Nurturing the seeds of transfer: a domain-specific perspective

Transfer, the process of using knowledge or skills acquired in one context in a new or varied context, has long been the topic of spirited debate in the research community. In this chapter, fundamental dimensions that appear to underlie effective transfer are described. These fundamentals — subject-matter knowledge, general cognitive and metacognitive strategies, and motivation, particularly interest — are referred to as the seeds of transfer. As a means of presenting these fundamentals, five generalizations about transfer, drawn from the extensive literatures in transfer, domain learning, and analogical reasoning, are summarized. In addition, potential instructional barriers to transfer are highlighted, along with critical steps deemed necessary to enhance transfer within academic settings.     

Theory and practice of teaching for transfer

Transfer of teaching is central to education. In this article, the evolution of the sole viable theory of transfer—the theory of common elements—is traced from its mentalistic beginnings, through the behaviorist view of elements as stimuli and responses related by the mechanism of conditioning, to the contemporary view of elements as mental representations, knowledge, and strategies operated on by cognitive mechanisms including automatization, inferential reasoning, and metacognitive monitoring. Second, the cognitive theory of elements and mechanisms is used to answer three educationally crucial questions: (1) How do students select, from all they have learned, particular knowledge and skills for use in new situations? (2) What determines the utility of the knowledge and skills selected? (3) When selected knowledge and skills are not useful, what determines whether and how learners cope? Third, the authors identify what they view as needed refinements in experimental methods of studying transfer, in the theory of common elements, in basic and applied research, and in the uses of technology in education.     

Examining Mental Health Differences between Transfer and Nontransfer University Students Seeking Counseling Services

This article sought to examine the differences between transfer and nontransfer students on mental health factors, social involvement, and academic success. It was found that transfer students had significantly higher scores on several mental health factors as compared to nontransfer students. It was also found that transfer students were less involved in athletics and campus organizations, but engaged in more work hours per week. Finally, results indicated that the transfer students were not experiencing significant differences in their academic performance compared to nontransfer students. Future research should examine these differences to better understand the impact of the transition and adjustment of transferring to a new institution.     

迁移理论在培养物理解题能力方面的运用

迁移是一种心理现象,是指已获得的知识、技能、态度和方法对学习新知识、新技能的影响.学习的经验之所以能对后来的学习发生影响,是由于学生在新的学习中运用这种经验的结果,知识的应用与知识的迁移是有密切关联的.所以迁移是能力形成的重要环节.     

深度学习研究：发展脉络与瓶颈

深度学习研究在国际上历经40余年,经历了蛰伏期、萌发期、新兴期,目前正处在迅发期,已得到政府、学校、社会机构、媒体前所未有的关注和推崇。国内外的深度学习研究态势呈现出各自特色:国外偏向深度参与学习以及高阶学习策略研究,国内注重学生高阶知能的发展与迁移应用。40余年里,深度学习发生了两个方向的转变:从索求理解到追求迁移、从注重过程到侧重结果。深度学习已不再仅仅是为了理解基本知能而采用的学习方式,它更多的是一种基于理解、追求迁移应用的有意义学习。它通过促使学生深度参与学习、适性地采用高级学习方略来促进高阶知能的发展,实现这些知能在全新情境中的应用或新高阶知能生成。目前国内外尚无研究关注深度学习的灵活性问题,而灵活性却是深度学习的诉求。这种诉求触及到顶层框架结构的变化并且需要一种认知灵活性,其实现极具挑战,可通过学习架构并借助智慧课堂的赋能作用尝试解决。     

University Studies and Concept of Reality—A Study of Effects of Education

The project's background

Research about the effects of education at an individual level are to a great extent concentrated to the higher levels of the educational system. Ever since the 1930's extensive research has been conducted, not least in the United States, about what effects on knowledge and values originate from university training. As this project has as its main purpose—with examples from a number of different fields of study—to describe and try to understand enduring effects of a cognitive nature which higher education can contribute to, there is reason to pay attention to those features in previous research that have concerned growth of knowledge and/or cognitive development. According to a survey that was made in a different context (Dahlgren, 1982), it is possible to classify the cognitive effects of education into three levels. The first level might be the one that is most evidently associated with formal education, i.e., the level where specific knowledge and skills within different subjects appear. It is of course not surprising to find that students that are about to leave an education where they have taken extensive courses in, for instance, biology and chemistry perform better at tests with problems of a scientific nature than a group of students that have recently started the same kind of education.     

Design‐based science and real‐world problem‐solving

Design‐based science (DBS) is a science pedagogy in which new scientific knowledge and problem‐solving skills are constructed in the context of designing artifacts. This paper examines whether the enactment of a DBS unit supported students’ efforts to construct and transfer new science knowledge and ‘designerly’ problem‐solving skills to the solution of a new real‐world design problem in a real‐world setting. One hundred and forty‐nine students participated in the enactment of a DBS unit. Their understanding of the curricular content was assessed by identical pre‐instructional and post‐instructional written tests. They were then given a new design problem as a transfer task. There was a statistically significant increase on scores from pre‐test to post‐test with an effect size of 1.8. There was a stronger correlation between the scores of the transfer task and those of the post‐test than with those of the pre‐test; we use this finding to suggest that the knowledge that was constructed during the unit enactment supported the solution of the transfer task. This has implications for the development of science curricula that aim to lead to the construction of knowledge and skills that may be useful in extra‐classroom settings. Whether participation in consecutive enactments of different DBS units increases transfer remains to be investigated in more depth.     

Why Arts Integration Improves Long‐Term Retention of Content

Advocates of the arts agree that the K‐12 curriculum should include dedicated time for arts instruction. Some have argued further that knowledge and skills acquired through the arts transfer to nonarts domains. Others claim that evidence of this kind of transfer is limited and instead argue that the arts cultivate valuable dispositions that help students succeed both in and outside of school. Another potential benefit of the arts has received little attention, however. Arts integration—the use of the arts as a teaching methodology throughout the curriculum—may improve long‐term retention of content. A variety of long‐term memory effects well known in cognitive psychology are reviewed, and it is argued that arts integration naturally takes advantage of these effects while promoting student motivation. This review of findings and applications provides an example of how existing research from neuroscience and cognitive science can inform the work of practicing educators.     

Ability- or competence-based education: Bridging the gap between knowledge acquisition and ability to apply

Traditionally education has to contend with the problem that knowledge acquisition does not guarantee the successful application of that same knowledge. Yet, according to Whitehead, the ultimate goal of education should be to teach students to learn to apply knowledge. Furthermore, one is confronted with the problem that discipline-specific knowledge and skills are insufficient to respond adequately in a situation with discipline-transcending, new and unknown problems. Next to disciplinespecific knowledge and skills, more general knowledge and skills are needed in the area of e.g., communication, problem-solving, use of information, analysis, decision-making. General knowledge and skills, however, offer no guarantee whatsoever that somebody also has sufficient discipline-specific expertise at his disposal.These are the problems that Nijenrode University wants to solve with a new curriculum for management education. In the curriculum developed by Nijenrode, students learn to apply heuristics in the area of general skills and meta-skills (reflecting and learning-to-learn) in interaction with a varying discipline-specific learning content. In this context, discipline-specific knowledge and skills on the one hand, and general skills and meta-skills on the other hand are, in relation to each other, both the objective as well as the means. The student learns the one thing with the help of the other and vice versa, by means of a continuing process of contextualization and decontextualization. The curriculum is a response to the challenge confronting management education to prepare students for future management positions in a world which is characterized by continuous change. The response may be interesting for other types of vocational and professional education as well.     

TEACHING SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION SKILLS IN SCIENCE STUDIES: DOES IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE?

This study explores the impact of ‘Scientific Communication’ (SC) skills instruction on students’ performances in scientific literacy assessment tasks. We present a general model for skills instruction, characterized by explicit and spiral instruction, integration into content learning, practice in several scientific topics, and application of performance tasks. The model was applied through an instructional program that focuses on the following learning skills: information retrieval, scientific reading and writing, listening and observing, data representation, and knowledge presentation. Throughout the 7th–8th grades, 160 students learned the whole program or one of its components: structured instruction (SI) of SC skills, or performance tasks (PT). A comparison group of 42 students did not receive instruction of SC skills. Students’ performances were assessed through a questionnaire and a complex task that measured students’ scientific content knowledge, SC skills, and the quality of the final products. Results indicated that students who learned the whole program or one of its components achieved higher scores in all categories than the comparison group students. High achievers can benefit from just one component of the program: either structured instruction (SI) or learning from practice (PT). However, they can hardly acquire SC skills spontaneously. Low and average achievers require both components of the SC program to improve their performances. Results show that without planned intervention, the spontaneous attainment of SC skills occurs only to a limited extent. Systematic teaching of skills can make a significant difference. The explicit instruction of skills integrated into scientific topics, the opportunities to implement the skills in different contexts, the role of performance tasks as ‘assessment for learning’—all these features are important and necessary for improving students’ scientific literacy. Our general model of skills instruction can be applied to the instruction of other high-order skills. Its application can lead to the realization of the central goal of science education: literate students possessing scientific knowledge.     

学生实践能力的提高与高等学校教学模式的选择和重建

实践能力是保证个体顺利运用已有知识、技能去解决实际问题所必需的生理和心理特征的总和,它由实践动机因素、一般实践能力因素、专项实践能力因素和情境实践能力因素四种基本要素构成。个体实践能力的形成与发展是一个涉及生理成熟、知识与技能掌握、经验获得等多种因素的复杂过程,呈现参与性、自我反思和体悟性、持久性等特征。长期以来,理论教学作为主导型教学模式一直在我国高等学校的教学中占据着核心地位,在这种课程、教学模式设计和评价体系中,学生的实践能力发展问题必然会游离于主导教学模式之外。切实提高大学生的实践能力急需高等院校创造性地选择和重建一批新的教学模式,其中包括问题主导型教学模式、体验——反思型教学模式、案例教学模式和专项技能训练模式等。     

职业教育“实践—参与”教学模式研究

职业教育“实践—参与”教学模式是在专业面向的职业实践共同体中,在教师指导下,学生沿着特定职业发展逻辑所规划的生涯路径,以职业实践为中心,以职业技能形成为目标,多要素、多层次的社会化具身参与系统。针对学校职业教育与工作场所之间长期存在的实践模式及其情境脉络不连续问题,“实践—参与”教学模式从职业实践的教育属性、职业知识的境脉依赖、职业学习的“参与”本质、职业技能形成的具身机制四个方面阐述了理论渊源;基于“实践共同体”模型建构了职业教育教学组织的新形态;从职业实践样本整体开发与共同体境脉展开两个方面,职业实践具身参与的行动、认知、交互和认证四个环节,提出了职业教育教学过程设计的新框架。     

Adult Educators: an example of the new approach to lifelong learning in Poland

This article presents reflections arising from a study on adult learning professions in Poland. Changes in the socio-political and legal context created phenomena that have occurred in the adult education systems, mechanisms and approaches. The article focuses on the impact of those processes on a specific professional group — adult educators.
Because of the increasing importance of lifelong learning and the promising vision of a knowledge society, new initiatives in education open challenging possibilities for human development. Based on interviews with practitioners the article describes the professional situation of adult educators: training, development, awareness, values, priorities and practice. A new trend noticeable in these interviews — the emergence of a new kind of educator. The working style of this new group (operating like a closed caste) with a specific language and communication style, value system, ethics and critical skills resulted in the creation of the culture of lifelong learning. The culture of adult educators has developed skills of survival in a fragmented reality of the Polish educational policy, a chaotic legal frame and the strong pressure of the labour market.     

具身认知理论视域下的新教师培训实践创新

新教师入职培训需要摆脱被动接受知识的窘境,用最短的周期实现从学生到教师、从不熟悉课堂教学到能站稳讲台的两个转变。反思四年来连续四轮的新教师培训实践,具身认知理论为新教师培训突破窘境提供了理论基础。文章以"教学语言技能训练"实践案例为载体,呈现了具身认知理论下的新教师培训实践创新的五个方面:培训模式从接受学习向具身学习的模式创新;参训教师由离身旁观者变为具身建构者的角色转型;课程内容从惰性知识设计到认知、身体与环境系统知识设计的范畴迭代;学习过程从头脑参与到身心参与的全人学习;培训目标从知道知识指向知识理解、应用与创新的认知升级。这种培训实践创新为新教师及各类教师培训提供了一个新的理论指导实践的范式。     

Part-time Research Students: Are they producing knowledge where it counts?

Over the past twenty years, in Australia and overseas, there has been a steady growth in the numbers of part-time research students. It is possible to view this as substantially a product of "creeping credentialism" following from the previous growth in part-time coursework Masters degrees. However, research degrees are a different kind of credential and program to coursework degrees. They are not only about research training-- in the sense of teaching people how to conceptualise, plan, undertake, analyse and communicate research--but they are also "tested" by the candidate's production of some new and significant knowledge (especially in doctorates). Therefore, unlike coursework degrees, some new public "good" is created and added to the "stock of knowledge". Common criticisms of the "traditional" PhD research degree, in Australia and overseas, are that it is (now) too narrow and specialised for either the graduate or their research findings to be of utility beyond their specialism, the graduates are limited in their communication and workplace skills, and their employment opportunities are relatively weak, especially given the high costs of their research degrees. However, the rise of part-time candidature and of professional doctorates--commonly involving research in workplaces or professions-- suggests that, if this criticism is valid, it would be unlikely to be valid for part-time PhDs and professional doctorates. This article analyses these criticisms in relation to the ways in which part-time research students are positioned within the knowledge economy. It makes an argument for a greater understanding and analysis of the impact and benefits of part-time doctoral students to the knowledge economy and the public good.     

Postliteracy in the digital age: The use of mobile phones to support literacy practices in Namibia and Tanzania

This article focuses on individuals emerging from traditional oral cultures with limited education and few economic resources who use mobile telephones to maintain their writing and communication skills, despite the scarcity of reading materials, or a lack of social, economic, political, and cultural incentives. Drawing on two case studies—one of previously disenfranchized citizens participating in a national dialogue in Namibia and one of entrepreneurial women in Tanzania—the authors examine postliteracy practices in adults’ everyday lives, probe these innovative uses of mobile applications, and thus aim to understand the context of the mobile literacy environment. They find that for individuals with limited literacy skills, these phones and applications can offer a vital resource for postliteracy practices, one that gives them a better chance of maintaining and enhancing their previously acquired literacy skills.     

Peer-Based Supplemental Instruction in STEM: Differences in Effectiveness Across Transfer and Nontransfer Undergraduates

Although there is a large body of research on the effectiveness of supplemental instruction for college undergraduates, very little of it has focused on transfer students, who often confront additional sources of stress and historically perform more poorly than their native student counterparts. In this study, we investigated the effectiveness of a peer-based supplemental instructional program in general and organic chemistry at a large state university over a six-year period, while considering differences across transfer and nontransfer students. The results suggest that the supplemental instruction improved outcomes overall but that nontransfer students benefit to a greater degree than transfer students, in the form of higher grades and pass rates, from attending supplemental instruction. The results suggest that peer-based supplemental instruction is a useful method to improve undergraduate student performance in chemistry, but more research is needed on ways to enhance the effectiveness of interventions in improving the performance of transfer undergraduate students in STEM fields.     

Pre-service teachers’ learning of diagnostic skills in a video-based simulation: Effects of conceptual vs. interconnecting prompts on judgment accuracy and the diagnostic process

Video-based simulations are considered authentic approximations of practice that can support pre-service teachers' acquisition of diagnostic skills. Still, there is insufficient knowledge on the (differential) effectiveness of different types of prompts on learning in such environments. The presented study experimentally compared the effects of two types of prompts on participants’ judgment accuracy and diagnostic processes in a video-based simulation for diagnostic skills in the context of secondary mathematical argumentation skills. The prompts focused learners either on one indicator of argumentation skills (conceptual prompts) or two indicators and their relation (interconnecting prompts). Results indicate that the prompts effectively supported learning in short interventions. While conceptual prompts led to generally higher learning, interconnecting prompts showed a differential effectiveness based on prior knowledge. Besides highlighting a prototypical video-based simulation for diagnostic skills and prompts to support these, results give indications for teaching diagnostic skills and the adaptive use of prompts for simulation-based learning.