To pass your DSST exam, you must understand the power and importance of deliberate practice and discover ways to incorporate it into your daily life.
Deliberate practice will help you avoid long-term mental and physical fatigue burnout.
Plus, you will find it may be more fun.
So what is deliberate practice?
It is a highly structured activity that one engages in with the specific goal of improving performance.
For example, if you took a practice test and scored 50%, you could learn from your mistakes and review the material to improve your score.
Thus, you would practice until you mastered the material and reached a 70% or better score on the next test.
Could you create a schedule that accommodates the time needed to complete your homework/studying and time spent engaging in deliberate practice?
For example, you could spend two hours studying and an hour reviewing the material using flashcards (a form of deliberate practice).
You could also study one or more topics each day during lunch.
In addition, try breaking up larger tasks into smaller goals so you can reward yourself as you accomplish each step.
Once you establish a schedule, stick to it, and you will find it much easier to complete your daily tasks.
The Four Essential Components of Deliberate Practice
As we never cease acquiring new knowledge, learning is an ongoing adventure.
Focusing on meeting these criteria may help you have a more pleasurable educational experience:
1) Motivation
You must be self-motivated to boost your performance and pass your DSST exam.
If you are not improving, then you must work harder.
This is not easy; however, your testing skills and abilities should continue to grow once done.
Goals
Your goals should be specific and focus on measurable milestones you can achieve.
A goal could be to score a 70% or better on your next practice test.
Actionable steps
I think it's essential that you take actionable steps toward reaching your goals.
You'll need to find resources to help you close the gap between your current level and the level you want to achieve.
2) Pre-existing Knowledge
DSST exams were designed to test your prior knowledge of the subject.
You can pick an exam you're comfortable with and focus on the material. For example, if you like history, take the DSST exam, The Civil War and Reconstruction.
You can focus on what you know and on learning new information.
3) Immediate Feedback
It would be best if you had immediate feedback to determine whether or not you are progressing.
After each practice session, please look at your performance and identify what worked well and what needs improvement.
This will help you focus your attention on areas that need work most.
Seek immediate and honest feedback on your performance.
Practice exams are a great way to receive immediate feedback on your strengths and weaknesses.
You can use this information to improve upon your areas of weakness.
Do not be discouraged by your weakness, as this is the first step towards improvement.
4) Repetition
Repetition is the most important part of deliberate practice and involves practicing a task repeatedly until performance improves.
Learning new DSST test strategies and ways to remember information may also help improve your test scores.
Deliberate practice can be a rewarding and fulfilling activity.
To optimize your potential for increasing your scores on your DSST exam, you must incorporate deliberate practice into your daily routine.
Follow our four essential components of deliberate practice and use them as goals when preparing for and taking your DSST exam.
You will see your performance improving with each practice exam you take!
Good luck and happy testing!