Studies On The Instructional Strategies Promoting Transfer Of Learning

One of the most important features of quality-oriented education is that it stresses the application of knowledge and skills rather than the memory or retention of what have been learned, which involves the transfer of learning. Transfer of learning from the classroom to the performance site is emerging as one of the most critical concerns of educators and trainers. So what will be covered in this dissertation is how to design and develop the instructional strategies that promote the transfer of learning.The dissertation first gives an overview of some basics of transfer theory, including the definition and category of transfer which lays more focus on the category of near-transfer and far-transfer, the importance of studying transfer, several famous transfer theories and their respective implications for instruction, and the present situation in the instruction and practice. Then some cases involving transfer failure are introduced to help find the real reasons of such failure. The main part of the dissertation deals with several detail instructional strategies promoting learning transfer, including four specific instructional strategies that promote learners'near-transfer ability, the so-called Schema-Based Training Design that promotes learners'far-transfer ability, and the methods to develop metacognitive skills. A revised instructional design model is introduced in the next part, stressing the importance of analyzing the learner, setting up learning contexts, and developing long-term evaluation, which promotes the transfer ability. In the last part, a real-life case of instruction (adults'English courses) in which the above strategies and design work were put to use is shown to see whether it can help to promote the transfer ability. Finally, the limitations and follow-up research measures are discussed.