Is cramming an effective study technique? (1 Viewer)

[deswa1]

Do both. I always prepare thoroughly for exams and then the night before, cram until midnight, sleep until five and then wake up and lightly revise the course again. This is for all subs bar maths where I just listen to pump up music on the morning and sleep the night before. I don't think you can just make a blanket statement that cramming is crap or fantastic; it depends on the person. Relying JUST on cramming I think is a bit silly but cramming can complement effective study extremely well imo.

 

[iSplicer]

I think cramming is effective on top of long periods of effective study as you just revise as much as you've studied for the past month into a few hours

however, cramming by itself with no study does not help anyone

That's not cramming, that's 'revising' (which is an excellent concept). Ask any distinguished high achiever, lecturer or academic whether cramming is an 'effective' study technique.

Sy123 hit the nail on the head, any idiot who's bummed during the sem can cram, obtain a pseudo-understanding of the content, retain it for all of 72 hours and scrape a credit (or maybe even a D). You need to work consistently if you're aiming to actually be the top of the field you're pursuing. Try doing research for a Masters after having crammed all your life.

 

[RishBonjour]

Do both. I always prepare thoroughly for exams and then the night before, cram until midnight, sleep until five and then wake up and lightly revise the course again. This is for all subs bar maths where I just listen to pump up music on the morning and sleep the night before. I don't think you can just make a blanket statement that cramming is crap or fantastic; it depends on the person. Relying JUST on cramming I think is a bit silly but cramming can complement effective study extremely well imo.

AHAHAH. exactly what I do for EVERY TEST.

 

[iSplicer]

Do both. I always prepare thoroughly for exams and then the night before, cram until midnight, sleep until five and then wake up and lightly revise the course again. This is for all subs bar maths where I just listen to pump up music on the morning and sleep the night before. I don't think you can just make a blanket statement that cramming is crap or fantastic; it depends on the person. Relying JUST on cramming I think is a bit silly but cramming can complement effective study extremely well imo.

Then that's not cramming - it's intensse revision!

 

[enoilgam]

I think one of the issues which needs to be considered is the definition of cramming. To me, cramming occurs when a person leaves ALL their study until a few days or less before an exam.

 

[deswa1]

Then that's not cramming - it's intensse revision!

I think one of the issues which needs to be considered is the definition of cramming. To me, cramming occurs when a person leaves ALL their study until a few days or less before an exam.

Oh right. My bad. Well then, no. I don't think you can access the very top marks by leaving everything last minute. Yes you can pass and depending on how good you are, you can do well, but you will always do better with a longer and more consistent prep time.

 

[starshine02]

I used to cram but now i've stopped doing that. you are able to get ok marks that way but i've been getting much better marks by studying beforehand and just quickly revising night before.

 

[iSplicer]

I think one of the issues which needs to be considered is the definition of cramming. To me, cramming occurs when a person leaves ALL their study until a few days or less before an exam.

Or even a few weeks. Second year MedSc is absolutely insane in terms of content, each lecture is like a HUGE chunk of a textbook, and you have to know it VERY well. We have 78 of those lectures, and that's not even counting our fourth elective subject.

 

[SanjoyM]

DO NOT EVEN BOTHER CRAMMING for Biology and Ancient History!!
Trust me, it does not work! My friend tried cramming for Ancient, she could not recall or apply half the content to the question.

 

[madharris]

I think one of the issues which needs to be considered is the definition of cramming. To me, cramming occurs when a person leaves ALL their study until a few days or less before an exam.

I assumed cramming was intensely going over as much as possible in night/morning before (regardless of whether you've done any study previously)

 

[iSplicer]

I assumed cramming was intensely going over as much as possible in night/morning before (regardless of whether you've done any study previously)

Nope! If that was the case then who on earth would argue that as a bad idea.

Cramming is leaving everything to the last minute (ie. two weeks) and pounding your brain with insane amounts of information purely for the sake of short term retention.

 

[enoilgam]

I assumed cramming was intensely going over as much as possible in night/morning before (regardless of whether you've done any study previously)

I guess it really depends on what your definition of cramming is. To me, I would consider something like that to be intense study. Cramming is more or less doing the vast majority of your study in a very short period of time.

 

[brent012]

everything except maths. cram cram cram.

only if you have a good idea of the content though - if its completely new - not sure if its a good idea.

Also, by cramming, you mean like studying for a day or 2 and doing a test?
I sort of think of cramming as 4-5 days.

As far as im concerned 4-5 days is a LONG time for cramming, and that would be more actual testing. I personally wouldn't consider it cramming if you have time for past papers.

 

[SanjoyM]

I guess, I was engaging in "intense revision" all long and falsely believed I was cramming LOL

 

[Atar Hater]

Yeah, cramming (as with most colloquial words) doesn't really have a solid definition (ie consistent with everyone). So half of this thread has been semantics haha.

 

[enoilgam]

Yeah, cramming (as with most colloquial words) doesn't really have a solid definition (ie consistent with everyone). So half of this thread has been semantics haha.

Bit of a fail from me on that one. Although I think we all have generally the same idea on what exactly cramming is, its just the details which differ.

 

[Atar Hater]

Bit of a fail from me on that one. Although I think we all have generally the same idea on what exactly cramming is, its just the details which differ.

That's quite true haha, but those details make all the difference .

But i guess most people would agree that consistent revision is better. But in terms of marginal gains (ie bang for your buck), cramming is quite effective. It depends on your goals in the end imo.

 

[RishBonjour]

As far as im concerned 4-5 days is a LONG time for cramming, and that would be more actual testing. I personally wouldn't consider it cramming if you have time for past papers.

If you are studying content for 2 days straight for a trial exam - is that counted as cramming? (e.g. for subjects like biology - where its just memorising stuff)

 

[SanjoyM]

If you are studying content for 2 days straight for a trial exam - is that counted as cramming? (e.g. for subjects like biology - where its just memorising stuff)

Unless you left it to the last minute and have a very rudimentary understanding of the content, then no it cannot be categorised as "Cramming".

 

[enoilgam]

That's quite true haha, but those details make all the difference .

But i guess most people would agree that consistent revision is better. But in terms of marginal gains (ie bang for your buck), cramming is quite effective. It depends on your goals in the end imo.

True.