Tick, tock, tick, tock... It's time to talk about … Smart objectives
During stressful exam periods in particular it is vital that you maintain an overview of what you need to have internalised or prepared by the date of your exams. A clear roadmap can be of considerable benefit in this regard – and SMART objectives are here to help.
SMART objectives should exhibit the following characteristics:
- Specific: Formulate your objectives as precisely as possible. This will give the future you no excuse to ignore or interpret them in a way that allows them to be ticked off just to ease your guilty conscience!
- Measurable: Your objectives must be measurable. Divide the information you need to learn into manageable chunks or “learning packages” and decide how many of those packages you aim to learn per day/week.
- Activity-oriented: Use activities such as “Name…”, “Draw…” or “Explain…” to specify how knowledge is to be retrieved from your memory.
- Realistic: What do revising years of study in a day and reading a 500-page book overnight have in common? They are both somewhat unrealistic. Be honest with yourself about how much you can actually manage in a day, and make sure your plans factor in breaks as well as other activities, errands and obligations.
- Time-specific: Define specific dates and times by which you wish to achieve your objectives. A realistic schedule should also set time aside to cover any periods during which you are too ill to study.
Method
Step 1: Gain an overview of your learning situation.
Note down your answers to the following questions:
Note down your answers to the following questions:
Ask yourself the following questions about your learning objectives:
Note down your answers to the following questions:
- What are my current or forthcoming learning projects?
- Which learning project is particularly important to me?
- What is the timeframe for it?
- And what challenges does it face me with?
Note down your answers to the following questions:
- What do I want to achieve within the context of my learning project today/this week/this semester?
- How will I know if I have achieved my objectives or not?
Ask yourself the following questions about your learning objectives:
- Are they “SMART”?
- Will they still be valid, logical and comprehensible at a later date?
- Are they measurable?
- Are they realistic?
Examples
By the day before the exam I must be able to correctly name 90% of all back and stomach muscles. I must read and summarise the corresponding seminar notes by 5 July.
From now until the exam on 18 July I must do one hour of revision every day of the week except Sunday. If I fall behind I must use Sunday to catch up.
By Sunday I must be able to translate 80 out of 100 words correctly.
From now until the exam on 18 July I must do one hour of revision every day of the week except Sunday. If I fall behind I must use Sunday to catch up.
By Sunday I must be able to translate 80 out of 100 words correctly.
Tip
Write yourself a checklist so you can tick off your objectives once you’ve achieved them. This will also enable you to visualise your learning progress – a highly motivational technique!
You may wish to use a revision app to set yourself objectives and track your progress, for example in the form of a graph.
You may wish to use a revision app to set yourself objectives and track your progress, for example in the form of a graph.