Question: James (1899) devoted an entire chapter to the concept of memory. It has been proven that cramming is not effective, yet so many students are continuing to do cram for exams. How can educators include proper study skills teaching into the school’s curriculum? Throughout my schooling, I was never taught how to study for an exam. This may be why so many students do cram, since they may not understand that constant exposure over time is much more effective.
Passage: James (1899) explained in his lecture that, “You now see why cramming must be so poor a mode of a study. Cramming seeks to stamp things in by intense application immediately before the ordeal. But a thing thus learned can form but few associations. On the other hand, the same thing recurring on different days, in different contexts, read, recited on, referred to again and again, related to other things and reviewed, gets well wrought into pupils habits of continuous applications” (p. 64).
After reading James (1899) and his view on cramming, I could not help but think of my brother. My brother is in medical school, and also has a very high IQ. During his undergraduate career, he was able to not go to class and to cram for an exam the night before an exam. Unfortunately, this study method was very reinforcing to him since he continued to get all A’s as a biotechnology major. Once my brother entered into medical school, he tried to utilize this same study habit to learn his material. He would pull all-nighters before an exam, in order to cram all of the material in. He quickly found out that a lot of this information was not transferred into his long term memory storage. He also discovered that the teachers assumed that the information that was previously tested on was in the students’ knowledge base. They would build on previous knowledge, and expect that the students were familiar with the material instead of reviewing it. Just like the other students, my brother had to start finding ways to react to the material he was expected to know. He explained to me that working in the hospital now helps him better remember information, since he is actually using the information instead of simply trying to cram it in the night before a test. The information now has meaning, he reads about the information in a textbook, and in addition he uses the information while he is working at the hospital.
Outside connection: This quote by James (1899) reminded me of why cramming is so ineffective. While reading this passage, I continued to question why so many students continue to cram for exams. This made me think back on which classes I crammed for, and which classes I did not cram for during high school. The class that I did not cram for was math, since our teacher continually gave pop quizzes. These quizzes could be on anything that we learned during the school year. Since she often used cumulative exams, I wonder why cumulative exams are not utilized more often in the schools. With exams covering only a few weeks of content, cramming for tests can be reinforcing since it is very likely that a person is able to perform well. On the other hand, it is very difficult to cram for a cumulative exam, which could further promote other study skills other than cramming.
This blog includes my personal reactions to weekly readings for the Theories of Learning Course at the University of Kentucky.
4 comments:
This is a very interesting point! I agree that we are trained throughout high school (and even in our undergraduate careers to some extent) to cram for exams instead of making real connections with the material and exposing ourselves to the material over longer periods of time. I think it is important to provide students with certain lessons in how to study, and what methods would be a better use of their time in terms of long-term memory of the material.
Bobby's (my husband) school where he teachers actually offers a study skills class in which they provide students with information about strategies to use when studying to promote long-term retention of the material, as well as how to study for exams, organize assignments, etc. As basic as this skill may seem, I think we often take for granted that our students come to school already knowing how to do this, and should therefore take the time to instruct them in methods that will promote this type of skill development (as well as potentially using methods of testing that would reward good studying habits vs. cramming).
Just as William James emphasized the importance of students being taught good habits; one of those habits that are not being taught is the habit of cramming. I think you made a great point that there are many students in all levels of learning, who have poor study habits. I also believe that there should be lessons taught in school for the proper ways of studying. I too, had problems with retaining information, in which, I still do. It was always hard for me to do well on a quiz or test even when I wasn't cramming, yet as a kid, I was never told how to study. Therefore, it is important to learn the right way of studying. Have a nice weekend!
I think your comments about cramming and not learning effective study skills are on-point. I agree in that most students are not taught the proper way to study throughout the year/semester and therefore rely on cramming to help pass a test/quiz. The idea of a study skills class in high school (from Melissa’s comment above) sounds excellent! My mom had me take a study skills course before I went to college and it was very helpful; I wish I had learned the skills earlier. But even though I learned new study skills the summer before I went to college, I still relied on cramming and writing papers at the last minute. I wonder if some of the reliance on cramming comes from the fact that students are extremely busy with extracurricular activities and things outside of the classroom?
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