Set goals

Importance of setting goals

It is important to set your goals. What do you want to learn, or what is the assignment you are working on right now? This will determine what you need to do in the allocated time.

Use action verbs to set goals for yourself. It's okay to set multiple goals, but in the next step you will see that it is important to focus on one at a time. So let us take a some action verbs to make goals with.

If your goal is to remember something, you can use verbs like ‘identify, define, recall, retrieve, etc.’ They will help you make your goals specific, which in turn, makes learning easier because you now know what you want.

Formulation

How do you formulate your goal properly? Well, that depends on what you want to do, but you should always be specific.

Incorrect: after I have finished this assignment I want to be able to tell my friend something about enzymes.

Correct: After I have finished this assignment, I want to be able to define by heart what exactly an enzyme is.

The next step is to start planning, which means you can add time to your goal.

Correct with time: After I have finished this assignment in the next hour/before next week’s lesson/etc., I want to be able to define by heart what an enzyme is.

Combine goals?

There is also the option of combining goals, especially when the two goals are closely related. In the example above you could, for instance, add the goal of wanting to explain the function of an enzyme.

Depending on the assignment, or your long term goals, you can also combine goals that are less closely related, but it is best to keep it within one subject.

Incorrect: After the next hour, I want to be able to define what and enzyme is and how to determine the square root of 26.

Correct: after the next hour, I want to be able to define what an enzyme is and what dietary fibres are.

In this correct example of goal setting, we have combined two elements of biology.

Want to learn more about how to formulate goals? Have a look here.