Psychology Presentation:
1. Meaning of transfer of learning:
Transfer of learning consist of two words
Transfer + learning
Transfer means an act of moving something to another place and Learning means an act of
gaining knowledge or skill by experience, study, being taught or creative thought.
So Transfer of learning is a process in which something learnt in one situation is used in
another situation.
2. Concept of transfer of learning:
Transfer of learning plays a very important role in our day to day life. It is rare that the
situation in which we learn is identical to the situation in which we apply and use that
learning. Education is preparation of life . Whatever we learnt in the school, we are expected
to apply that same in life. Transfer of Learning (Training) is a process of applying or carrying
over the knowledge, skills, habits, attitudes, emotions or other responses from one training
situation (in which they were initially acquired) to another training situation.
Transfer (of learning) research can be loosely framed as the study of the dependency of
human conduct, learning or performance on prior experience. The notion was originally
introduced as transfer of practice by Edward Thorndike and Robert S. Woodworth (1901)[1].
They explored how individuals would transfer learning in one context to another context that
shared similar characteristics.
Robert Haskell’s 2001 Transfer of Learning book synthesizes across evolutionary, cognitive
and instructional theories to discuss the history and applications of transfer of learning.
3. Definitions :
1. Crow and Crow
“The carry-over of habits of thinking, feeling, or working of knowledge or of skills, from
one learning area to another usually is referred to as the transfer of training.”
2. Skinner:
“Transfer of training is concerned with the question of whether or not the learning of
material.
3. Peterson:
Transfer is generalization for it is extension of ideas to a new field.”
4. Sorenson:
“ Transfer is refers to the transfer of knowledge, training and habits acquired in one
situation to another situation”
5. Judd :
“ Transfer is a form of generalization”
6. W.B. Kolesnik:
“Transfer is the application of carry over the knowledge’s, skills, habits, attitudes or other
responses from the situation in which they are initially acquired to some other situation”
4. Examples of transfer of learning:
A student learns to solve polynomial equations in class and then uses that knowledge
to solve similar problems for homework.
We learnt arithmetic in the classroom and apply it while shopping.
In economics class students use knowledge learned in their statistics course to analyze
and evaluate survey data.
Students apply skills they learned in writing intensive courses to write reports,
memos, and papers in other classes.
A student applies project management skills learned in a business course to carry out
a year-long internship project.
Applying mathematical skills such as addition, subtraction e.t.c for solving physics
problems.
Riding a scooter becomes easier and quicker if we know how to ride a bike.
5. Types of transfer of learning:
There are three types of transfer of learning:
1. Positive transfer:
When learning in one situation facilitates learning in another situation, it is known as a
positive transfer. Typically this occurs when performance of a task improves as a result
of performing a different but related task. It is essentially using the building blocks of
previous to knowledge to learn more – by learning something similar but different you
can strengthen your previous skills as well.
For Example:
For instance, this is what happens when a person continues to study and learn
more about a subject. Once a person has a basic knowledge of a subject it is not
difficult to add more knowledge of that subject.
Once a child starts to learn math every school year they learn different but similar
concepts as time goes on. As they gain new knowledge and skills their original
math skills typically become stronger than they were initially. Think about it, by
the time people begin to learn algebra and geometry basic addition and
subtraction seem a lot easier.
Skills in playing the violin facilitate learning to play the piano.
Knowledge of mathematics facilitates to learn physics in a better way.
Driving a scooter facilitates driving a motorbike.
2. Negative transfer:
When learning of one task makes the learning of another task harder- it is known
as a negative transfer. Brown and Cocking (2000) suggest that previous
experiences or learning can hinder the learning of new concepts. They provide the
example of where the prior experience of learning to walk upright, on what
appears to be a flat earth, hinders the learning of concepts in physics and
astronomy.
For example:
Left-hand drive vehicles hindering the learning of right-hand drive.
If a learner is introduced to two new languages, which are similar at the same
time, negative transfer occurs. A learner who is learning English and German at
the same time experiences difficulties mastering both languages simultaneously
due to inhibition or interference. English interferes with German and vise versa.
A student previously learned that when the subject is singular, you will put an ‘s’
at the end of the verb and when it is plural, you do not put an ‘s’ at the end of the
verb. However, the subjects ‘I’ and ‘You’ do not follow the rule. If the student
have not learned the exception properly, he will be adding an ‘s’ at the end of the
verb.
Having learned to pronounce ‘but’ correctly, what happens later on when a
similar type of spelling ‘put’ when this thing cropped up affects the children in a
negative manner. Or Pronunciation of mother tongue becomes obstacles while
pronouncing of English language.
3. Neutral transfer:
When learning of one activity neither facilitates or hinders the learning of another
task, it is a case of neutral transfer. It is also called as zero transfer. It just means
that previous skills or information have zero effect on learning new skills or
information. In other words, in this case the old information neither helps nor
hurts the new information or skill.
For Example:
Being able to play the piano would have no effect, good or bad, on your ability to
learn the geography of Pakistan. Therefore, the information has zero effect.
Knowledge of history in no way affects learning of driving a car or a scooter.
Learning to play guitar neither helps nor hinders one’s performance in her
cooking.
Learning to play football may not help or hinder learning to play volleyball.
Importance of transfer of Learning:
There is no more important topic in the whole psychology of learning than transfer of
learning .Practically all educational and training programs are built upon the fundamental
premise that human beings have the ability to transfer what they have learned from one
situation to another. The basic psychological problem in the transfer of learning pervades the
whole psychology of human training. There is no point to education apart from transfer. If
there were no transfer, students would need to be taught every act that they would ever
perform in any situation. Because the learning situation often differs from the context of
application, the goal of training is not accomplished unless transfer occurs. All new learning
involves transfer based on previous learning. If we did not transfer some of our prior
knowledge, then each new learning situation would start from scratch. Assumption of
education: what is taught in a course will be used in relevant situations in other courses, in
the workplace and out of school. It is the very essence of understanding, interacting and
creating. Furthermore, it is the ultimate aim of teaching and learning.
Education Implications:
1. We have seen that transfer of learning takes place because of similarity of content
technique, method or because of generalisation. If a student fails to detect the two
similarity between two situations, transfer will not take place. Remember that transfer
of learning does not take place automatically. We have to teach with transfer in mind.
2. Make the learning experiences as much as possible similar to life like situations. If
democratic way of life is accepted by the society, it should be practiced in the school
through activities such as the election of a students council.
3. Bad habits of work may transfer from one situation to another and may have a
detrimental effect on learning. Students develop faulty habits of study in the early
years of schooling which they carry over at a later stage even when they join a
college. Teachers should pay attention to the development of proper methods of study
and habits of work.
4. It is now well established that greater transfer from subject matter can be achieved by
changing the methods of teaching. If the subject matter is taught in isolation from the
problems of daily life, the utility of the knowledge gained is extremely limited. In one
study 16% increase in transfer was obtained by simply telling the student that the
material they were learning would be useful in other situation
5. Teachers should remember that transfer is not accomplished with equal facility or in
equal amounts by all individuals. It depends upon one’s ability to generalize his
experiences and the ability to perceive relationships between two situations. It is thus
positively related to intelligence.
6. For better transfer, make children understand with critical thinking rather than rote
memorization.
7. Teachers many times teach specific facts, without getting meaningful generalizations.
In the teaching of geometry students are generally taught bisecting a single angle in a
particular position, many of them fail to bisect the three angles of a triangle simple
because they are acquainted with the bisection of an angle in one particular position.
teacher should provide varied experiences. Problems in algebra should not be worked
out only with unknowns such as x and y but also with other unknowns such as m,n,a,
b, p,q and so on.
Theories of transfer of learning
There are different theories about the transfer of learning; here we discuss the Identical Elements
Theory, Generalization Theory and Transposition theory.
1. The Identical Elements Theory
The first and foremost theory that finds its way into this list is obviously none other than
one of the most famous “theory of identical elements”. This game-changing theory was
based on the idea of the occurrence of the training transfer, from one side to another,
under the situations with most similar or identical elements. This theory has been
developed by [Link] and Wood Worth. According to this theory, carrying out
the transfer of training from the trainer’s side to that of the trainee is proportional to the
degree of resemblance in situations. In simpler words, you can say that the greater the
similarity, the quicker and more effective, the transfer is. Furthermore, the degree of
transfer, as well as the pace of the transfer, increases as the number of similar elements
increase. Moreover, it is also true that the methods, which are used to guide the pupil and
his learning activities, greatly influence (or we might say, they control), the degree of
transferability of the training and Thorndike was sure of it. It is a common observation
that nearly all of the new learners are supposed to move forward by taking small steps
instead of a whole big leap. This is done so that the learner grasps the maximum possible
concepts and keeps the interest in the subject. There would be nothing if the opposite had
been done.
For example, learning to ride a scooter is easy after learning to ride a bicycle. Here, the
transfer is very fast because of identical elements in both vehicles. Goal keeper in
football can work as goal keeper in hockey as well. A student who acquires good
expression and style in writing in one language can be as good a writer in another
language he learns.
A boy who is a good hockey-player can be a good football- player also, because in
playing hockey he has learnt the skill of keeping eye on the ball, judging the flight of the
ball, catching the ball, hitting the ball, hitting the ball towards the companion or the goal
etc. All these skills will help him in both the games. These skills are common elements in
the two games.
2. Generalization Theory.
Along with food, air and other necessities of life, experience has also greatly helped the
humans in surviving the harsh conditions and trying to prevent further mishaps by
preparing for the expected ones. It works because experiences and the knowledge gained
from one situation can be generalized, modified and applied to another situation in the
life. This theory has been developed by Charles Judd. In this theory transfer of learning
takes place primarily through generalization and degree of transfer depends upon the
extent to which experiences in the first situation are understood and consolidated into
generalization. Experiences, habits knowledge gained in one situation help us to
generalise and apply to another situation. Better transfer can be possible when one can
understand the principle. It is just an extension of the theory of identical elements. On the
way, as one gains more and more understanding of the common problems, it becomes
easier for him to start perceiving and deducting the solutions. This capability of
individuals to generalize knowledge differs from person to person, in accordance with
their degrees of intelligence.
For Example, the theory of generalization indicates that a learnt experience should be
useful in other day to day related activities. Suppose two situations a common element
viz., punctuality. According to the common element theory, a boy who is punctual at
dinner party should be punctual for school also. But no, this may not always be true. The
child will not be punctual in both situations, unless ‘punctuality’ has become a part of the
child’s attitude pattern as a result of schooling and training. Again, a child may be tidy in
the school for fears of punishment, but he may be untidy at home. Transfer can take place
from school situation to home (or vice-versa) if the child full grasps the principle of
tidiness, and gains a complete view of the principle.
3. Transposition Theory.
It is advocated by Gestalt psychology. Transfer starts in understanding the fact and
perception of similarity by the learner. It is known as pattern of relationship. It is not the
specific skills or facts or even underlying principles which are important, but the
understanding of relationship between facts, process and the principles are the real basis
of transfer. Transfer of learning implies that what is learned in one situation can be
shifted directly to another situation. According to Gestalt psychologist transfer of
learning means that generalization, concept or insights which are developed in one
learning situation are employed as a whole in other situation in which they are applicable.
Gestalt Psychology emphasises the total pattern of behaviour. So transfer is dependent
upon the whole-part relations between the old and the new situations. It is not the
principle or generalisation that is at the basis of transfer, but the understanding of the
relationship between facts, processes and principles. Hence the need for ‘transposition’.
Thus a song learned in a certain key may be recognised even in a different
key. The component of the song may be different, but that does not hamper
the transfer. It is because of the understanding of the total situation.
This means that the key to transfer of learning from one situation to another
lies in the development and transposition of proper insight. Hence as the
theory asserts, good results in the process of transfer of learning may be
achieved if a person
1. Develop the attitude of throwing proper insight learning.
2. Tries for a generalisation of the gained insight by perceiving common factors in
different situations.
3. Tries to understand how generalization can be used.
References:
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