Premium
Models and procedures: Teaching for transfer of pendulum knowledge
Author(s) -
Wollman Warren
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/tea.3660210408
Subject(s) - task (project management) , set (abstract data type) , mathematics education , concept learning , transfer of training , transfer (computing) , teaching method , computer science , psychology , cognitive psychology , management , parallel computing , economics , programming language
In an exploratory study, education majors in a physical science course were given a set of tasks analogous to a given, solved prototype‐task to see how transfer items were handled. Some students were given a conceptual model along with the solved prototype. Others were given a general procedure for applying the conceptual model to the transfer items. The procedure helped considerably for the transfer items least like the prototype item. The model alone was also effective for certain items. In the absence of both model and procedure, students' problem solving was usually incoherent or self‐contradictory. Presenting additional solved items helped marginally on an exceptionally novel item. Students' main source of difficulty, given the model and procedure, was that they were distracted by prior, concrete experience and thus failed to follow the procedure. For most students, this difficulty could readily be overcome. A small proportion (10–15%) of students had more profound difficulties.