"I'd explained this concept several times in class. How come they failed to apply it in their work?"
"I'm shocked to see what they wrote in the assignment. We did similar practice in the last tutorial. But it seems that they learnt nothing from it."
Do you have similar thoughts when marking students' essays, case reports or exam scripts? We devote time and effort to lesson planning, classroom teaching, and in response to students' email and / or phone inquiries, hoping that students can internalize what they have learnt and apply new knowledge in their work. But, unfortunately, we are disappointed half of the time. What is amiss in the teaching and learning process? In fact, such failure of learning can be avoided if we understand the basic mechanisms of transfer.
According to Sternberg and Frensch (1993), transfer of knowledge from one setting to another is more likely to occur if the following four mechanisms work:
Mechanism 1: Encoding Specificity
This mechanism means students' ability to transfer knowledge depends on how they encode new knowledge. Transfer is impossible if they do not see the connection between the concepts learnt and their task. What we can do is to show students through various examples how the new knowledge can be applied in multiple contexts so as to arouse their awareness about knowledge transfer.
Mechanism 2: Organization
The second mechanism is concerned with the way students organize the new knowledge. For this mechanism, we bear the responsibility of presenting concepts in a well-organized manner for two reasons. First, clear organization aids comprehension of the new knowledge. Second, good presentation enables students to realize how new concepts are related to the existing knowledge in their brain.
Mechanism 3: Discrimination
The third mechanism refers to how well students can distinguish the contextual differences from one setting to another. This involves developing their critical mind to analyze the contextual features of examples given and their own task and to apply only relevant aspects of knowledge in their work. This goal can be achieved through productive dialogues with students about case analysis in class.
Mechanism 4: Set
The last mechanism is about establishing a mental set for transfer. In other words, we should give students opportunities to apply new knowledge and feedback on their performance in application. Only through constant reflection on learning can they gradually develop a mental set for transfer.
To summarize, the key conditions for effective teaching for transfer include encoding specificity, organizing information for knowledge reconstruction, identifying differences between contexts and developing a mental set. They are, of course, basic mechanisms for facilitating transfer. For colleagues who have more specific ideas about this topic, please feel free to share with us.
References:
Sternberg, R. J., & Frensch, P. A. (1993). Mechanisms of transfer. In D. K. Detterman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Transfer on trial: Intelligence, cognition and instruction (pp. 25-38). Norwood, New Jersey: Ablex Publishing.