Cramming: Time and Long Term Memory

Universal Vice: Cramming â€Å"Whoops! It's the night before the big exam, and you haven't done a lick of studying all semester. Looking back on it, you know that you should have been hitting the books all those nights you were watching television, but there's nothing you can do about it now. Don't throw in the towel yet, though–it's time to get cramming. † How often do you do this? Most common among high school and college-aged students, cramming is often used as a means of memorizing and the practice of working intensively to absorb large volumes of informational material in short amounts of time.It is a widely-used study skill performed in preparation of an examination or other performance-based assessment. Best stated by H. E. Gorst in his book, The Curse of Education, â€Å"as long as education is synonymous with cramming on an organized plan, it will continue to produce mediocrity. † Students are often forced to cram after improper time utilization or in ef forts to understand information shortly before being tested. Improper time management is usually the cause for last-minute cramming sessions, and many study techniques have been developed to help students succeed in lieu of cramming.Generally considered as a negative study technique, cramming is becoming more and more common among students at the secondary and post-secondary level, not mentioning those who are as young as five years old. Pressure to perform well in the classroom and to engage in extracurricular activities in addition to other responsibilities often results in this kind of study habit, cramming. According to W. G. Sommer, â€Å"students in a university system often adapt to the time-constraints that are placed upon them in college, and often use cramming to perform well on tests†.In his article, Procrastination and Cramming: How Adept Students Ace the System, he states, â€Å"Many students outwardly adapt to this system, however, engage in an intense and priv ate ritual that comprises five aspects: calculated procrastination, preparatory anxiety, climactic cramming, nick-of-time deadline-making, and a secret, if often uncelebrated, victory. These adept students often find it difficult to admit others into their efficient program of academic survival. † Students have crammed for decades. What most of us don’t know is how many use this study strategy.The lit review in the article references a collection of studies that puts the percentage somewhere between 25 and 50. In this research sample, 45 percent were on the agree side of a scale that measured the extent of cramming. These are some of the very pragmatic questions explored empirically by the researchers: How widespread is cramming among students? Do students think cramming is an effective study strategy? Does cramming work, as in how does it affect course grades? And the really bottom line questions: How effective is cramming in the long run?What’s the impact on le arning and retention? Czarina Isabel F. de Leon, a freshman college student of University of the Philippines – Diliman states, â€Å"I believe that many students cram all the time. Maybe, this is due to lack of knowledge with regards to time management and discipline. But honestly speaking, I can say that cramming helps me in some way. I don’t know if it’s just me who feels that cramming stimulates my brain cells more. It seems like I am able to formulate more ideas and to absorb more information whenever I cram for some of my school works and tests.In spite of this, I don’t think that cramming has affected my grades that much because there are so many factors that can influence class marks. If I were to choose from cramming and not cramming, I would definitely choose the latter. This is because I know for a fact that if I wouldn’t cram, I’m sure that my work is clearly done and not just scrapped from somewhere. I do believe that cramming p roduces risky works, in such a way that a person who crams is not sure whether he did his job well or not. Perhaps the question that most needs addressing is this one: How come some exams can be mastered so successfully by students who’ve prepared by cramming? You might think it’s just a problem with multiple-choice exams. Not so. In this study and others, the amount of cramming students reported was not a function of exam type. Are teachers testing too much recall on their exams? It might be interesting to go through an exam and see how many questions can be answered with material you could memorize but not understand at all or well.Cramming is often discouraged by educators because the hurried coverage of material tends to result in poor long-term retention of material. In a 2007 study conducted by University of South Florida psychologist Doug Rohrer, it was determined that last minute studying reduces retention of material and may hinder the learning process in the long term. There is a biological reason for this. The problem is that cramming information places it into our brains in short term storage. This is where you put everyday information that is not really worth remembering.In order to learn we have to transfer information into long term memory. Once there, you can retrieve it far easier over a longer period of time. All information are processed in the brain and stored in short term memory. The problem is that these information sort of overloads the brain and are not kept for very long. Can you remember every single event that happened to you in a given day? Think of the literal thousands of bits of information you are exposed to every day. It's not necessary to remember it all, so the brain dumps it after a time.Can you remember what you had for breakfast the day before yesterday? What shirt you wore? How much lunch cost? How many steps there are in preparing for exams? No. What makes you think you will remember some factoid from clas s that you never heard of before? Sure you may remember it for a day or two, but that's it. Only when you make an effort to remember something repeatedly do you transfer that information into the other kind of memory, long term memory. Cramming fails because you’re relying on short term memory.In spite of these facts, cramming will always be an option for those who need to accomplish a large amount of task in a short period of time. Like any other vices, cramming can be very addictive and may supply us what we need for now, but we may not benefit from it for a long period of time. Since it is continuously done by most of us nowadays, not only by students but also by some adults as well, avoiding it will be very difficult for all of us. It’s like a universal vice that most of us used to live with and it can be applicable for everyone.Cramming is a vice that will forever be present in this world – it may be lessened but will never be eradicated, especially for stu dents like me. â€Å"While cramming probably won't get you an â€Å"A,† it can definitely save you from an â€Å"F. † So suck it up and get ready for a long, hard night. And vow to be a better student from now on. † Works Cited: â€Å"Cramming (education) -. † Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. . Pangilinan, Candy. â€Å"Candidly  » Cramming and homecoming. † PEP. ph: The Number One Site for Philippine Showbiz | Home. 2 Dec. 2007. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. . â€Å"How to Cram for a Test – wikiHow. † WikiHow – The How-to Manual That You Can Edit. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. . Weimer, Maryellen. â€Å"Key Questions about Cramming  «. † Teaching Professor. 02 Dec. 2008. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. . â€Å"Cramming – Definition of cramming at YourDictionary. com. † Dictionary Definitions, Sentence Examples, Synonyms and More. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. . â€Å"Cram – Definition of cram verb (LEARN) from Cambr idge Dictionary Online: Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus. Cambridge Dictionary Online: Free English Dictionary and Thesaurus – Cambridge University Press – Cambridge Dictionaries Online – Cambridge University Press. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. . Handy, Edna Wells. â€Å"Why Students Fail. † Autoredirect to main site. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. . â€Å"The dangers of cramming for exams. † PSU BMB. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. . Weinberg, Tamar. â€Å"How to Cram for Exams – How To – Lifehacker. † Lifehacker, tips and downloads for getting things done. 02 Mar. 2008. Web. 27 Sept. 2009. . de Leon, Czarina Isabel . Personal Interview. 14 October 2009.

The Idea of Order at Key West

â€Å" The Idea of Order at Key West† Wallace Stevens, a imaginative poet, created a wonderful world of desire in the poem â€Å"The Idea of Order at Key West†. Line after line, new perspectives and curious thoughts popped into my head. Stevens creates the desire to want to decipher his puzzle of a poem. Stevens is a poet of many themes and perspectives, which led me to understand why I was coming up with so many different meanings behind this poem. In this particular poem, Key West being the muse, Stevens writes down the keys to the mystery, only to be unlocked if you dig deep into his poem.However, once unlocked, understanding the passion and mystery with each written word is a whole other activity. The speaker opens up the poem stating that â€Å"She sang beyond the genius of the sea. †Automatically, I am hit with a vision of a women standing on the shore, running away from the water as is grew closer to her toes, laughter being the song the sea couldn’ t amount to. The speaker then goes on to say that she was not mind nor voice. Nonexistent? No. This presence was very much alive in the sense of motion. The speaker, draw in by it's â€Å"empty†¦ mimic motion†, somehow understands the ovement. Emphasis on there being no physical form, but a being none the less. This possibly gives the speaker a sense of comfort. Being surrounded by a presence the speaker knew, but had a great desire to know more about it. In return, the speaker and company have empathy, constantly hearing a cry. The focus on a feminine figure was very obvious to me in the beginning of this poem. However, as the poem carries along, I am torn between what I think and what Stevens meant it to be. Continuing along, the presence becomes more mysterious. An open book for she was not a mask no more than was the sea.Water, for the most part, is a transparent substance. It makes sense that the speaker would use this metaphor, being in Key West where the water is crystal. The speaker makes it apparent that the sound is not that of the sea, but of the presence, â€Å"The song and water were not medleyed sound†. The speaker starts to clearly separate the presence from the surroundings of Key West. On the other hand, using the surroundings, the speaker defines the presence. Up to this point in the poem, I was sure that the feminine figure he so carefully described was a love of his. A women he longed for, but couldn't have.Once I read â€Å" she was the maker of the song she sang†, I changed my mind about who the muse was. It made sense that now, the feminine figure could possibly be a depiction of Mother Nature. A women who controlled the motion of the waves but herself had no motion. She was the cry they knew but was not of there own. The song was not the water, it was the wind as it crashed itself against the water, always pushing against that barrier. Every and all aspect led to this idea that the love was not a love of a woma n, but a love for the nature of women itself. The presence, something much larger than im, controlling all of the wonderful things he so desired and felt for. I was so sure about this notion, because I felt reassured by a verse. When the speaker said â€Å"it was she and not the sea we heard† I knew I had come across it all. Despite my reassurance, I instantly withdrew that notion when I came upon this verse, â€Å"repeated in a summer without end†. If the womanly figure was Mother Nature, then seasons would not be an issue. I was then left to recollect my thoughts. Sound, one of our five sense that allows us to soak up the chirping of the birds, crashing of the waves, and the beating of hearts.It seems to be the main drive of the speaker. Everything that the speaker explains comes from the song of Key West, the sound of Key West. Not knowing where it is from or what it is, the speaker so infatuatedly talks about a song and cry. I find it really ironic that the speaker creates a sense with the use of a sense. As you read you are painted a picture with the desire to listen to this song as well as ponder about the origin. The song, I believe, creates the desire to be at Key West and gives it life. To the speaker, the song becomes a song of tranquility amongst chaos, it calms him.The idea of order comes from the sounds that create the song of Key West. Once the song has stopped, the life it sang about trudges on. There is a kind of emptiness to the song, but it moves everyone who listens to it. It creates a connection with the listeners as well as brings their love of Key West to life â€Å"And when she sang†¦ whatever self it had, became the self†. This tune could be of their own life or the reason they come to Key West. It definitely paints the picture everyone goes there for. Sadly, when the song is over, it seems as if the love for the West isn't as strong.When the speaker turns away, the song no longer is a beautiful melody of the o cean, but a cry. The cry, a constant longing of Key West to have visitors and of the speaker to return again. Only during the summer does the speaker visit the Keys. Since he is only able to visit once every year, the need to visit as well as the Keys need for visitors builds up. Both with the longing to reunite, the cry is heard. There is a strong connection with the speaker and Key West. The speaker carefully describes the beauty of the beach as if it were a women. Every hour spent at the beach is precious. As the sun egins to set, the speaker gets an unsettling feeling. Even though he comes back every summer, it is painful for him to leave such a hypnotizing place. As the day comes to an end, the song seems as if it becomes slower. Creating everything that Key West is, as the song comes to an end, so does its surroundings. Fishing boats go back out to sea, the light begin to turn on, and the speaker has to tear himself away from his love. Time is of the essence and in no sense wa sted when the speaker visits Key West. â€Å"She measured it to the hour†, the song is perfectly measured out between sunrise and unset. This then makes it easier for the speaker to leave the beach, allowing him to go about his daily life. Then there is the mention of another man, Ramon Fernandez. The speaker looks up to him, asking if he knew why the melody was ending. I just came to the conclusion that Ramon was nothing but a man who was along for the ride. The speaker probably just asked him if he was interested in seeing Key West. Ramon has no deep connection with the coast unlike his chaotic friend. Although, he seems as if he is good company. He provides the speaker a chance to express his displacement with the song nding as well as the day coming to an end. Key West as a whole can be interpreted as something desired. Expressed like a love for a women, the beaches of Key West provides the speaker with a peaceful place. He longs for the passion, comfort, and peace that t he coast grants him. The possibility arises that the speaker was never able to truly express his love until arriving at the coast. There is no sure reason that the speaker feels such a deep connection with Florida. Maybe he lived there as a child, hearing the sounds of the ocean, wind, and creatures daily. Then when he would come back summer after summer, the sounds and sights hanged much like he did with each passing day. The speaker is constantly going back to a later time when things were as they picture them as a child. The song could represent the passing of time, as the day ended, he came to the realization that the beach was not what it used to be. The beach lifestyle being calm and easygoing, allowed the speaker to feel at peace. So then when the speaker left this lifestyle behind for another one, he realized the chaos was too much for him to handle. Sadly he was not able to return for whatever reason, except once a year, every year when the weather was at its hottest.A poss ibility could be that there was a job, family, and or life experience that was calling his name. Something of a forceful nature that caused him to leave. In his absence, the coast cried out for him, desperately trying to bring him back to peace. He did not know the cry was for him at the time, but once he came back, it became real. His love for Key West, for his old life was no longer in his grasp. The speaker could no longer turn back time and enjoy all those years he had flash before his eyes. Another interpretation could be that the need to be that Key West represents some sort of psychical or emotional need.Something that cannot be fulfilled by every day life. Key West is a tropical place, there are always exciting, fun, and new things to try. It is a freeing place where anything and everything is accepted. It is easy to find yourself in a social acceptable setting. Depending on the person, different settings can be more opening to others. For example, many people go to New York because they are widely accepted. All in all, Wallace Stevens wrote a cavern of a poem. Always going in deeper, seeing new perspectives, and discovering something new. The Idea of Order at Key West could be interpreted into ust about anything for anyone. Stevens so delicately thought out every single detail, making it such a beautiful read. Carefully unwrapping each sentence, I find myself longing to know more. In the end, what Stevens really wanted was an admirer. Someone who craved the words written by him. An adorer who would stop for nothing to know what his next thought would be. What creator doesn't want someone to admire their work ? Creating a vivid picture with every word, Stevens captured the essence of the thirst for love and desire. The Idea of Order at Key West was only just the foot in the door of this new way of writing.