Well, if you're actually cramming for an exam, there's not much I can tell you. At this point, it's rather too late to do anything other than memorize facts.
However, if you still have a bit of time, ask 'why'? If you're trying to remember, for example, that Dorothea Dix made the insane asylums more humane, ask 'what drove her to do this?' Look at her life. Was there some influence there that caused her to have a passion for the insane? What were the social factors at play that allowed her to do this? Not only will you learn what she did, but you'll also learn more about history at the same time. Finally, you'll get better at analyzing history, which should make the exams easier.
To quote Alfred from Batman Begins: "If you start pretending to have fun, you might even have a little by accident."
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