I'd like to make a transfer...

I think the highlight of class this week was its applicability to another class I'm in, which entails a group project and conducting research (it's very 501-ish in a way) in an organization. We are basically trying to assess a program to see how effective it is, and so the advice about conducting surveys was extremely timely and helpful. Does that count as transfer? (For a minute, I started to wonder if I had mixed the two classes up and was writing about the wrong class for this post!)

Another memorable moment was the McGonigal video. I don't know that I agree with everything she said. I'm definitely not going to start playing thousands of hours in online games, but I thought the results of the online gaming experience were interesting, and I think that the idea here is, again, transfer. Take those same skills and use them in a different setting.

Which is a terrific lead-in to this weeks reading, which I really enjoyed. There was a lot of good stuff in there, but I assume you all did the reading and are writing about it as well, and I am going to try to avoid repeating the textbook. But there are a few things that did get me thinking that I want to mention.

First, how many of you remember the scenario where college students were given a problem about a general and a fortress? The general has to decide how to take the fortress without setting of the mines and blowing up the roads, and the solution is to divide the army and send them in a few at a time. Then the students are given the tumor scenario, and most of them couldn't make the connection between the two automatically. Was anyone else kind of surprised by that? I definitely was, and my first reaction was, "Seriously? They couldn't figure it out without someone telling them that the general problem could help solve the tumor problem?" Then I started thinking about it. To give them the benefit of the doubt, it doesn't specify how much time had passed between receiving the problems, and time is a consideration in transfer. But more importantly, I was reading this problem laid out on one page, in the context of transfer. If I hadn't been able to make the connection, then I would expect expulsion from SI, and from a master's program in general. And while I would certainly hope that I would be able to make the connection on my own, if there was no context, and I was just handed these two problems with no explanation of why, maybe it wouldn't be as obvious. Which just goes to show that context really is significant in transfer.

The other section that really caught my eye in the How People Learn reading was the discussion on transfer and cultural practices. Quick story to illustrate. I was at my sister's, and her husband was playing Superbowl ads, including this one Tommy Chevy Silverado. I made a comment about how younger kids probably wouldn't get the reference to Lassie, and my sister said, "Oh!" She'd thought it was funny before, but now that she watched it from that reference point, it was even funnier. But someone who didn't know about Lassie would probably find it absolutely idiotic and would miss a whole dimension of meaning.

So, this story is a good illustration of background knowledge and the role it plays in transfer, but it really does illustrate cultural practices, too. Because we have this world where we make references to things all the time--like the pumpkin pie story--without even thinking about it. And if you want people to make connections from what they learn in one setting to other settings, they have to understand what they learn, and if you drop a whole bunch of cultural references in there, they aren't going to get it. Where we live in such a diverse society, we as librarians definitely need to be aware of that, especially as we do things like reference interviews or workshops or webinars, etc. And, as the text noted, this goes beyond references to TV shows or phrases we use in our language. Different cultures communicate differently. They teach differently. And to be able to assess real understanding and ability to transfer, that needs to be accounted for to some degree.

I think this idea of transfer also really highlights what the essence of learning is. It isn't memorization or regurgitation of facts. Accepting this view will create value for formative assessment along with the summative assessment. The McTighe and Wiggins article emphasizes this view of learning when they describe the goal of high school education. Of course, in reality, its not as easy to do all of this--it's worthwhile and important, but not necessarily easy. And I think librarians can really help out here, by doing our best to give people transferable skills and knowledge, to help them identify that pattern and skill, so that the responsibility of the teacher is shared. That being said, this article did make me wonder how we would define the role of grade school and junior high/middle school. Just out of curiosity. Any thoughts?

To wrap up, transfer is really an awesome thing. Not just in the abstract sense, but for the learner who starts to make connections, who can transfer knowledge and abilities from one setting to another, that is a cool experience. It is empowering and it really does change the world for them. Pretty amazing, wouldn't you agree?