Learning Intentionally: A 9 Step Thinking and Action Model
Learning to master anything takes time, but with the right tools and a bit of experimentation, you can shorten the amount of time it takes because you learn using the metacognition learning loop.
Learning is a superpower because many people don’t take full advantage of the tools available to make their learning more efficient. In today’s newsletter, I’m going to give away one of the most powerful learning tools that have helped me to advance my career in education and professional development. It’s called the metacognition learning loop.
Let me explain a bit further how the metacognition learning loop works through a list adapted from an article on the KnowledgeOne website.
Understand by learning and observing
The first step with anything is to learn about it and observe it in action. Like when we are babies before learning how to walk we observe others around us then eventually give it a try until we can do it ourselves.
A more complex example is learning to build space-faring rockets. The first step would be to read manuals and scientific journals about rockets and combustion. Then observe how professionals build, design, and launch rockets.
Identify what you know and what you don’t know
Through the process of learning, you will continue to find areas you're better at and areas you're unsure about. Continue to dig deeper into the areas you know little about then build from there.
Try spotting problem areas you could dig into and help solve for either yourself or a combination of yourself and others around you.
Time management: evaluate the time required to complete a task, assess in your schedule the time that can be allocated to the study
You've got 16 waking hours, how do you use it?
8 of those are spent on your job (or business), assuming you work.
That leaves 8 hours left for the rest:
1 hour for breakfast and dinner,
1 hour for rest,
2 hours for family,
1 1/2 hours for learning, and
2 1/2 hours for implementation and experimentation on learning.
The above schedule is how I divide my time during the weekdays. How do you divide yours?
Self-regulation: control your performance and adjust your learning strategies accordingly
One of the best ways of controlling your performance and adjusting your learning strategies is by experimenting with a bunch of different strategies then seeing what combination of those strategies works best for your unique learning style.
This may take a lot of practice and experimentation as learning theories and strategies are not explicitly taught to us in schools, it is something you discover through purposeful practice and exploration.
It’s also completely okay to combine or adapt learning strategies to your own liking.
The key point is to do what works for you but continue to experiment to see if there are any better strategies out there that you might have missed the first or second time through.
Reflect and Take notes: identify important information, prioritize it and implement it
As discussed in the previous newsletter edition about the importance of writing in the learning process, this point relates completely to using the art of reflection and taking notes to identify important information, prioritize it and implement it.
What I personally do is keep a journal for things I want to try experimenting on. It’s usually kept in bullet point format, and I use it as a checklist.
The way I look at it is if I don’t write it down, it’s usually not going to get done or I forget about it. By writing my list, I can easily keep track of what I’ve been doing and see what has been working well and what hasn’t.
Take advantage of a failure
At times, some of the things you end up experimenting on will fail, but it’s not the end of the world because you can use that failure as a learning experience and make adjustments to future actions.
Reflect again
After a failure or a success, always, always, always reflect on what you have done, how you felt, what went well, and what didn’t go so well. Keep all your reflections in a specific place that way you can refer to those reflections at any time you want or need.
When you come back to your reflections after some time repeatedly, you will begin to see patterns, some of them good, and others bad. What you want to do is double down on the patterns that have been working well for you.
Transfer strategies when they are successful
Then you can transfer the strategies that have been successful into all areas of your life, whether that’s work, business, relationships, or parenting your child. Double down on those strategies that work well and continue to improve upon them.
Repeat the process over and over and you will reach the best of your own success.
Ask for help when you need it
If all else fails, there may come a time when you need a mentor or help from a friend or family member. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you are stuck. We are social beings and sometimes we just need the company of others in order to figure out or next best choice of action.
People will only help you if you ask.
Helpful Metacognition Learning Loop
I’ve also got this helpful video that I created on YouTube over a year ago.
Thank you so much for reading this newsletter edition and watching my video about metacognition.
If you found it useful
Then please share it with your friends and family and subscribe, if this is your first time here, to get more newsletters like this every week or whenever the inspiration strikes.