Prepared Cramming - Long Term Cramming For Long Term Recall

When you have been studying all semester, you already have your notes condensed into several pages that contain all the ideas and facts for the exam (hopefully you do have your notes organized?). You know all of the new vocabulary. If you are taking a course in foreign languages, you already have flash cards that you have made for the more difficult words and phrases. By now you also have a list of common verbs used and a list of unusual verbs that is organized according to the endings of the words. When taking a technical course, by now you have cards with required material such as formulas and the derivations and cards for equivalents.There are 3 primary goals in prepared cramming:
1. Read and read again.
2. Look for associations, patterns and similarities that are logical.
3. Summarize major findings and conclusions.
4. Find hints that prove importance of your learning. If the teacher placed emphasis on something they are calling attention to that piece of information.
Remember – facts are only meaningful if they are in relationship to other facts.
Relationships have meaning – facts by themselves have no meaning and are difficult to remember.
Summarize your notes again.
Make your notes smaller and more organized by writing them out again in a summary form. The notes you have are already a summary – summarizing them again will make them smaller and easier to remember. Leave out the information you know already. Only write what you are uncertain about. If you are still having difficulties, make time to talk to your teacher or get a tutor.
By now you might have several pages of the most important topics, and notes to jog your memory like names, dates, and places. Before you go to bed read everything over again. When you think you are prepared, study again:
(1) Create an outline of the coursework
(2) Get the facts and ideas into perspective
(3) Jog your memory of the facts and associations. Everyone forgets some of what
they’ve learned unless they review it at reasonable intervals.
Now devote some time to the parts you do not understand and the parts you have a habit of forgetting. Concentrate on the things that you think you will never be able to learn (tama pero dapat pagAralan mo ung sa tingin mo ay lalabas).
Get at least six hours sleep (ako 8-9hrs asleep). It’s been proven that more than six hours of sleep makes the mind stronger and able to memorize more material (kaya pala.hehe kaya wag magpapuyat). It’s also been proven that less than six hours sleep does the exact opposite. Your memory becomes cloudy and cannot hold much information.
Mix up the problems on the exam. Don’t memorize everything in exact order. When you mix up all the information it will prove how well you memorized your notes.
Now compare your answers with the correct answers. This will help to determine where your weak spots are. Get help if you need it and after you have alleviated all the weak spots, test yourself again to strengthen your memory. (ay ganito mga ginawa ko nun a.)
Strategy 3: Pretest
If you can get answer keys of prior tests, use them as a test about a week before the exam. You can also make up an exam from homework assignments.
Imitate what the exact test will be like if you can. Try to take the mock exam in the exam room. Use the exact same format for the exact same time period of the exam. It’s been proven that test scores are higher when students are familiar with the testing conditions.
Time yourself to improve your speed taking the exam and reduce exam anxiety. Most tests are testing how you use the exam time and how well you can work under pressure. (nice advise. read nyo po to)