There was a thread about that a while back, with some helpful answers: http://forum.koohii.com/viewtopic.php?id=7791

Yes, like I wrote in the other topic, I just use the "cram" function in Anki and don't rely on SRS. In fact, I don't use Anki's SRS function at all in this case. I just mark the cards I want to cram for the next 10, 15 minutes (20 - 50 cards, depending on the subject), cram for that time (hitting 1 every time, so the card comes up again, 2 if I don't want to see that card again for this cramming session). Then I take a break and after that I select the next cards, cram, take a break... after 3 or 4 of these short sessions I select all cards I crammed before and cram them together again. Rinse and repeat. At the end of the day I also do a cram session with the earlier crammed cards. The next day I repeat the cards from the day(s) before and cram new ones. Yes, this may lead to burnout! But for me it's the best method to memorize huge amounts of facts for exams in a short time.

If you are really just learning for exams, most people don't really care about long term retention (at least I don't), so cramming may work well in that case.

rigol wrote:

Yes, this may lead to burnout!

haha, as for me, I burn out a lot less when using anki than while using traditional methods.

Traditional methods = nothing but burnout 24/7
That's why I feel so hopeless with them if I don't have a deep interest in the subject, which is rare.

Last edited by jettyke (2011 April 09, 2:55 pm)

I tend to use Anki if it's a pure factual exam.

If it's something where I have to apply my knowledge, I prefer to just use the normal 'studying' and review method for weeks in advance so I don't have to cram/.

zachandhobbes wrote:

I tend to use Anki if it's a pure factual exam.

If it's something where I have to apply my knowledge, I prefer to just use the normal 'studying' and review method for weeks in advance so I don't have to cram/.

Well I don't have those weeks left, well I do, but those weeks will be intensive anyway so I don't know if I will have time to srs slowly.

It's just that my choices are:

1) Cram with anki
or
2) Cram using traditional methods.

I wonder which one's better in terms of time/results.



I don't even know how to use anki for not Japanese and I have 11 days until the first exam (an essay).

Biology in 35 days, art history in 45-50 days.

So I'm thinking whether it's smart to experiment with anki as I don't have months until my exams anymore.

Last edited by jettyke (2011 April 09, 5:26 pm)

zachandhobbes wrote:

Oh Bio is easy with Anki.
I use Anki for bio all the time, they're perfect.

What do you recommend me to do with this:

I got 55 facts in 30-40 minutes from 2 pages of a book, and I need 32 pages for a test in a week.

This would be something like 800 facts perhaps. Should I add more rather than less?

Or should I only add the core facts and read the book for the less important things?


Actually I also have a pdf summary of my biology topics, but it was made by someone else and is rather brief. It would be easier to add it, much faster. But I wouldn't learn so much from adding maybe? And I would probably have missing parts which would be hard to find.


BTW is making 3 cards from one sentence a good idea?

The primary tasks of blood are: transport of hormones, [...] and nutrients

The primary tasks of blood are: transport of [...], oxygen and nutrients

The primary tasks of blood are: transport of hormones, oxygen and[...]

Last edited by jettyke (2011 April 09, 6:17 pm)

Most of the subjects i took at uni were "understanding" subjects rather than cram subjects. There were a few key concepts that you had to grasp, after which you were fine. At most there was a page of formulae to remember (although many of them "made sense" if you understood the theory). I actively avoided anything that looked like rote memorisation.

Then i started learning jap and realised rote memorisation is pretty much what learning a language is... So now i'm pretty good at rote memorising stuff...

I've thought about what else i could apply it to (other than another language), but honestly, my opinion is still as it was back then: rote memorisation is evil and crushes creativity.

Stuff like: "The primary tasks of blood are: transport of hormones, oxygen and nutrients"

Is this really necessary? Is this something you should memorise as a fact? Regardless of the fact that there is stuff missing (waste? carbon dioxide? I'm an engineer not a doctor), perhaps it would be better to actually engage the brain a bit more.

If you *understand* what blood is and what it does, then there is no need to rote memorise that sentence. You could rattle off a dozen functions and argue at length on which is a "primary task" in a given context.

Cramming for exams is one thing... but if you actually want to be able to use the knowledge, make sure you understand. There are few times in a professional's career where they will be expected to give a textbook answer to a textbook question. You're not worth paying if that's all you're going to contribute.

Last edited by zigmonty (2011 April 10, 4:17 am)

jettyke wrote:

zigmonty wrote:

Cramming for exams is one thing... but if you actually want to be able to use the knowledge, make sure you understand.

Well in my opinion part of understanding would be seeing all the stuff in a microscope or with you naked eye and observe, which is difficult.

Yeah... i don't meant understand completely things that we as a species doesn't yet understand completely. I'm just saying, be careful of using SRS to just drill facts into you. Its way too easy to just tune out doing reviews and let it give you the ability to regurgitate things...

jettyke wrote:

I'm hoping that I can srs the concepts and then read the student's book with great speed and ease and maybe understand better.

Of course if you don't even know the requisite vocab, and there's a lot of it, SRS may help give you the leg up you need to be able to approach the subject. Don't discount reading as an active participant though. Ie read and *think* about what you're reading. Try to tie it to things you've previously read or otherwise thought about. Try to predict the conclusions. Think about your preconceived notions (what is blood?) then see where the author's views are different, etc. Try to actually be interested in the topic (if you're not, maybe you're in the wrong field).

jettyke wrote:

+ it's  "you understand the knowledge because you use/used the knowledge",

not "you are able to use the knowledge because you understand it"

Real understanding also comes from various attempts and failures.

100% agree with this. The way you understand something is by trying to apply it. A simple way of doing this is by just thinking. Better is making a prototype or trying out the maths yourself (i can't find an analogy for blood...). Worst is considering a carefully written textbook as a set of unconnected facts and developing your ability to regurgitate each to a specific (and static... ) prompt.

Incidentally, for all you guys who are still students, here's a trick I used a lot: If your lecturer is using a crap book, crap slides or is generally terrible at explaining something, look elsewhere. The number of people i saw at uni that would spend hours trying to understand a single ambiguous slide amazed me. Google "[topic name] lecture notes" and find something understandable. Natural laws are the same the world over, your university doesn't have a monopoly on the description of them.

Please don't study for exams.  It doesn't work.  Japan accounts for 46% of all worldwide TOEIC applicants, yet ranks 24th out of 26 countries in test results.  The cause: a culture of studying for exams.   By studying for exams rather than for actually learning the language, you fail in both quests.

bodhisamaya wrote:

Please don't study for exams.  It doesn't work.  Japan accounts for 46% of all worldwide TOEIC applicants, yet ranks 24th out of 26 countries in test results.  The cause: a culture of studying for exams.   By studying for exams rather than for actually learning the language, you fail in both quests.

Didn't read the thread, just saw this post and noticed it was way off.

The reason Japan scores low on TOEIC is that so many people take the test.  In most other countries people only take TOEIC when they want to work in an English environment or if they specifically take it for a job.  Most of the people who take it in most countries are at least of college age, and are serious about working in an English environment.

In Japan, on the other hand, a lot of people take the TOEIC test for no reason at all.  People take the TOEIC test for the same reason many of take the JLPT--just to measure English ability for fun.  Old ladies love it.  Even high school kids take the test for no reason.  Of course, you also get people who want to work abroad and stuff like that, buy the reasons vary a lot more in Japan.  But, generally, in Japan people just like to pass tests because of the test culture.

The result is that you have a huge pool of people taking the TOEIC exam in Japan, and many that are younger or not as serious as those taking the exam in foreign countries.  The result?  The average score in Japan is lower.  But it's just because the pool of people taking the test is so big.  More people means more mediocrity and lower test results, when compared to just a small number of more committed people.

So, actually, the fact that the Japanese score low on TOEIC has nothing to do with whether or not studying for exams makes you better or worse at the subject.  It's completely unrelated.

(I met a professor in Japan who wrote an article about this and how it's used incorrectly to show the failure of English education in Japan.  It's just bad statistics)

Last edited by Tzadeck (2011 April 10, 8:13 am)

bodhisamaya wrote:

I have noticed in my own private students that those who study because they enjoy English improve very quickly, while those who stress over passing the TOEIC never get past the "correct grammar yet unnatural conversation" phase.

That may be true but this thread is more about studying for non-language exams.

I always found the most important thing for me to was to go over problem classes and past papers.  Then it became obvious what I was weak at and also made sure I could do the questions within the time limit.

Tykkylumi wrote:

This is probably going to be a stupid question, but how exactly does the cram feature work in anki? Does it show all of a tag even if it's not due?yes And how does it reschedule it?The normal way, as If you did your reps today

Thanks for all the replies, by the way!

Last edited by jettyke (2011 April 12, 3:06 pm)