Cramming... Does it really work?

madgal

I crammed so much in for the physics that during the exam I got my definitions mucked up... so thats why I'm asked does Cramming really work?

Marshy

It obviously depends on the individual. For many people, including myself, its the be all and end all. All us folk do is cram, cram, cram.

For others, this method might not work. I suppose its a question of how good someones short term memory is to a large degree.

spongebobgirl

I think it only works for fine-tuning... it might bring someone from an A2 to an A1. There's no harm in it, as long as it doesn't make you more stressed, or not get enough sleep the night before an exam.

Smellyirishman

I would say the opposite, cramming will get you from an F to a C, but if you're looking for a higher mark it's going to take more continuous work. Saying that, I've always been a crammer and not done too badly.

mateo

It doesn't work that well for me. There's only so much my brain can take at one time. I end up only remembering some of what I studied

Haven't a Clue

Different horses for different courses. Rarely works for me.

spongebobgirl

Hmmm... depends on the subject too, I guess.

It'd be hard to improve with cramming for, say, Irish paper one, but it may work for biology or history.

Turnip2000

I live by it!! Instead of staying up late the night before i just get up at 4.30 before the exam nd learn everything i can!!

I find that everything i look at after a nice cuppa tea sticks nd for some reason its all come up!! Especially physics!! :cool:

me2gud4u

i think continuous work stands to people better and then the night before a little refreshing does the trick -that's not really cramming seeing as you have done the groundwork since fifth yr

kisaragi

Yeah, cramming is fine if you've worked all year and it's more like reminding yourself than learning the whole course in six hours the day before that definitly won't work. I suppose you might pass but not with a great result

Eddie Ere

It depends on the individual as has been mentioned. Works for me and looking at your notes just before you go into the exam and the night before and repeating again and again will work the trick.

Enemy Of Fate

If I wasn't as good as cramming as I am, then I wouldn't be going to 3rd level education......because I simply lack the ability to put in work over long periods.Anyways for the Leaving i've gotten up every morning and crammed the entire course (of the test I have first) in about 2 hours (business took slightly longer), and i'm willing to bet it'll pay off immensely (specially in business.If I hadn't crammed the course that morning i'd be looking at a low C, instead of a high .So in a nutshell, yes cramming works.

whatshername!!

Cramming is all i ever do. I have never studied for an exam until the night before or most of the time the morning of the exam i have gotten up at about 3.30 every day of the leaving cert. I have always done fairly well in all exams

Thomas_S_Hunterson

I always cram and it usually sees me to an A1.

I find I can't/don't bother to work when there's no pressure.

microbiek

Haven't a Clue wrote:

Different horses for different courses. Rarely works for me.

different strokes different folks

Lucas10101

I did a lot of pre-work but did a lot of cramming methods and I know I have done way better and would put it down to cramming, I would have done well, but now, I'll exceed my expectations 515+ points.

elefant

I work fairly hard in class, don't do a stroke at home, and then cram around a week before. It's worked for me so far(as in JC!) Hopefully it'll work again...

sternn

I think cramming does work. I have worked hard over the last few months. But i still go over stuff the night before an exam and the morning of it aswell (up at 4am). It works for me, probably raised my percent in each by abut 5%.

cson

Its probably more effective during the LC exams themselves cos they're more spread out than the mocks.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

I think it's a bit of pointless exercise trying to put a numerical value on your cramming tbh, unless you can mentally analyse everything you wouldn't have know had you not crammed...which I doubt anyone can.

DtotheK

i crammed for the mocks and it was great.

Did more work in the weeks before LC and crammed through out but i'm not as happy. It worked great for the languages and maths...

everything else not so good... but i don't think that it was my method, it was my lack of doing enough of the method

Lucas10101

" A 56 year old psychologist from Cambridge University has recently announced that students should do intense cramming sessions right before examinations. The psychologist told RTE news that intense cramming improved results by a starting 12.4% on average. This has given much hope for students who may have found it difficult to study for the past academic year.

Dr. Ima B. Ollox who's originally from Mumbai India did extensive 20 years research and came to this suiting conclusion after his study. He claims " Cramming as it's called is very effective because you're at a time where your Corpus Callosum in the mid-brain transfers information to the long-term memory ", Dr. B. Ollox further commented that at a time of immense pressure, you will recall information more quicker by remembering it instantly. Dr. Ima B. Ollox just completed his Ph.D after 24 years studying it. "

He wished all students good luck in further examinations.
Charlie Bird.

*****************************************************

Sean, I found this and may prove useful for a source

conor2007

i believe he spells his name

Dr. I'm a BOllix

Lucas10101

No Connor, it's definitely Dr. Ima B. Ollox, it came directly from RTE Studios.

Thomas_S_Hunterson

Lucas10101 wrote:

" A 56 year old psychologist from Cambridge University has recently announced that students should do intense cramming sessions right before examinations. The psychologist told RTE news that intense cramming improved results by a starting 12.4% on average. This has given much hope for students who may have found it difficult to study for the past academic year.

Dr. Ima B. Ollox who's originally from Mumbai India did extensive 20 years research and came to this suiting conclusion after his study. He claims " Cramming as it's called is very effective because you're at a time where your Corpus Callosum in the mid-brain transfers information to the long-term memory ", Dr. B. Ollox further commented that at a time of immense pressure, you will recall information more quicker by remembering it instantly. Dr. Ima B. Ollox just completed his Ph.D after 24 years studying it. "

He wished all students good luck in further examinations.
Charlie Bird.

*****************************************************

Sean, I found this and may prove useful for a source

That's perfectly fine as it is a scientific study from an objective standpoint.

Not from my post I said "your cramming". We can not measure the value of our own cramming as we cannot perform an exam under the exact same conditions with and without cramming, it's just not possible.

This scientific study can be deemed accurate however, provided the sample size was large enough because applying the Laws of Large Numbers, we should get an average value for performance with cramming and performance without.

PeakOutput

didnt read the whole thread BUT

i did my leaving 3/4 years ago did no work until the last month and got 375point which is alright........depends what you want and what type of person you are.......

i didnt know it at the time but it has been proved time and time again that i only really excell under pressure so if thats you cram away if its not (and iv sen people who crumble under pressure) then cram at your peril


Edit; clearly even tho im in work im under no pressure right now as my spelling is horrible

Eddie Ere

Lucas10101 wrote:

" A 56 year old psychologist from Cambridge University has recently announced that students should do intense cramming sessions right before examinations. The psychologist told RTE news that intense cramming improved results by a starting 12.4% on average. This has given much hope for students who may have found it difficult to study for the past academic year.

Dr. Ima B. Ollox who's originally from Mumbai India did extensive 20 years research and came to this suiting conclusion after his study. He claims " Cramming as it's called is very effective because you're at a time where your Corpus Callosum in the mid-brain transfers information to the long-term memory ", Dr. B. Ollox further commented that at a time of immense pressure, you will recall information more quicker by remembering it instantly. Dr. Ima B. Ollox just completed his Ph.D after 24 years studying it. "

He wished all students good luck in further examinations.
Charlie Bird.

*****************************************************

Sean, I found this and may prove useful for a source

Thomas_S_Hunterson

sean_keevey wrote:

That's perfectly fine as it is a scientific study from an objective standpoint.

Not from my post I said "your cramming". We can not measure the value of our own cramming as we cannot perform an exam under the exact same conditions with and without cramming, it's just not possible.

This scientific study can be deemed accurate however, provided the sample size was large enough because applying the Laws of Large Numbers, we should get an average value for performance with cramming and performance without.

Ugh I'm such a tool!!!

Stop taking advantage of my suggestibility and irritability and general brain fatigue;)

I shouldn't have left the whole chemistry course to revise today and tomorrow morning! It's tough going. Almost done though.:rolleyes:

Rowley Birkin QC

IMO works for college, not for leaving cert. Easy to cram one year or possibly even one semester but not two years worth of material.

zuchum

focused cramming...when you have a set number of things to learn,and a set amount of time,i think is useful..

but youre never gonna get two years info into your head especially if you dont already know it and just need revision...

but an essay or two for history or something...easy

Karlusss

Cramming's deadly. It got me everywhere in my Mocks and it's worked brilliantly so far in the real thing.

I'm not saying general work isn't required but anyone who doesn't cram viciously the day before an exam is probably letting themselves drop 5-10% either out of some strange principle or laziness.

cocoa

bigkev49 wrote:

IMO works for college, not for leaving cert. Easy to cram one year or possibly even one semester but not two years worth of material.

two years of college material, certainly, but the leaving cert is more like one semester of college material...

cson

Yes but the leaving cert is spread out over ~7 subjects and is therefore more varied than a specialised college course hence making it difficult to cram everything. Incomparable imo.

Lucas10101

I think you have to do some degree of groundwork first. Like for maths, if you never did homework and tried to cram, cram, cram it may not work for you.

Same with other subjects, you would of had to of done something over the past two years and the people that do more pre-work and cram would get higher than those who did little pre-work and cram, of course depending on their ability to retain information.

Enemy Of Fate

Lucas10101 wrote:

I think you have to do some degree of groundwork first. Like for maths, if you never did homework and tried to cram, cram, cram it may not work for you.

Well it worked great for me in Maths....although it was only pass.

adam_ccfc

I'd consider that I worked steadily throughout the year, but I always do study the day before an exam, it just keeps it fresh in the short-term memory, and can help.

Corruptedmorals

Well I studied consistently, but cramming really helped me...remembering adjectives to describe irish poems/stories....looking over past History essays and taking statistics and phrases from them...memorising Biology diagrams...milking statistics for geog..

Short-term memory FTW.

Feddd

Cramming works VERY WELL for economics as the course is so short. in toher subjects you may need to specialise what you do for cramming.

Arctic_Monkeh

Cramming...?!

Now thats the million dollar question.

Im unconvinced as to whether it is a foolproof method of learning. i think it is a short term thing. Think about it, anyone who crammed for lots of tests, do you remember most of it now? i did for the mocks and i forgot most of the stuff i learned for the actual LC.

Saying that, I LIVE BY CRAMMING! Ha, and im going to have to cram my brains out for my construction exam tomorrow!

cabla

I think it depends on the person...some people cant study, or they jsut forget it a few weeks later ( <---me)

So cramming is essential

ashyle

Worked for me in Irish... not in any of the others tho...aww...

Karlusss

Discovered today Classics is too big to cram in one day.

Well I knew. But it came out of repressed memory.

fionated7

depends on the person but i defo give cramming the thumbs up!!

12 hours studying music tomorrow should be fun!!!

cheater

i hope so economics here i come *yawn*