TRANSFER OF LEARNING

Transfer of learning



Methodological Challenges Associated With The Investigation Of The Transfer Of Learning

Introduction

The terms 'training' and 'learning' are often used synonymously, but they can also be taken to mean different things. Training elicits thoughts of working on particular skills and can appear very task-focused, the outcome being, of course, learning. Learning, however, seems to be a much broader term, encompassing not only specific skills, but also socio-cultural, cognitive and behavioural characteristics. Despite the terminology debate, Cormier and Hagman (1987) argue that the term transfer of training equates to the term transfer of learning.

This research took the qualitative research. Qualitative research is much more subjective than quantitative research and uses very different methods of collecting information, mainly individual, in-depth interviews and focus groups. This type of research is often less costly than surveys and is extremely effective in acquiring information about peoples' communications needs and their responses to and views about specific communications. It is often the method of choice in instances where quantitative measurement is not required.

The two theories were compared in specific regarding the learning transfer. They included Contextual learning and Schema Theory.

In general terms, transfer of learning occurs when prior-learned knowledge and skills affect the way in which new knowledge and skills are learned and performed. Transfer is deemed to be positive if acquisition and performance are facilitated, and negative if they are impeded (Cormier and Hagman, 1987; Marini and Genereux, 2005). Seen in the specific context of transfer, following an identified period of learning related to an individual's place of work, transfer is the process of applying skills, knowledge and attitudes acquired during a training programme to the work place. Their successful application leads to an improvement in job performance and has a lasting effect.

A central and enduring goal of education is to provide learning experiences that are useful beyond the specific conditions of initial learning. For example, the design of innovative curricular materials and pedagogical approaches is often aimed at helping students develop robust understandings that will generalize to decision making and problem solving in other situations, both inside and outside the classroom. Other instructional approaches are aimed at improving the chances that later learning is maximized. However, researchers' progress in understanding and supporting the generalization of learning has been limited due to methodological and theoretical problems with the transfer construct. Numerous critiques of transfer (Beach, 2009; Evans, 2008; Greeno, 2007; Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, 2007; Lave, 2008; Packer, 2006; Tuomi -Grohn & Engestrom, 2005) have contributed to a growing acknowledgment that "there is little agreement in the scholarly community about the nature of transfer, the extent to which it occurs, and the nature of its underlying mechanisms" (Barnett & Ceci, 2006, p. 612).

Carraher and Schliemann (2006) advocated abandoning transfer as a research construct because of the deep association of transfer with what they considered a fundamentally flawed transportation metaphor-the passive "carrying over" (Carraher, 2006, p. 19) of knowledge from one situation to another once learners recognized the similarity between ...