Learning is based on context, so generalizing learning to new contexts is not spontaneous but
instead needs to be facilitated
Dasha Bunks
Liberty University
PSYC 775 - Teaching of Psychology
Dr. Winn
2022
Explanation
Learning occurs in context. Contexts can consist of subject-matter domains (e.g., science),
specific tasks/ problems (e.g., a textbook problem to solve), social interactions (e.g., caretaking
routines between a parent and child), and situational/physical settings (e.g., home, classrooms,
museums, labs). Hence, for learning to be more effective or powerful, it needs to generalize to new
contexts and situations. Student transfer or generalization of their knowledge and skills is not
spontaneous or automatic; it becomes progressively more difficult the more dissimilar the new
context is from the original learning context. Notably, transfer or generalization of student
knowledge can be facilitated and supported. Moreover, students’ ability to transfer learning is an
important indicator of the quality of their learning—its depth, adaptability, and flexibility.
Relevance for Teachers
Teachers can support student transfer of knowledge and skills across contexts—from highly
similar to highly dissimilar contexts. This is best done by the following:
• Identifying and building on strengths that students bring to a learning situation and thereby
making connections between students’ current knowledge and the teachers’ learning goals.
• Teaching a topic or concept in multiple contexts.
• Helping students compare and contrast contexts and noting contextual similarities that make
transfer appropriate.
• Taking the time to focus on deep, underlying concepts in a domain and promoting learning by
understanding rather than focusing on surface-level elements in a learning situation or by
memorizing the specific elements. For example, in biology, the ability to remember the physical
properties of veins and arteries (e.g., that arteries are thicker, more elastic, and carry blood from
the heart) is not equivalent to understanding why they have these properties. Understanding is
critical for transfer problems, such as, “Imagine trying to design an artery. Would it have to be
elastic? Why or why not?” Organizing facts around general principles aligns with how experts
organize knowledge. For example, while physics experts approach problem solving by way of
major principles or laws that apply to the problem, beginners focus on the equations and
plugging numbers into the formulas.
Helping students see the application of their knowledge to the real world (e.g., using
multiplication and division to understand the cost of purchases in a store) or assisting them in
transferring real-world knowledge when trying to understand academic principles. Teachers can
provide occasions and multiple contexts in which students can use and practice their knowledge.
For example, students may not spontaneously recognize the relevance of their learning about
solving division problems unless it is applied to computing gas mileage in a real-world context.
Teachers can help students generalize/apply their knowledge by regularly providing real-life
instances of the academic behaviors in which they are engaged.
What people know (their knowledge base) is inscribed in long-term memory. Most information,
particularly when related to academic content and highly skilled activities (e.g., sports; artistic
endeavors such as playing a musical instrument), must be processed in some way before being
stored in long-term memory.
At any given moment, students experience an enormous amount of stimuli in the environment,
but only a small portion is further processed in the form of attention and encoding, ultimately
moving into a time-constrained and limited-capacity memory storage area known as short-term
or working memory. To be retained more permanently, information must be transferred into
long-term memory, which by definition is of relatively long duration (e.g., decades), has very large
capacity, and is highly organized (e.g., categorized).
The transfer of information from short term to long-term memory is accomplished through
different strategies, and practice is key to this transfer process.5 Studies comparing the
performance of experts and novices have uncovered important distinctions between deliberate
practice and other activities, such as play or “drill and kill” repetition.
Rote repetition—simply repeating a task—will not by itself improve performance or long-term
retention of content. Instead, deliberate practice involves attention, rehearsal, and repetition over
time and leads to new knowledge or skills that can later be developed into more complex knowledge
and skills. Although other factors such as intelligence and motivation also affect performance,
practice and rehearsal are necessary, if not sufficient, activities for acquiring expertise. Overall,
learning is improved in at least five ways through rehearsal and deliberate practice. Evidence
demonstrates that;
(a) The likelihood that learning will be long term and retrievable is increased,
(b) Student ability to apply elements of knowledge automatically and without reflection is
enhanced,
(c) Skills that becomes automatic free up students’ cognitive resources for learning more
challenging tasks,
(d) Transfer of practiced skills to new and more complex problems is increased, and
(e) Gains often bring about motivation for more learning. Relevance for Teachers Student practice
can be elicited and encouraged by teachers in a variety of ways. Because practice requires
intense, focused effort, students may not find it inherently enjoyable; therefore, teachers need to
encourage students to practice by pointing out that expending effort leads to improved
performance. Teachers can motivate students to engage in practice by expressing confidence in
their ability to do well in solving practice problems and by designing activities that maximize
students’ opportunities to succeed. Unrealistic or poorly designed practice problems may lead to
student frustration and less motivation to attempt future practice problems. Tests (or quizzes)
that are given immediately after a learning exercise give students opportunities to practice, and
they tend to do well because the learning is recent. However, their success in this case does not
ensure long-term retention.
Effective methods of implementing practice in the classroom include:
• Using reviews and tests (practice testing). The value of testing or any kind of practice
exercise is enhanced by conducting them at spaced intervals (distributive practice) and giving
them frequently. Brief tests with open-ended questions are particularly effective because they
require that students not only recall information from long-term memory but also generate
new information from that retrieval.
• Providing students with a schedule of repeated opportunities (interleaved practice) to
rehearse and transfer skills or content by practicing with tasks that are similar to the target
task or using several methods to approach the same task.
• Designing tasks with students’ existing knowledge in mind.
References
Campitelli, G., & Gobet, F. (2011). Deliberate practice: Necessary but not sufficient. Current
Directions in Psychological Science, 20(5), 280–285. doi:10.1177/096372141142922
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students’ learning with effective learning techniques: Promising directions from
cognitive and educational psychology. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 14,
4–58. doi.10.1177/1529100612453266
Roediger, H. L. (2013). Applying cognitive psychology to education: Translational education
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doi.10.1177/1529100612454415
Rosenshine, B., & Meister, C. (1992). The use of scaffolds for teaching higher-level cognitive
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