SCHOOL NOTES
What’s Your Child’s Study Personality?
USE IT TO ACE THE NEXT EXAM
BY ANN DOLIN
M id-year exams, unit assessments and
chapter tests — what does it take to
ace them? It’s not just the time that’s
put in, it’s also the method of studying that pro-
duces the best results. It’s often that bright stu-
dents don’t get the grades they are hoping for on
these types of tests. And they almost always fall
into one of three camps when it comes to study-
ing (or not): the crammers, the memorizers and
the absorbers.

The Crammers
These are the kids who do fairly well throughout
the quarter, especially on quizzes, but do poorly
on cumulative exams. They are smart students
who manage to get by during the year without
putting too much time into their homework and
studying. The studying they do is often at the
last minute. If they have a test on Thursday, they
not understand how one situation or circum-
stance affects the whole. So they have trouble
making sense of the bigger picture. In math, they
can learn a skill in isolation but have difficulty
applying it to problems outside of the specific
skill learned. These kids need lots of practice
making connections because it doesn’t always
come easily to them.

The Absorbers
For these students, school has been a breeze.

They never really had to study when they were
younger, and always got good grades. These are
the kids who may not love academics, but they
can sit in class, absorb the information and do
well on the test without much effort.

They’re good at critical thinking and analyz-
ing information. But as the work gets harder
and more complex, they lack the study habits to
Absorbers are good at critical thinking and
analyzing information. But as the work gets
harder and more complex, they lack the study
habits to perform to their fullest potential.

The Memorizers
These kids are very hard workers, and they are
often fairly well organized. They do well on quiz-
zes and some tests that mostly require memori-
zation. They put a lot of time into studying but
don’t see the results because they have a hard
time connecting the dots. For example, in history,
they may learn about two important battles but
may see them as separate events, not completely
understanding how they’re connected. They may
28 Washington FAMILY
NOVEMBER 2019
perform to their fullest potential. These are the
students who could get straight A’s but instead
get B’s because they lack the proper study skills.

They need direct guidance and a study plan to
learn the material quicker and more efficiently.

So, how can studying be tailored to the Crammer,
the Memorizer or the Absorber?
Here’s a quick breakdown of ways that will ben-
efit each of these types of students and some other
tips that work for virtually any kind of learner.

The Crammer:
First, the Crammer has to want to change. In order
for a different way of studying to work, he or she
must recognize the problem and be willing to
make modifications. If it’s not seen as an issue, all
the parental suggestions in the world won’t work.

Often Crammers are willing to plan ahead if they
don’t feel like they have to do any more work than
necessary and if they see the changes result in bet-
ter grades (and they almost always do). The good
news is that they often don’t have to put in more
time, they just need to use it more efficiently.

GETTY IMAGES PLUS/E+/SHAPECHARGE
start getting ready on Wednesday night. These
kids don’t have a strong sense of urgency until
they are right up against a deadline. This type of
cramming can pay off in the immediate term, but
when they need to learn information on a deeper
level, it backfires. Cramming only puts informa-
tion into short-term memory, whereas learning it
over many nights and sleeping on it (by the way,
sleep is a fantastic study tool) stores it into long-
term memory. It’s not uncommon for Crammers
to have two other traits – disorganization and
procrastination.