Can you tie a shoe?
Chances are, if you are reading a blog about learning transfer, you have already mastered this important life skill. But have you given much thought about how that learning took place? If your answer to that last question was "no," you are not alone. I will admit I have never given a moment's thought to how my kindergarten teacher taught me how to do this. I just put them on, give a few deft twists to the laces, and go about my business. However, Matthews uses this essential skill as a perfect example of near transfer learning.
Near transfer learning occurs when a skill is taught in the exact same conditions in which the learner will be using it. In the case of shoelaces, there really is not much variance in how this is done. Sure, there may be different colors, widths, lengths, etc., but the act of tying them is the same. Matthews discusses how the near transfer learning "hardwires" these skills into our brains by explaining "this ability to generalize a skill to solve nearly similar problems has been, and still is crucial to us and our species for survival." How true. Can you imagine back to the times of cavemen and how difficult survival would have been had they needed to re-learn how to hunt each time they made a kill? I think it is safe to say we would likely not be sitting at our computers reading blogs about learning transfer if that was the case.
OK, so you can tie a shoe, but what about that pesky door handle?
Yes, I understand we all know how to open a door. Well, unless it is one of those rotating doors - I still feel like I'm on a hamster wheel in those sometimes, but I digress. Matthews uses door handles as a rudimentary example of far transfer learning, and, stay with me here, it may not be as simple as it sounds. Far transfer learning occurs when a subject is trained in a skill, but the environment in which they are trained is different from the environment in which they will use the skill. When far transfer learning is successful, a person is able to adapt the skills they have learned to many different environments. In our shoelace example, we determined that there is not much deviation from the end result, no matter what type of laces were being tied. However, with the example of a door handle, life can get much trickier.
If we were shown how to open a door with a knob or handle, we could them move about life fairly confident that we are able to open any door with these same mechanisms, no matter where we go. Life is good, and we are opening doors everywhere. But it is at this point that Matthews throws our lives into upheaval by telling us we now have encountered a door with a push-button mechanism. This could spell disaster for us since, up to this point, we have only been equipped with knob and handle turning skills. Our training did not have the far transfer we needed in order to adapt to the changing world of door-opening apparatuses.
Matthews uses these basic life-skills to raise an important point about learning transfer. He discusses the need to "expand our skill to include a wider range of contexts," which ideally will lead to creating "higher-level ideas in our mind that will enable us to solve problems that are even further away from what we first learned."
We need to ensure we are equipping our employees with the training they need to not only be successful in their daily duties and tasks, but also with the ability to acclimate and make the necessary in-the-moment decisions based on their training. In other words, we must empower our employees by providing them with training that goes beyond just knobs and handles. Let's get them moving seamlessly through those revolving doors and beyond.
Empowering our employees with training beyond knobs and handles is very important. How do you think trainers can ensure the training does go above and beyond?
ReplyDeleteThank you for your question! I feel that follow-up after training is very important, especially in cases of far transfer learning. In near transfer, the skill is taught in the same environment and with the same equipment with which the learner will be performing the task in their daily work. There is not much need for follow up as long as the equipment and environment does not change. However in far transfer, the learner is expected to adapt that knowledge to many different situations. It can be challenging to do this, and I think it is helpful to have follow-up training to cement the skill and ensure it can be adapted to other environments.
ReplyDeleteI like the comparisons of learning to tie a shoe and learning to open different types of doors for near and far transfer. They both really help to explain the concept of transfer of learning. Do you have any real world examples of far transfer?
ReplyDeleteI can use my own training examples. We have a course offering in our Corporate University called "Crucial Conversations." This is a 16 hour course that teaches leaders how to have difficult conversations with others without it leading to "violence," which in the context of the training refers to people becoming angry, yelling, storming off, etc. during a difficult discussion. Since you will be using the skill in many different situations, it is the perfect example of far transfer when someone can become skilled using the tools in any conversation. I personally use it at work, and have used it at home during heated discussions with my teenage son. The idea is that typically all parties in the conversation have the same end goal in mind, so we need to find ways to find common ground and get to the end result.
DeleteErin, I am glad that I stayed with and digested your entire blog. I would not have imagined that I could relate tying shoelaces to near transfer learning. I definitely related to the use of door handles to far transfer learning, since we have a fair amount of doors in my home with keypads (keyless or push button mechanisms). I felt lost the first time I realized that there was no key needed. Admittedly, I have not been amused when I have forgotten the codes to the keypads. I am thankful for experiencing revolving doors!
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