La Cram, La Pour, La Finish, La Forget: Shaping Habits Affecting Learning in Nigeria

By TK Jebutu

Examinations are every student’s nightmare. Well, not every student. For some students, they are a much-anticipated test. A test to remind the other average students that they are not of equal standing, another opportunity to remind themselves of the distance between them and other mere mortals that occupy the benches in their classrooms.

A test to prove to themselves one thing: that the fate of humanity’s intellect rests on their shoulders-- dignified, wearied shoulders from revisiting pages after pages of formulae, quotations, historical notes, and so and so forth. But not e v e r y s t u d e n t r e l i s h e s examinations. They are not for every Tom, Dick and Harry a contest to go in; either with the strength of a Goliath or the confidence of a David. For these students, exams are battles. Battles to prove themselves they can retain concepts as easily as the best of their class, battles to defend self-perceptions against one slight or taunt that may have been thrown to them when a previous test was failed or the brain was caught off-guard by a teacher’s remark on their cluelessness.

These students are the majority of the population, and these are the s t u d e n t s f o r w h o m e x a m performance is a milestone to be conquered again and again; most times with the same method that allows them a pass, much similar to the way a wearied traveller may be allowed to enter a haven, only after racking a spent memory for a secret passcode at the doors to the inn. The average structure of the written examination in Nigeria actually lends support to this observation; 
more than 50% of exams conducted in Nigeria follow a format of multiple-choice questions and theory; the latter being the most important component and c o n t a i n i n g q u e -s t i o n s structured in essay form. It is by and large from this exam structure and the content of the curricula that backs a popular method of passing exams: cram, pour, and forget.

An examination or a r e a d i n g t e s t involves three main actions from the candidate; to read content, to understand content, to answer questions involving comprehension based on that content. The average student may within the limits of his time, resources at disposal, desire to score particular grades, intellectual capacity and the knowledge of the abilities of others may choose to study in shorter periods over a long period of time, or cram a bulk of 
content in a short period and simply deliver; after all, there are no rewards beyond blue-tipped grades, standardized testing as obtainable in Nigerian classrooms do not permit too much for the satisfaction that should come from being able to improve the philosophy behind a piece of learnt content, rather than just simply reprint it as proof of competence. It may be these combination of factors, or others not mentioned, but cramming is an experience and a common tool for the student, and while many may have mastered its art, still much more can only scrape out the edges of “academic distinction” and it is the trend that portends a serious threat to the strength of the reading culture and academic direction of the Nigerian educational system. The key factors behind cramming may be summarized into the following:

1. The structure and scope of learnt material in classrooms.
2. The preference for standardized testing metrics as means of          

    weighing academic competence.
3. The ability of the student to retain concepts stored in memory.
4. The existence or not of reward systems for comprehension of concepts beyond 
passing grades.

It is pertinent therefore to now help the students change their perspectives about 
reading, influence the study culture and by so doing affect cognition, cognitive performance and the average performance of students, co m p a re d w i t h t h e i r o t h e r counterparts in more advanced and better educational systems. Helping to change these perspectives will therefore have to do with impacting better solutions to learning as outlined in the four points mentioned above. Active learning and critical thinking will now be the most important instruments in structuring learning systems, syllabi and teaching methods to shape how the student in class reacts to material taught, in and outside of the classroom. But these solutions can only be hypothesized so much as to be effective in the educational environment currently operational in Nigeria; changing study habits as cramming requires shaking up the very institution of the education 
s y s t e m s o d e p e n d e n t o n standardized testing as the Nigerian one. How do we tackle the “cramming problem” then? A major solution to helping students in comprehension, critical thinking and active learning is to change the learning environment in itself, the teacher-student ratio and the basic syllabi. A situation as found in public and even private schools where one teacher is assigned more than 40 students for even more than 1 subject and in some primary schools for all the subjects is untenable. 

It is a breeding ground for valuing consistency in passing grades rather than an active embracing of the philosophy and creed of learning. This environment is also responsible for enabling the attitudes that foster cramming; the need to beat out other students in assessment, the unwillingness of the teacher to pay particular attention to individual cognition and mentor in that direction, as well as the crude economics of substituting the learning experience for passing a few marks in selected, narrow subject areas. 

Another solution is in learning methods; I think it has become overstated that we are now in a century where it is accepted worldwide that l e a r n i n g i s a n a l l - e m b ra c i n g experience; there are no silver bullets for curricula or strict lines between what forms a subject field as taught. The learning method employed by the teacher after the t e a c h i n g environment has been modified, must suit understanding individual talents & innovative tendencies as well as the general 
b e n c h m a r k o f c o l l e c t i v e comprehension of defining concepts. I 
believe when these t w o i m p o r t a n t solutions are adopted, enough would have been done to set the stage for enhancing t h e l e a r n i n g experience for the individual student and the general class, f o s t e r i n g a n environment where colorful, fulfilling learning is possible for both the teacher and student, and therefore providing a platform for meaningful academics to take place and deepen intellectual progress.

In conclusion, it is pertinent we know that if we don’t look into the this syndrome, our schools, universities and other citadels of learning would only be turning out brilliant students who only crammed their ways through the universities and not intelligent students who can effectively apply the knowledge they acquired to their present lives and the society at large. It is high time our country grew after many years of its being called a ‘developing nation’ and the only way is through productive reading, acquisition of knowledge and proper understanding of read information.