Defining your learning goal (College Students Exclusive Series)

• Atiqa
• Tue Feb 23, 2021

As a college student, you will get a timeframe of 3 to 4 years to complete your graduation. Most of your graduate course comprises of 2 semesters in a year with 5 to 6 subjects in each semester. Unlike your school, here you are all set to learn multiple subjects with a wide range of scope within your domain of education. Learning multiple things at a short time frame requires a clear structural approach in defining your learning goal.

Educators often use a Blooms Taxonomy as a concept to create learning outcomes that aims at providing a clear definition on the depth of learning a student should get in each subject. After several revisions by researchers this concept focuses on how a student remembers, understands, applies, analyses, evaluates and creates things around a subject area. Defining your learning goal in college will help you in making your learning objectives fit through this concept.

Motivation for learning can come from your parents, teachers, friends and through various other sources. But the real inspiration must come within. That will be a powerful triggering point for your learning goal. Each one of us have a different learning style. But we must do our learning fully personalised based on our interests and strengths in order to achieve successful outcome. You must identify your learning goals and understand the destination of your learning journey. Developing a personal learning goal will be a mantra for college success.

Developing learning goals can happen in many ways. You will find some of the goals are long term, medium term, short term, subject areas, knowledge areas or other behavioural learning goals.

One of my graduate classmate Joseph while in college was very keen in joining the Indian Administrative Service after his graduation. This was his school time dream, and he was very particular in it. We all were in the course of bachelor’s in computer application, where we learnt coding, applications, software designing, security and other concepts related to computers etc., This was not sufficient for Joseph to achieve his dream. He had to develop very clear learning goals. His long term goal was to learn for IAS entrance exams. His mid term goal was to learn the subject for this specific semester to get good scores in his graduation. His short term goal is to learn a chapter of lesson every week in the subjects. The IAS entrance had more focus on economics and current affairs, which is not part of the syllabus in our college. Hence Joseph had to pick these subject as specific subject area goals. And for one of another classmate Ranjan, mathematics was nightmare. He had a clear learning goal for clearing his maths paper. Joseph has a written learning goal, which was well structured and benefited him to learn and reach the targeted destination. Joseph is now serving in the Government.

So, you as a college student need to have clear learning goals during your entire graduation journey. These learning goals will become an important support for your personal development. These goals will bring you a positive change and will keep you hold the ownership towards learning.