I have been teaching engineering for decades.

Along the way, I have tried all sorts of things to encourage regular and distributed effort over cramming.

And then one day I heard about Magic Moments. I dispensed with it because it seemed silly. I heard about and ignored it again. Finally I tried it. I’ve never had students so prepared for an exam.

Here’s how it works:

Prep: Students create a 1-sided handwritten reference sheet

Sign-off: The prof/TA signs off on the sheet prior to the exam

Exam day: Sheet is put into an envelope as students enter. Envelope is put on corner of desk.

Magic Moment: Each student is allowed one “Magic Moment” … a 90 second look at their sheet, whenever they choose. When they can’t remember that key thing, they hold up their envelope, wait for a nod, and refer to the sheet. Then the sheet goes back in the envelope and on the floor, It gets handed in with the exam.

Why it works? Because student take the time to review and summarize the most difficult concepts. They organized and prepared knowing there would be a fleeting look at their sheet.

So simple, yet effective. And in my experience, fewer than half of the students actually used it.