Brain Based Teaching & Learning: Reflection Part 4

By attaching emotion to learning, students are able to make connections to past and future learning. In other words, they are able to experience “transfer:” when past learning affects the acquisition of current learning and current learning affects the acquisition of future learning and application of learning to new situations and scenarios. “Past learning [and experience] always influences the acquisition of new learning” (Sousa, 2006, p 138). So to make learning meaningful, I have to help students to transfer. Yet for students to experience transfer, they must be able to make sense and attach meaning to the learning. In a sense, the theory of transfer is very circular: Emotion and meaning help students learn by making connections, which gives them more knowledge and experience in their long term storage, which allows them more opportunities to make connections to in the future. In other words, “Making associations [with emotion and meaning] expands the brain’s ability to retain information…the more we learn and retain, the more we can learn and retain” (Sousa, 2006, p. 145). Therefore, I need to teach for understanding by connecting to past learning, emotion, and meaning, not only so that my students remember the information in my class, but also so that they can uses this information to transfer in other classes and venues of life.

This theory of transfer holds many implications for my classroom. Mere memorization and recitation of fact do not promote emotional investment, transfer, critical thinking, or long term retention. As Sousa (2006) explains, “Rote learning does not tend to facilitate transfer, but learning with understanding does” (p. 141). Therefore, in my classroom, I must move away from memorization and towards deeper understanding. Although rote learning can be a problem in many areas, I am especially struck by the vocabulary dilemma in my classroom. When asked to learn 20 words a week, my students are certainly tempted to merely cram the words into their working memory long enough to pass a quiz or a test. Their actual long term retention is usually abysmal, with rare exceptions. So I am left wondering how to make vocabulary instruction more meaningful. To help my students find meaning in vocabulary, they need to be able to explain what’s in it for them. I can offer them the answer that they will be more well-rounded and well-spoken in social settings, but I imagine that many will be unconvinced. A better strategy is to help them to visualize a transfer of their vocabulary from the present to the future, i.e. college. We can discuss their plans for college, the need to score well on the SATs to be admitted to good colleges, and the benefit of a strong vocabulary in order to succeed on the SATs. This strategy not only helps my students improve their vocabulary, but also gives them practice with transfer from present to future, a skill many of them struggle to achieve. A great litmus test for a student's ability to transfer learning from the present to the future can be seen through parallels in the writing process, specifically through transitions within writing. One of the most challenging aspects of essay writing for students is transitioning from one idea to another, from one sentence to another, and from one paragraph to another. Often they leave the transitions out all together, creating a fragmented collection of jumbled thoughts. Even when students do try to transition, early attempts are usually unsuccessful and do not create smooth and natural connections between ideas. As I teach the skill of transitions (connecting or applying one idea or topic to another related idea or topic within writing), I wonder if I can also implicitly or directly help my students to better understand and reflect on the skill of transfer (connecting or applying past experience or knowledge to current or future experience or knowledge). By reflecting on their learning in this way, students are more likely to achieve lasting transfer (Sousa, 2006).