Break Down Your Study Subjects Into Actions
What you need to do now is break down your subjects into actions that will close the gap between your current and target level of competence for each micro-goal.
To break down each subject into actions, you need to ask yourself:
What do I need to do in order to achieve my target?
Analyzing these actions will allow you to:
Redefine your goals
Assess their feasibility
When you have your list of actions, fill them into your learning plan (if you have not yet created your own schedule, here is the link to the Excel template).
Think of every action as something that requires training. It’s not something you will do only once. You will do it until you achieve the competence level you need for your micro-goal.
Each of these actions will require training sessions. Designing these training sessions is key to being a self-directed learner. Here is where the learning principles come into play as guidelines and where your knowledge about learning styles and learning methods is valuable.
Go back to the list of 71 Learning Methods from the first part of the course. Try to diversify the styles and methods you use for your training sessions so you expand your learning possibilities.
Use your preferred methods, but also try out methods you have never used before.
You don’t have to invent everything from scratch. To find good ideas for training, do some research or ask people who have the skills you want to develop what they did in their learning process.
Your training design does not need to be perfect. It just has to be good enough for you to start your learning program, and you can always redesign it as you go.
Tips for Designing Your Training Sessions
Training sessions are usually of three types:
Deliberate practice, for learning through self-guided exercises.
Guided sessions, for learning from others.
Complementary activities, for other forms of learning, like reading or reflecting.
Training sessions should have a cyclical do-and-improve structure:
Do something through a learning method,
Get feedback,
Reflect on the feedback,
Integrate it into your learning,
Then, do it again!
Training requires three things to be effective:
An objective
A fun design
An iterative learning improvement process
Creating your own specific, personalized training sessions can be a really fun exercise. But it can also be difficult. So, don't feel obligated to do everything by yourself. In the next chapter I’m going to help you choose the resources you need to support your learning.
Let's Recap!
Refer to your learning tactics in order to break your study subjects down into specific actions.
Consider both your preferred learning methods and methods you haven't tried before in order to add variety to your learning activities.
Design your training sessions:
Include sessions of 3 types: deliberate practice, guided sessions and complementary activities.
Get regular feedback in order to improve your future sessions.
Each session has an objective, a fun design and an element of re-design.
I’ll see you in the next chapter to capitalize on your resources!
