Why cramming doesn’t work

Teachers know full well that cramming the night before a test is just about the worst way of studying. It boils down to two things:

  1. You won’t remember as well
  2. You’re making a tradeoff of studying and sleep

A single marathon cramming session won’t get the information to stay in your memory for very long. It’s much better to spend 10 minutes a night reviewing what you’ve learned. This will help strengthen the neural pathways in the brain so you’ll remember it better.

In addition to not being effective for remembering the information, you’re also sacrificing sleep. At your age getting a full nights sleep is crucial. Do you get 8 hours of sleep every night? I didn’t think so. So you’re already not as alert as you should be, and spending hours cramming is only making it worse. Now you’ll be groggy during the test.

Please, just spend a few minutes each evening reviewing what you learned today, and how it builds on what you learned earlier. It will make it so much easier.