Your Study Plan
You just got this book. You have probably already read (or quickly skimmed) the Introduction. You are probably now wondering whether to start reading here or skip ahead to Chapter 1, “Introduction to TCP/IP Networking.”
Stop to read this section about how to create your own study plan for the CCNA 200-301 exam. Your study will go much better if you take time (maybe 15 minutes) to think about a few key points about how to study before starting on this journey. That is what this section will help you do.
A Brief Perspective on Cisco Certification Exams
Cisco sets the bar pretty high for passing the CCNA 200-301 exam. Most anyone can study and pass the exam, but it takes more than just a quick read through the book and the cash to pay for the exam.
The challenge of the exam comes from many angles. First, the exam covers a lot of concepts and many commands specific to Cisco devices. Beyond knowledge, all these Cisco exams also require deep skills. You must be able to analyze and predict what really happens in a network, and you must be able to configure Cisco devices to work correctly in those networks.
The more challenging questions on these exams work a lot like a jigsaw puzzle, but with four out of every five puzzle pieces not even in the room. To solve the puzzle, you have to mentally re-create the missing pieces. To do that, you must know each networking concept and remember how the concepts work together.
For instance, you might encounter a question that asks you why two routers cannot exchange routing information using the OSPF routing protocol. The question would supply some of the information, like some pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, as represented with the white pieces in Figure 1. You have to apply your knowledge of IPv4 routing, IPv4 addressing, and the OSPF protocol to the scenario in the question to come up with some of the other pieces of the puzzle. For a given question, some pieces of the puzzle might remain a mystery, but with enough of the puzzle filled in, you should be able to answer the question. And some pieces will just remain unknown for a given question.
Figure 1 Filling In Puzzle Pieces with Your Analysis Skills
These skills require that you prepare by doing more than just reading and memorizing. Of course, you need to read many pages in this book to learn many individual facts and how these facts relate to each other. But a big part of this book lists exercises that require more than just simply reading, exercises that help you build the skills to solve these networking puzzles.
Five Study Plan Steps
What do you need to do to be ready to pass, beyond reading and remembering all the facts? You need to develop skills. You need to mentally link each idea with other related ideas. Doing that requires additional work. To help you along the way, the next few pages give you five key planning steps to take so that you can more effectively build those skills and make those connections, before you dive into this exciting but challenging world of learning networking on Cisco gear.
Step 1: Think in Terms of Parts and Chapters
The first step in your study plan is to get the right mindset about the size and nature of the task you have set out to accomplish. This is a large book, and to be ready for the CCNA 200-301 exam, you need to complete it and then the CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide, Volume 2. You cannot think about these two books as one huge task, or you might get discouraged. So break the task down into smaller tasks.
The good news here is that the book is designed with obvious breakpoints and built-in extensive review activities. In short, the book is more of a study system than a book.
The first step in your study plan is to visualize this book not as one large book but as components. First, visualize the book as eight smaller parts. Then, within each part, visualize each part as three or four chapters. Your study plan has you working through the chapters in each part and then reviewing the material in that part before moving on, as shown in Figure 2.
Now your plan has the following:
1 large task: Read and master all content in the book.
8 medium tasks/book: Read and master a part.
4 small tasks/part: Read and master a chapter.
Figure 2 Eight Parts, with an Average of Four Chapters Each, with Part Reviews
Step 2: Build Your Study Habits Around the Chapter
For your second step, possibly the most important step, approach each chapter with the same process as shown in Figure 3. The chapter pre-quiz (called a DIKTA quiz, or “Do I Know This Already?” quiz) helps you decide how much time to spend reading versus skimming the core of the chapter, called the “Foundation Topics.” The “Chapter Review” section then gives you instructions about how to study and review what you just read.
Figure 3 Suggested Approach to Each Chapter
The book has no long chapters, on purpose. They average about 20 pages for the Foundation Topics (which is the part of the chapter with new content). Because we kept the size reasonable, you can complete all of a chapter in one or two short study sessions. For instance, when you begin a new chapter, if you have an hour or an hour and a half, you should be able to complete a first reading of the chapter and at least make a great start on it. And even if you do not have enough time to read the entire chapter, look for the major headings inside the chapter; each chapter has two to three major headings, and those make a great place to stop reading when you need to wait to complete the reading in the next study sessions.
The Chapter Review tasks are very important to your exam-day success. Doing these tasks after you’ve read the chapter really does help you get ready. Do not put off using these tasks until later! The chapter-ending review tasks help you with the first phase of deepening your knowledge and skills of the key topics, remembering terms, and linking the concepts together in your brain so that you can remember how it all fits together. The following list describes most of the activities you will find in the “Chapter Review” sections:
Review key topics
Review key terms
Answer the DIKTA questions
Re-create config checklists
Review command tables
Review memory tables
Do lab exercises
Watch video
Do subnetting exercises
Step 3: Use Book Parts for Major Milestones
Studies show that to master a concept and/or skill, you should plan to go through multiple study sessions to review the concept and to practice the skill. The “Chapter Review” section at the end of each chapter is the first such review, while the Part Review, at the end of each part, acts as that second review.
Plan time to do the Part Review task at the end of each part, using the Part Review elements found at the end of each part. You should expect to spend about as much time on one Part Review as you would on one entire chapter. So in terms of planning your time, think of the Part Review itself as another chapter.
Figure 4 lists the names of the parts in this book, with some color coding. Note that Parts II and III are related (Ethernet), and Parts IV through VII are also related (IP version 4 and IP Version 6). Each part ends with a Part Review section of two to four pages, with notes about what tools and activities to use.
Figure 4 Parts as Major Milestones
Also, consider setting a goal date for finishing each part of the book (and a reward, as well). Plan a break, some family time, some time out exercising, eating some good food, whatever helps you get refreshed and motivated for the next part.
Step 4: Use Volume 2’s Final Review Chapter
Your fourth step has one overall task: perform the details outlined in the “Final Exam Review” chapter at the end of the CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide, Volume 2. Note that you have no exam to take at the end of this Volume 1 book, so keep working with Volume 2 when you complete this book. Once you’re finished with both books, Volume 2’s “Final Exam Review” will direct you.
Step 5: Set Goals and Track Your Progress
Your fifth study plan step spans the entire timeline of your study effort. Before you start reading the book and doing the rest of these study tasks, take the time to make a plan, set some goals, and be ready to track your progress.
While making lists of tasks may or may not appeal to you, depending on your personality, goal setting can help everyone studying for these exams. And to do the goal setting, you need to know what tasks you plan to do.
Note
If you read this, and decide that you want to try to do better with goal setting beyond your exam study, check out a blog series I wrote about planning your networking career here: http://blog.certskills.com/tag/development-plan/.
As for the list of tasks to do when studying, you do not have to use a detailed task list. (You could list every single task in every chapter-ending “Chapter Review” section, every task in the Part Reviews, and every task in the “Final Review” chapter.) However, listing the major tasks can be enough.
You should track at least two tasks for each typical chapter: reading the “Foundation Topics” section and doing the Chapter Review at the end of the chapter. And, of course, do not forget to list tasks for Part Reviews and Final Review. Table 1 shows a sample for Part I of this book.
Table 1 Sample Excerpt from a Planning Table
Element |
Task |
Goal Date |
First Date Completed |
Second Date Completed (Optional) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Read Foundation Topics |
|
|
|
|
Do Chapter Review tasks |
|
|
|
|
Read Foundation Topics |
|
|
|
|
Do Chapter Review tasks |
|
|
|
|
Read Foundation Topics |
|
|
|
|
Do Chapter Review tasks |
|
|
|
|
Part I Review |
Do Part Review activities |
|
|
|
Note
Appendix I, “Study Planner,” on the companion website, contains a complete planning checklist like Table 1 for the tasks in this book. This spreadsheet allows you to update and save the file to note your goal dates and the tasks you have completed.
Use your goal dates as a way to manage your study, and not as a way to get discouraged if you miss a date. Pick reasonable dates that you can meet. When setting your goals, think about how fast you read and the length of each chapter’s “Foundation Topics” section, as listed in the table of contents. Then, when you finish a task sooner than planned, move up the next few goal dates.
If you miss a few dates, do not start skipping the tasks listed at the ends of the chapters! Instead, think about what is impacting your schedule—real life, commitment, and so on—and either adjust your goals or work a little harder on your study.
Things to Do Before Starting the First Chapter
Now that you understand the big ideas behind a good study plan for the book, take a few more minutes for a few overhead actions that will help. Before leaving this section, look at some other tasks you should do either now or around the time you are reading the first few chapters to help make a good start in the book.
Bookmark the Companion Website
The companion website contains links to all the tools you need for chapter and part review. In fact, it includes a chapter-by-chapter and part-by-part breakdown of all the review activities. Before you finish the first chapter, make sure and follow the instructions in the Introduction’s section titled “The Companion Website for Online Content Review,” get access, and bookmark the page.
Also, if you did not yet read about the companion website in the Introduction or explore the site, take a few minutes to look at the resources available on the site.
Bookmark/Install Pearson Test Prep
This book, like many other Cisco Press books, includes the rights to use the Pearson Test Prep (PTP) software, along with rights to use some exam questions related to this book. PTP has many useful study features:
Both a web and desktop version for your convenience and choice
History tracking of your simulated exam attempts, synchronized between web and desktop
Study mode, which lets you see the correct answers with each question and the related explanations
Practice exam mode, which simulates exam conditions, hiding answers/explanations and timing the exam event
Filters to let you choose questions based on chapter(s) and/or part(s)
You should take a few minutes to set up your PTP installation. Refer to the section titled “How to Access the Pearson Test Prep (PTP) App” in the Introduction for details.
Understand This Book’s PTP Databases and Modes
When you activate a product in PTP, you gain the rights to that product’s exams. Understanding those exams helps you choose when to use them and when to delay using different exams to save those questions for later. The retail version of this book comes with four exams, as shown in Figure 5; the premium edition adds exams 3 and 4, which are similar in purpose to exams 1 and 2.
Figure 5 PTP Exams/Exam Databases and When to Use Them
When using PTP, you can choose to use any of these exam databases at any time, both in study mode and practice exam mode. However, many people find it best to avoid using some exams until you do your final exam review at the end of reading the CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide, Volume 2. So, consider using this plan:
During Chapter Review, use PTP to review the DIKTA questions for that chapter, using study mode.
During Part Review, use the questions built specifically for Part Review (the Part Review questions) for that part of the book, using study mode.
Save the remaining exams to use with the “Final Review” chapter at the end of the Volume 2 book.
Alternatively, use exams 1 and 2 at any time during your study, and consider buying the premium edition of the book to add two more exams. For instance, you could review each chapter by answering the questions from that chapter in exams 1 and 2, and wait to use exams 3 and 4 until your final exam review at the end of Volume 2.
Note
The CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide, Volume 2, includes several CCNA exams as well—exams that include questions from Volume 1 and Volume 2. You can use those exams during final review to practice simulated CCNA 200-301 exams.
Additionally, take the time to experiment with the study modes in the PTP applications:
Study mode: Study mode works best when you are still working on understanding and learning the content. In study mode, you can see the answers immediately, so you can study the topics more easily.
Practice mode: This mode lets you practice an exam event somewhat like the actual exam. It gives you a preset number of questions, from all chapters, with a timed event. Practice exam mode also gives you a score for that timed event.
Practice Viewing Per-Chapter DIKTA Questions
Take a few minutes to experiment with and understand how to use PTP to answer questions from a single chapter’s DIKTA quiz, as follows:
Step 1. Start the PTP web or desktop app.
Step 2. From the main (home) menu, select the item for this product, with a name like CCNA 200-301 Official Cert Guide, Volume 1, and click Open Exam.
Step 3. The top of the next window that appears should list some exams. Check the Book Questions box, and uncheck the other boxes. This selects the “book” questions (that is, the DIKTA questions from the beginning of each chapter).
Step 4. On this same window, click at the bottom of the screen to deselect all objectives (chapters). Then select the box beside each chapter in the part of the book you are reviewing.
Step 5. Select any other options on the right side of the window.
Step 6. Click Start to start reviewing the questions.
Practice Viewing Per-Part Review Questions
Your PTP access also includes a Part Review exam created solely for study during the Part Review process. To view these questions, follow the same process as you did with DIKTA/book questions, but select the Part Review database rather than the book database. PTP has a clear name for this database: Part Review Questions.
Join the Cisco Learning Network CCNA Study Group
Register (for free) at the Cisco Learning Network (CLN, http://learningnetwork.cisco.com) and join the CCNA study group. This group allows you to both lurk and participate in discussions about topics related to the CCNA exam. Register (for free), join the groups, and set up an email filter to redirect the messages to a separate folder. Even if you do not spend time reading all the posts yet, later, when you have time to read, you can browse through the posts to find interesting topics (or just search the posts from the CLN website).
Getting Started: Now
Now dive in to your first of many short, manageable tasks: reading the relatively short Chapter 1. Enjoy!