Rocky Roads to Transfer: Rethinking Mechanism of a Neglected Phenomenon

Recent findings of transfer and nontransfer in such areas as planning and problem management skills, computer programming instruction, and literacy-related cognitive skills reveal paradoxes that invite explanation. In this article, we separate the "how" of transfer—the mechanisms that lead to it—from the "what" of transfer—the kind of knowledge and skill that might get transferred. We argue that transfer occurs in two ways. Low-road transfer depends on extensive, varied practice and occurs by the automatic triggering of well-learned behavior in a new context. High-road transfer occurs by intentional mindful abstraction of something from one context and application in a new context. Such transfer can either be of the forward-reaching kind, whereby one mindfully abstracts basic elements in anticipation for later application, or of the backward-reaching kind, where one faces a new situation and deliberately searches for relevant knowledge already acquired. Findings of transfer or nontransfer reflect whether the conditions for either low-road or high-road transfer were met. Qualitative predictions stemming from this theory of the mechanisms of transfer are offered and discussed.     

Cumulative and segmented learning: exploring the role of curriculum structures in knowledge‐building

The present article extends Basil Bernstein’s theorisation of ‘discourses’ and ‘knowledge structures’ to explore the potential of educational knowledge structures to enable or constrain cumulative learning, where students can transfer knowledge across contexts and build knowledge over time. It offers a means of overcoming dichotomies in Bernstein’s model by conceptualising knowledge in terms of legitimation codes (bases of achievement) and semantic gravity (context‐dependency of knowledge). This developed framework is used to analyse two contrasting examples of curriculum – from professional education at university and secondary school English – that aim to enable cumulative learning. Analyses of students’ work products show that both cases can constrain knowledge‐building by anchoring meaning within its context of acquisition. The basis for this potential is located in a mismatch between their aims of enabling students to learn higher‐order principles and their curricular means that focus on knowers’ dispositions rather than articulating principles of knowledge.     

Distributed Cognition as a Lens to Understand the Effects of Scaffolds: The Role of Transfer of Responsibility

Problem solving is an important skill in the knowledge economy. Research indicates that the development of problem solving skills works better in the context of instructional approaches centered on real-world problems. But students need scaffolding to be successful in such instruction. In this paper I present a conceptual framework for understanding the effects of scaffolding. First, I discuss the ultimate goal of scaffolding—the transfer of responsibility—and one way that scholars have conceptualized promoting this outcome (fading). Next, I describe an alternative way to conceptualize transfer of responsibility through the lens of distributed cognition and discuss how this lens informs how to promote transfer of responsibility. Then I propose guidelines for the creation of problem solving scaffolds to support transfer of responsibility and discuss them in light of the literature.     

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.     

Governing by Testing: Circulation,Psychometric Knowledge,Experts and the “Alliance for Progress” in Latin America During the 1960s and 1970s

This paper analyzes the activities, members, and effects of an inter-American expert network for the diffusion of psychometric knowledge, specifically of standardized aptitude testing for university admission in Latin America during the 1960s and 1970s. Within the framework of educational transfer studies, the role of international, nongovernmental, and philanthropic organizations is examined. It is argued that circulation of psychometric knowledge and technologies led to a new governing regime for learning and learners. The paper discusses the effect of convergence and Americanization, in the context of US-promoted “Alliance for Progress,” but also of divergence and resistance.     

Internationaler Policy Transfer in der Berufsbildung

The international practice of transferring educational structures, curricula and best practice, shortly summarized under the term ??policies??, from Germany to many other countries has taken place since more than 40 years. In this article we will first explain the theoretical framework for the analysis of policy transfer. In the second part the model of work culture as a developmental approach and extended theoretical framework that can be used for the analysis of context factors in the policy transfer process will be introduced. This model is applied to the analysis of policy transfer in vocational education and training in China and Turkey and used to explain context, actors and goals as well as transfer attainments.     

Internationalisation and the validity of knowledge in religious education as a field of research

ABSTRACT

Building on the notion of validity claims within the discussion on international knowledge transfer in religious education as a field of research, three views on the contextuality of knowledge are discussed. From a classical perspective in the sociology of science, the issue of validity must be treated irrespective of matters of context. Secondly, from the perspective of postcolonial studies, this naïve view is criticised as a veiled form of Eurocentrism. Thirdly, these two general views are concretised in light of a reception process bridging the Global South and the Global North. To this end, exemplary factors contributing to the inclusion of Paulo Freire’s pedagogical work in discourses on religious education are analysed. What emerges through these analyses is a differentiated view of validity resting on the de- and recontextualisation of knowledge that allows for it to oscillate between different contexts.     

Strategic transfer: A tool for academic problem solving

Within the context of classroom learning, strategic transfer can be viewed as a tool for academic problem solving. Strategic transfer is defined as the spontaneous access and retrieval (remembering) of previously learned formal procedures for the successful solution of a problem. The transfer-appropriate processing encoding model (Morris, Bransford, and Franks, 1977), and the transfer-appropriate procedures retrieval model (Roediger, Weldon, and Challis, 1989) are reviewed. An integration of the two models is proposed through the development of a training-for-transfer paradigm (Phye, 1990). By integrating encoding and retrieval processing in a single transfer paradigm the issue of accessing prior knowledge (Bransford, 1990) that is also referred to as the inert knowledge problem (Whitehead, 1929) can directly be addressed.     

Situated cognition and learning environments: Roles,structures, and implications for design

Situated cognition has emerged as a powerful perspective in providing meaningful learning and promoting the transfer of knowledge to real-life situations. While considerable interest has been generated in situated learning environments, few guidelines exist related to their design. The purpose of this paper is to examine the theoretical underpinnings of situated cognition and to derive implications for the design of situated learning environments. The conceptual framework centers on four basic issues: the role of context, the role of content, the role of facilitation, and the role of assessment.     

A Holistic Approach Toward Motivation to Learn in the Workplace

The purpose of this study was to identify key variables within and outside the learning context that could affect motivation to learn during training. Aside from research on motivation to learn, the theoretical framework of this study was also based on sociotechnical systems, total quality management, and training transfer theories which in turn furnished the training and organizational variables projected to have an influence on employee and organizational performance. Task autonomy, extrinsic rewards when applying newly learned skills and knowledge, organizational orientation toward quality improvement, and a work environment within which people live up to high ethical standards were found to be the most important predictors for motivation to learn during training.     

Knowledge transfer in the context of refutation texts

In this study, we examined the conditions under which readers are able to transfer revised knowledge as a result of reading refutation texts (i.e. texts that explicitly state and refute a misconception). Across three experiments, participants read refutation texts that addressed socioscientific and nonsocioscientific issues as well as transfer texts that were designed to reactivate the misconceptions addressed in refutation texts. In Experiments 1 and 2, the results indicate that reading a refutation text reduces interference from the misconception as participants read the transfer texts in close temporal distance, even when the misconception is reactivated. In Experiment 3, the results indicate that participants reading refutation texts could not transfer revised knowledge when the temporal distance between refutation texts and transfer texts increased. Students’ performance on pretest and posttest questionnaires also suggest that reading the refutation texts facilitated knowledge revision prior to transfer. We discuss the findings in the context of the Knowledge Revision Components Framework.     

Activity theory as a framework for designing constructivist learning environments

The epistemic assumptions of constructive learning are different from those of traditional instruction, so classical methods of needs and task analysis are inappropriate for designing constructivist learning environments (CLEs). This paper argues that activity theory provides an appropriate framework for analyzing needs, tasks, and outcomes for designing CLEs. Activity theory is a socio-cultural, socio-historical lens through which designers can analyze human activity systems. It focuses on the interaction of human activity and consciousness within its relevant environmental context. Since conscious learning emerges from activity (performance), not as a precursor to it, CLEs should attempt to replicate the activity structures, tools and sign systems, socio-cultural rules, and community expectations that performers must accommodate while acting on some object of learning. After explicating assumptions of activity theory and briefly describing the components of CLEs, this paper describes a process for using activity theory as a framework for describing the components of an activity system that can be modeled in CLEs.His current research focuses on designing constructivist learning environments, cognitive tools for learning, knowledge representation methods, problem solving, computer-supported collaborative argumentation, cognitive task analysis, and individual differences and learning.His current research focuses on designing constructivist learning environments, cognitive tools for learning, knowledge representation methods, problem solving, computer-supported collaborative argumentation, cognitive task analysis, and individual differences and learning.Her research interests include activity theory and structural knowledge.     

Female education and the cultural transfer of pedagogical knowledge in the eighteenth century

In the eighteenth century, the German pedagogical discourse took place within the broader framework of an international circulation of pedagogical concepts and ideas. The trans-cultural nature of these intellectual exchanges is particularly evident in the thoughts and writings on female education. Translations of books and essays played a significant role in this transfer of pedagogical knowledge. The article focuses on the manner in which educational thought circulated across borders by studying one case in detail. The examination of John Burton’s Lectures on Female Education and Manners (1793), which was published in German in several editions, will place particular emphasis on the manner in which educational ideas emerging from a specific cultural context are adopted into a different discursive system. The research methodology is based on the concept of “cultural transfer”, an approach that has proven fruitful in transfer and comparative studies in recent years. It refers to key aspects of transfer theory, especially the consideration that ideas do not spread autonomously, but must be carried by intermediaries. Thus, the mechanisms of importing foreign cultural assets and the context of its reception will be at the core of this work.     

Knowledge through a collaborative network: a cross‐cultural partnership

A recurring issue for researchers, policy‐makers and practitioners is how new knowledge can be disseminated, critiqued, assessed and incorporated into policy development and practice. Campbell and Fulford examined strategies in a Canadian Education Ministry which was striving to incorporate research findings into policy debate. They evolved a useful framework indentifying six forms and stages of knowledge development related to research use in this context: generation of new knowledge, mobilisation, contextualisation, adaptation, application and integration. This paper uses their framework to explore links between research and practice in a collaborative cross‐cultural partnership designed to develop greater capacity in teacher education in a Pacific country, and based on action, co‐construction and reflection. It argues that there are blurred boundaries between knowledge production and its practical implementation, use and testing, that contextualisation and relationship building are crucial to knowledge mobilisation, and that knowledge is generated across all stages in the process.     

The transfer of nature of science understandings: a question of similarity and familiarity of contexts

It is important to question the generalizability of the knowledge about the nature of science (NOS), and thus know whether the knowledge about NOS can be transferred to various contexts. As such, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether students were able to transfer their acquired NOS understandings into contexts that vary in their similarity to the context of learning. Thirty-eight 7th grade students in two intact sections participated in the study. The treatment extended over seven weeks and involved teaching a unit about plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes. Only one of the two groups was explicitly taught about NOS in relation to the topics under study. To assess the change in students’ understandings of NOS and their ability to transfer these acquired understandings, a five-topic open-ended questionnaire and individual semi-structured interviews were used. Some of the questionnaire topics focused on scientific issues and were considered similar to the context of learning, while other topics were socioscientific and were considered less similar. Results showed that the transfer of participants’ acquired NOS understandings occurred when the context was similar to the context of learning and when the context was more familiar based on prior knowledge. Interpretations related to knowledge base schema, the distance between contexts, as well as the explicit teaching about transfer were discussed.     

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.     

E-learning and technologies for open distance learning in Management Accounting

This research develops a knowledge acquisition and construction framework for e-learning for Management Accounting students at the University of South Africa, an Open Distance Learning institution which utilises e-learning. E-learning refers to the use of electronic applications and processes for learning, including the transfer of skills and knowledge over a distance. It is important to the knowledge construction process to understand how students learn in order to determine a set of suitable learning strategies. Studies have shown that e-learning applications are seldom used, sometimes because of inappropriate content and technologies. Other prohibitive factors are cost, poor or inadequate technology infrastructure (or a lack of access to such infrastructure), and a shortage of human resources. We propose a framework for addressing these concerns and consider how constructivist theories may enrich such a framework.     

Gift,commodity and mutual benefit: analysing the transfer of university knowledge between Thailand and Australia

For the last 50 years, Australia has been assisting Thailand with the development of its universities. This has involved the transfer of Australian university knowledge to Thailand and the reproduction of that knowledge in the Thai university system. Initially, this knowledge was transferred in gift-style transactions. In the last decade, both countries have been influenced by the impact of globalization and this influence has provided the impetus for change in the processes of knowledge transfer. University knowledge is now viewed increasingly as a commodity in Australia. Thailand is experiencing a period of economic growth and its needs have also changed. There is evidence that the commodification of university knowledge is not as lucrative as was first envisaged and now there are attempts by both Thai and Australian policy makers to find a framework for the transfer of university knowledge that is of mutual benefit to both.     

古典接受诗学的后现代理论形象

古典接受诗学的后现代理论形象是它面对当代语境转型时所生成的一种历史身份。人类精神谱系的连续性发展与其内涵的现代性与后现代性意义元素为建构古典接受诗学的后现代理论形象提供了合法化依据。这种后现代理论形象主要在三个维度获得规定,即微观化阐释构架、世俗化的阐释内涵与地方性的阐释标准。在当代文化语境中,后现代理论形象之于古典接受诗学而言不是实体性的,而是功能性的。