

    Jennifer Graves Veteran Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jun 8, 2015
    Messages:
    413
    Likes Received:
    125
    cramming is a waste of time for me. Either I know it well enough, and understand it to the point that reading it before hand is unnecessary. And if I don't know it by heart, if I don't read it immediately before the exam, I will forget it anyway.
     
    #13
  14. Ike Willis

    Ike Willis Supreme Member
    Registered

    Joined:
    Jul 9, 2015
    Messages:
    2,460
    Likes Received:
    6,012
    Never gave tests much thought. I must have retained just enough knowledge to squeak by, because that's what I did. C's and D's but hey, that's a passing grade. Anyway, no amount of cramming would have helped me with math. I could do basic math easy enough. Could see no reason why the alphabet and symbols had to be involved in math.

    School was a bad enough time for me without being tested. I didn't get along with half my classmates and none of my teachers.
     
    #14

Share This Page