Activity 3.9 Becoming more aware of relevant learning opportunities

Revisit the work you did in Activity  3.1 and the list of transferable skills outlined in Chapter 1. See whether you can add to your file notes any learning opportunities that you missed – any situation where you can exercise a relevant skill, either practical or conceptual, and obtain feedback. (You should by now be more aware of possible opportunities.) Now think about whether there are things you are not currently learning but could be, if you sought the opportunity. The learning style exercises should have provided a starting point for thought.

Learning opportunities might come from adding a feedback and/or reflection dimension to things that you are currently doing, from taking a course that you had perhaps rejected as ‘too difficult’, or from taking advantage of opportunities outside your course during both term and vacations. Link this to the previous activity, to see whether you can progress your plans at all by taking a broader view of learning opportunities. You should be starting to get into a mindset of continually asking: ‘What can I learn and how best can I learn it?’ Consider adding a ‘Learning opportunities’ section to your file.

Activity  3.1

Your current understanding of learning

Write a brief definition of learning as you understand it. Discuss this with some other people if possible. Unless you all happened to have just done a course on ‘learning’, which included an approved definition, you may be surprised at the range of possible ways of understanding the term.