This section looks at the different forms of transfer. Practical examples of their uses are also included. (Equivalent to UK A Level Physical Education) Show Learning or regularly performing a skill can affect, either positively or negatively, the learning of a second skill. Positive TransferThis usually occurs when the two skills in question are similar in some way. Having already mastered one of the skills makes learning the second skill easier. Coaches can aid this positive transfer by making sure the individual understands the similarities between the two skills and by making sure that the basics of the first skill are well learned so that they transfer more easily into the second skill. An example of this is a tennis player using their knowledge of a serve to help them learn the overarm serve in volleyball. Negative TransferThis occurs when having learned one skill, makes learning the second skill more difficult. This more often happens when a stimulus common to both skills requires a different response. For example, a squash player who takes up tennis may find it difficult to learn to not use their wrist during shots. Negative transfer can be avoided by making sure the athlete is aware of the differences and making practice sessions similar to match situations to ensure a larger, generalised motor programme. Transfer of skills can work both ways, in that, a skill currently being learned may affect a skill previously learned, or a skill learned in the past may affect a skill currently being learned. Proactive TransferA skill learned in the past affects a skill currently being learned or to be learned in the future Retroactive TransferLearning a new skill affects a previously learned skill. Bilateral TransferWhere the learning of one skill is transferred from one limb to the other e.g. a footballer learning to pass with their left foot when they have previously learned this skill with their right foot. Zero TransferWhere there are no transferable elements between previously learned skills and the new ones about to be learned e.g. bowling in cricket and skipping. Stimulus GeneralisationThe transfer of previously learned skills to a new situation can sometimes be generalised rather than specific to the situation. For example, a performer who has learned to catch a ball playing rugby may react to catching any ball in the same way. This is not always a positive thing as in a different situation (e.g. football) catching the ball is not within the rules of the game! Response GeneralisationWhen a performer has well learned a skill they can begin to adapt the skill to vary it. An example is in cricket where a bowler will vary his or her delivery to try to unsettle the batsman. Six categories of skill transfer have been identified:
Transfer of learning occurs when people apply information, strategies, and skills they have learned to a new situation or context. Transfer is not a discrete activity, but is rather an integral part of the learning process. Researchers attempt to identify when and how transfer occurs and to offer strategies to improve transfer.
The formal discipline (or mental discipline) approach to learning believed that specific mental faculties could be strengthened by particular courses of training and that these strengthened faculties transferred to other situations, based on faculty psychology which viewed the mind as a collection of separate modules or faculties assigned to various mental tasks. This approach resulted in school curricula that required students to study subjects such as mathematics and Latin in order to strengthen reasoning and memory faculties.[1] Disputing formal discipline, Edward Thorndike and Robert S. Woodworth in 1901 postulated that the transfer of learning was restricted or assisted by the elements in common between the original context and the next context.[1] The notion was originally introduced as transfer of practice. They explored how individuals would transfer learning in one context to another similar context and how "improvement in one mental function" could influence a related one. Their theory implied that transfer of learning depends on how similar the learning task and transfer tasks are, or where "identical elements are concerned in the influencing and influenced function", now known as the identical element theory.[2] Thorndike urged schools to design curricula with tasks similar to those students would encounter outside of school to facilitate the transfer of learning.[1] In contrast to Thorndike, Edwin Ray Guthrie's law of contiguity expected little transfer of learning. Guthrie recommended studying in the exact conditions in which one would be tested, because of his view that "we learn what we do in the presence of specific stimuli".[1] The expectation is that training in conditions as similar as possible to those in which learners will have to perform will facilitate transfer.[3] The argument is also made that transfer is not distinct from learning, as people do not encounter situations as blank slates.[4] Perkins and Salomon considered it more a continuum, with no bright line between learning and transfer.[5] Transfer may also be referred to as generalization, B. F. Skinner's concept of a response to a stimulus occurring to other stimuli.[3] Today, transfer of learning is usually described as the process and the effective extent to which past experiences (also referred to as the transfer source) affect learning and performance in a new situation (the transfer target).[6] However, there remains controversy as to how transfer of learning should be conceptualized and explained, what its prevalence is, what its relation is to learning in general, and whether it exists at all.[4] People store propositions, or basic units of knowledge, in long-term memory. When new information enters the working memory, long-term memory is searched for associations which combine with the new information in working memory. The associations reinforce the new information and help assign meaning to it.[7] Learning that takes place in varying contexts can create more links and encourage generalization of the skill or knowledge.[3] Connections between past learning and new learning can provide a context or framework for the new information, helping students to determine sense and meaning, and encouraging retention of the new information. These connections can build up a framework of associative networks that students can call upon for future problem-solving.[7] Information stored in memory is "flexible, interpretive, generically altered, and its recall and transfer are largely context-dependent".[4] When Thorndike refers to similarity of elements between learning and transfer, the elements can be conditions or procedures. Conditions can be environmental, physical, mental, or emotional, and the possible combinations of conditions are countless. Procedures include sequences of events or information.[1] Although the theory is that the similarity of elements facilitates transfer, there is a challenge in identifying which specific elements had an effect on the learner at the time of learning.[4] Factors that can affect transfer include:[7]
Learners can increase transfer through effective practice and by mindfully abstracting knowledge. Abstraction is the process of examining our experiences for similarities. Methods for abstracting knowledge include seeking the underlying principles in what is learned, creating models, and identifying analogies and metaphors, all of which assist with creating associations and encouraging transfer.[5] Transfer of learning can be cognitive, socio-emotional, or motor.[4] The following table presents different types of transfer.[3]
Transfer is less a deliberate activity by the learner than it is a result of the environment at the time of learning. Teachers, being part of the learning environment, can be an instrument of transfer (both positive and negative).[7] Recommendations for teaching for transfer include the hugging and bridging strategies; providing authentic environment and activities within a conceptual framework; encouraging problem-based learning; community of practice; cognitive apprenticeship; and game-based learning.[5] Hugging and bridgingHugging and bridging as techniques for positive transfer were suggested by the research of Perkins and Salomon.[7] Hugging is when the teacher encourages transfer by incorporating similarities between the learning situation and the future situations in which the learning might be used. Some methods for hugging include simulation games, mental practice, and contingency learning.[7] Bridging is when the teacher encourages transfer by helping students to find connections between learning and to abstract their existing knowledge to new concepts. Some methods for bridging include brainstorming, developing analogies, and metacognition.[7]
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