Week Six: Blog Question

What is meant by the statement " Today's learning is tomorrow's transfer?"

Transfer gives us the ability to learn in one situation, and then use the learning in other situations. Transfer is the core of problem solving, creative thinking, and all other higher mental processes, inventions, and artistic products. Transfer during learning refers to the effect that past learning has on the processing of new learning. If you miss one step, most likely you won't be able to complete the other steps. Transfer of learning refers to the degree in which the learning is applied in future situations. Transfers can either be positive or negative. When past learning helps new learning, it is positive. If it interferes with new learning, its negative. There are several factors that affect transfer such as the context and degree of original learning, similarity, critical attributes, and association such as emotion.

Transfer depends on the quality of original learning prior to new learning. If we struggled with one subject, furthering with that subject will always seem difficult for that student. What we teach now will affect their future learning and makes a difference between a student who is discouraged, and the student who is ethusiastic to learn.

For me, I always struggled with fractions because I never understood it in grade school. I got so frustrated I would tune out the teacher who would teach fractions to me. I couldn't add fractions so therefore I felt I couldn't multiply fractions. Working with my student, Faisal who is brilliant in math, he told me we were working on fractions and I think I might've groaned because I always struggled with it when I was his age.

In order to prevent this, we need to make sure everything you teach will make it easier for students to build on these primary concepts. Make every lesson a positive experience by retaining the attention of students, helping them make past connections especially with emotions, and help them understand to the best of your ability new knowledge.