Cramming: A Blessing or a Curse

 “Cramming is as widely condemned by the educators as it is widely used by the students”

Cramming is natural and it happens to all of us at one time or another. Cramming is a pretty good workout for the brain, as it improves concentration, boosts short-term memory, brushes up your ability to absorb information and develops thinking speed. Cramming can give you much needed life skills for the workplace as it teaches you how to manage stress and how to work under pressure. You can work effectively on deadlines as you know how to manage the little time effectively.

The benefits given above are faults of cramming as it boosts up Short-term memory (STM) under stress. Cramming won’t last long in your memory and would never become a part of long-term knowledge you gained in this process.

Good study habits are an important skill for every student. The question is why students resort to cramming when they know it's hurting them more. The reason is procrastination; the habit of putting off study until the last possible second. Staying up the whole night thinking they are burning midnight oil to get through this exam maybe their misconception could harvest momentary benefits. In the longer run it may become hazardous as it is the only way they know to get through this difficult situation. Cramming gives a momentary satisfaction of getting through and trains their minds to recite the material without any deeper insight. Cramming can fetch good grades but not good understanding. That's the reason we find students having higher grades but display zero understanding of the subject. Cramming equips the society with a braindead lot whose thinking power got severely strangulated in the process. Although they are good workers but will never rise to the occasion to become better leaders or think out of the box. The first casualty of cramming is creativity. This system feeds the society with the lot who are less disciplined, work shirkers, time wasters, sloppy and practitioners of delay tactics. They are unable to think out of the box in unforeseen and unforeseeable problems. They may become good workers but not better leaders. That’s the reason we have a dearth of leaders, scientists, engineers, teachers in the real sense of the word. In the 76 years of our independence, we have been able to get one Nobel Prize in Physics although we have got a lot of PhDs in our country.

We can get rid of this habit and develop creativity if we use these techniques:

“Spaced learning” is a learning method in which learning content is repeated three times, followed by a break after every learning. It is a much more effective technique for short-term recall and long-term retention. It helps develop the understanding of the concepts and build a long-term memory.

Reading slowly

To understand what you are reading and retain the same in your memory, “read slow and aloud” the word sound will enter your ear and be processed meaningfully by your mind and retained for future.

Taking good notes

Whether you are a student or a teacher, whether you are listening or speaking, make short notes while teaching and take notes while listening for later use. Notes will help recall the subject long after you heard or delivered something on that subject.

Getting a good night’s sleep

A good night’s sleep gives you the power of understanding and retention, you can focus more and sharpen your mental abilities. If you dreamwalk into the lecture room, there are 99 percent chances that you lost an opportunity to learn.

Staying organized

Stay focused on the study schedule, timely submission of assignments, tests and plan each activity of the course otherwise you will land into the land of cramming.

Studying in shorter sessions

Review material in short sessions lasting 20 to 30 minutes. This will help in improving concentration and recall material. Focus only on one topic or one section at a time over the course of days prior to the test.

“Cramming produced results gives you a bubbly fame which soon vanishes away if your knowledge is lame”

Cramming may seem like an effective way for students to prepare for a test, but it only leads to more stress and a disappointing performance. To get the most out of studying, the solution is constant, repeated exposure to the material, and a well-rested and healthy mind.