Post #1 – Learning theory

I want to share a story about how I overcame a learning challenge. I am a student majoring in economics and I am interested in futures and funds. Last month, my flight was canceled because of the epidemic, so I decided to spend two months learning about futures and taking the futures certificate. This is very difficult for me because I did not learn about futures in university, and the passing rate of the futures qualification examination is only about 50% in China. So I made a plan and until now I think it is effective.

First of all, I established my motivation. I told myself futures are what I am interested in, and it determines my employment direction after graduation. When I have a reasonable motivation, I will take the initiative to learn and persist.

Secondly, when I designed for motivation, I define which strategy in learning theories is suitable for me. I am a behaviorist and I plan through a specific environment, time, and feedback. Environmental factors and habits are very important. Learning is accomplished by showing appropriate responses to specific environmental stimuli. Specific environment and time can cultivate learners’ habits. Therefore, I make a pot of tea every day and go to the study to study from 8 a.m. to 12 noon. Tea which can make people concentrate and calm down is also a kind of specific environment. When I finish a chapter, I will do the corresponding questions and give feedback to myself. Also, I keep the wrong questions and do them again every once in a while. This helps to strengthen the stimulus-response correlation strategy.

Finally, I have completed all the chapters on the test of futures, and I still keep doing the questions on the test of futures every day, and the accuracy is improving steadily. Through daily persistence, I can increase my confidence in exams and goals. Self-efficacy around goal setting helps me feel more focused on manageable goals and perceived abilities.