Learning in multiple contexts and generalizing across them makes knowledge both specific and general, addressing why transfer is difficult¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · theoretical r2 · q1
Currency · newest study 1988 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Evidence quality · No study behind this claim is a peer-reviewed article with a DOI: it rests on an ERIC document (a report, conference paper or thesis). It is kept because 2 design pages cite it; treat it as a lead to check, not an established finding.

Subclaims¶

q1 i? Teaching in multiple contexts and generalizing across those contexts makes knowledge both specific and general, in contrast to abstract school teaching that fosters test-oriented storage strategies. → Collins 1988

Evidence¶

Collins 1988¶

Collins, Allan. (1988). Cognitive Apprenticeship and Instructional Technology. Technical Report. BBN Report No. 6899, BBN Labs, Inc. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED331465

q1 · i? · theoretical · r2

Theoretical argument in the situated learning section of this position paper. The authors argue that learning in multiple contexts lets students "begin to generalize on these ways," unlike abstract school teaching that leads to strategies such as storing information just long enough to retrieve it for a test. No empirical data are offered for this claim.

"These may be the central issues as to why transfer of knowledge is so difficult: by learning in multiple contexts you learn different ways knowledge can be used, and begin to generalize on these ways."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Chicago classrooms with high-quality authentic intellectual assignments showed greater one-year ITBS gains than classrooms with low-quality assignments — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Encoding variability across varied example contexts produces decontextualization supporting transfer (review reports DiVesta and Peverly) — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it

• Comparing cases side by side improves learning and transfer by a moderate average amount, though in one algebra study it raised procedural knowledge and flexibility but not conceptual knowledge — related
• Teachers actively synthesize professional-development practices with their own context rather than transferring them intact — related