Transfer to Learning

1. Transfer to Learning EDU 330: Educational Psychology Daniel Moos

2. You are also a well decorated army general. It is your goal to capture an evil general in the middle of a small village. You will need the firepower of all your army to capture the general. Many roads lead to the general, but land mines lurk below their surface. Small number of soldiers can travel safely on the roads, but a large force will detonate the mines, killing those traveling on the road. How might you solve this problem so that all of your army can safely get to the middle of the small village to capture the evil general?

3. Transfer

4. In addition to a well decorated general, you are a world-famous doctor. One of your patients, Joe, has a malignant tumor on his heart. Joe will die if you do not remove the tumor. Your best option is to use radiation lasers to kill the tumor. You will need to use high-intensity gamma ray lasers to completely remove it. However, this high-intensity laser will also kill the healthy tissue around the heart. At lower intensities, the gamma rays are harmless to healthy tissue, but they will not individually destroy the tumor either. How might you use the gamma rays to destroy the tumor without killing the healthy tissue?

5. Transfer

6. Situated Cognition & Education (Anderson et al., 1996) • Much of what is claimed is not theoretically sound • “Situated learning”: Mismatch between school and real world situations • Action is grounded in the concrete situation in which it occurs • Knowledge does not TRANSFER between tasks • Training by abstraction is of little use • Instruction must be done in complex, social environments

7. Transfer of Learning • The Theory of Identical Elements  In 1901, Edward Thorndike and Robert Woodworth argue that transfer depends on the number of identical elements that two tasks share.  Their theory of identical elements displaces the traditional doctrine of formal discipline

8. Types of Transfer • Positive Transfer  A situation in which prior learning aids subsequent learning • Negative Transfer • A situation in which prior learning interferes with subsequent learning • Example: As quickly as you can find the answer to this problem: 60 ÷ 0.50 • Prior learning: division usually leads to a smaller number • Zero Transfer  A situation in which prior learning has no effect on new learning

9. Types of Transfer • Specific Transfer  Situation in which prior learning aids subsequent learning because of specific similarities between two tasks • General Transfer  Situation in which prior learning aids subsequent learning due to the use of similar cognitive strategies Possible Outcomes: 1 > 2 = 3 Specific Initial Task Transfer Task Group 1 French Spanish Group 2 Chinese Spanish Group 3 Spanish 1 = 2 > 3 General

10. Types of Transfer • Specific Transfer, example French Spanish un uno deux dos trois tres quatre cuatro cinq cinco six seis sept siete huit ocho nuef nueve dix diez

11. Types of Transfer • Near Transfer  Knowledge domains are highly similar, the settings in which the original learning and transfer tasks occur are basically the same, and the elapsed time between the two tasks is relatively short • Far Transfer  Knowledge domains and settings are judged to be dissimilar and the time between the original learning and transfer tasks is relatively long Applying math skills over the course of a unit to solve “new” problems on the unit test Applying math skills over the course of a unit years later to determine investment options

12. Types of Transfer • Low-Road Transfer  Situation in which a previously learned skill or idea is almost automatically retrieved from memory and applied to a highly similar current task • High-Road Transfer  Situation involving the conscious, controlled, somewhat effortful formulation of an “abstraction” that allows a connection to be made between two tasks 13 328 + 24 +192 How long did it take you to “figure” out college?

13. Teaching for Low-Roadand High-Road Transfer • Multiple opportunities for varied practices • Solve problems that are similar to those they will eventually have to solve • Teach students how to formulate for a variety of tasks general rules, strategies, or schemes

14. Teaching for Low-Roadand High-Road Transfer • Provide cues that will allow them to retrieve from memory • Learned information that can be used to make current learning easier • Beneficial effects of creating and using rules and strategies to solve particular kinds of problems