Abstract
The aim of this article is to discuss transfer of learning in a tertiary technical course in the French educational context. The focus is on a pedagogical sequence (i.e. a complex problem-solving activity) requiring different types of knowledge that students are expected to have learnt previously in the different parts of their training course (both at university and in the workplace). The theoretical approach considers transfer of learning as a complex transition, including not only cognitive but also social and identity changes. This type of transition can be more or less difficult according to the types of knowledge and the pedagogical organisation of the training course, including more or less connective activities between its different components. We recorded two groups of students during the pedagogical sequence and analysed their collective activity during the problem solving. Our findings show that students can easily transfer concrete knowledge from the workplace whereas they have great difficulty in using theoretical concepts and methods coming from the academic teachings at the university. We propose an interpretation of the students’ difficulties by analysing the characteristics of these different social learning contexts. We also discuss the way in which such types of connective activities can be designed and managed by teachers to improve their efficiency.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
Apprenticeship programmes were extended to tertiary level in 1987 in France. Since this time, apprenticeship has been a possible juridical and pedagogical mode of initial training at all education levels (from worker to engineer and manager). This route is more and more popular in France, because the school-to-work transition is easier. However, most tertiary training programmes are still school-based.
There were 24 students in 2004 and 16 in 2005.
References
Anderson, J. R. (1983). The architecture of cognition. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Baldwin, T. T., & Ford, J. K. (1988). Transfer of training: a review and directions for future research. Personal psychology, 41, 63–105.
Beach, K. (1999). Consequential transitions: a sociocultural expedition beyond transfer in education. Review of Research in Education, 24, 101–139.
Bereiter, C. (2002). Education and mind in the knowledge age. Mahwah: Erlbaum.
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1993). Surpassing ourselves: An inquiry into the nature and implications of expertise. La Salle: Open Court.
Bernstein, B. (1996). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity. Theory, Research, Critique. London: Taylor & Francis.
Billett, S. (1994). Authenticity in workplace learning settings. In J. C. Stevenson (Ed.), Cognition at work: the development of vocational expertise (pp. 36–75).
Billett, S. (2001). Learning in the workplace: Strategies for effective practice. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin Academic.
Bransford, J. D., & Schwartz, D. L. (1999). Rethinking transfer: a simple proposal with multiples implications. Review of research in education, Chapter 3, 24, 61–100.
Buxton, C. A., Carlone, H. B., & Carlone, D. (2005). Boundary spanners as bridges of student and school discourses in an urban science and mathematics high school. School Science and Mathematics, 105(6), 302–312.
Detterman, D. K. (1993). The case for the prosecution: transfer as an epiphenomenon. In D. K. Detterman & R. Sternberg (Eds.), Transfer on trial: Intelligence, cognition and instruction (pp. 1–24). Norwood: Ablex.
Detterman, D. K., & Sternberg, R. J. (Eds.). (1993). Transfer on trial: Intelligence, cognition and instruction. Norwood: Ablex.
Engeström, Y. (1987). Learning by expanding: An activity-theoretical approach to developmental research. Helsinki: University of Helsinki.
Engeström, Y., Engeström, Y., & Kärkkäinen, Y. (1995). Polycontextuality and boundary crossing in expert cognition: learning and problem solving in complex work activities. Learning and Instruction, 5, 319–336.
Eraut, M. (2004). Transfer of knowledge between education and workplace settings. In H. Rainbird, A. Fuller, & A. Munro (Eds.), Workplace learning in context (pp. 201–221). London: Routledge.
Frenay, M. (2004). Du transfert des apprentissages au transfert de connaissances. In A. Presseau & M. Frenay (Eds.), Le transfert des apprentissages: Comprendre pour mieux intervenir (pp. 7–48). Québec: Presses Universitaires de Laval.
Fuller, A., Hodkinson, H., Hodkinson, P., & Unwin, L. (2005). Learning as peripheral participation in communities of practice: a reassessment of key concepts in wokplace learning. British Educational Research Journal, 31(1), 49–68.
Gibson, J. (1979). The ecological approach to visual perception. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Greeno, J. G., Smith, D. R., & Moore, J. L. (1993). Transfer of situated learning. In D. K. Detterman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Transfer on trial: Intelligence, cognition and instruction. Norwood: Ablex.
Griffiths, T., & Guile, D. (2003). A connective model of learning: the implications for work process knowledge. European Educational Research Journal, 2(1), 56–73.
Hughes, K. L., & Moore, D. T. (1999). Pedagogical strategies for work-based learning. New-York: Institute on Education and the Economy.
Konkola, R., Tuomi-Gröhn, T., Lambert, P., & Ludvigsen, S. (2007). Promoting learning and transfer between school and workplace. Journal of Education and Work, 20(3), 211–228.
Koskinen, K. U. (2008). Boundary brokering as a promoting factor in competence sharing in a project work context. International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 1(1), 119–132.
Lave, J. (1988). Cognition in practice, mind, mathematics and culture in everyday life. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Leinhard, G., McCarthy Young, K., & Merriman, J. (1995). Integrating professional knowledge: the theory of practice and the practice of theory. Learning and Instruction, 5, 401–408.
Lorino, P. (1995). Comptes et récits de la performance. Essai sur le pilotage de l'entreprise. Paris: Les éditions d'organisation.
Nielsen, K. (2009). A collaborative perspective on learning transfer. Journal of Workplace Learning, 21(1), 58–70.
Nonaka, I., & Takeuchi, H. (1995). The knowledge-creating company. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Onstenk, J. (2009). Connections of school and work-based-learning in the Netherlands. In M. L. Stenström & Y. Tynjälä (Eds.), Towards integration of work and learning. Strategies for connectivity and transformation (pp. 187–199). New-York: Springer.
Pastré, P. (2008). Apprentissage et activité. In Y. Lenoir & P. Pastré (Eds.), Didactique professionnelle et didactiques disciplinaires en débat (pp. 53–79). Toulouse: Octarès éditions.
Reed, S. K. (1996). A schema-based theory of transfer. In D. K. Detterman & R. J. Sternberg (Eds.), Transfer on trial: Intelligence, cognition and instruction (pp. 39–67). Norwood: Ablex.
Rosch, E. (1977). Human categorization. In N. Warren (Ed.), Advances in cross-cultural psychology (Vol. 1). London: Academic.
Samurçay, R., & Rabardel, P. (2004). Modèles pour l'analyse de l'activité et des compétences: Propositions. In R. Samurçay & P. Pastré (Eds.), Recherches en didactique professionnelle (pp. 163–180). Toulouse: Octarès Editions.
Schank, R. C., & Abelson, R. P. (1977). Scripts, plans, goals and understanding: an inquiry into human knowledge structures. Hillsdale: Erlbaum.
Scribner, S. (1985). Knowledge at work. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 16(3), 199–206.
Shulman, L. S. (1986). Those who understand: knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15(2), 4–14.
Senström, M.-L., & Tynjälä, P. (Eds.). (2009). Towards integration of work and learning. Strategy for connectivity and transformation. New York: Springer.
Simon, H. A., & Chase, W. G. (1973). Skill in chess. American Scientist, 61, 394–403.
Singley, M. K., & Anderson, J. R. (1989). The transfer of cognitive skill. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Star, S. L., & Griesemer, J. R. (1989). Institutional ecology, “translations” and boundary objects: Amateurs and professionals in Berkley’s Museum of Vertebrate zoology, 1907–1939. Social Studies of Science, 19(387–420).
Stenström, M. L. (2009). Connecting work and learning through demonstrations of vocational skills. Experiences from the Finnish VET. In M. L. Stenström & Y. Tynjälä (Eds.), Towards integration of work and learning. Strategies for connectivity and transformation (pp. 221–238). New-York: Springer.
Tanggaard, L. (2008). Learning at school and work: Boundary crossing, strangeness and legitimacy in apprentices' everyday life. In V. Aarkrog & C. H. Jorgensen (Eds.), Divergence and convergence in education and work (pp. 219–237). Bern: Peter Lang.
Thorndike, E. L., & Woodworth, R. S. (1901). The influence of improvement in one mental function upon the efficacy of other functions. Psychological Review, 8, 247–261.
Tuomi-Grohn, T., & Engeström, Y. (2003). Conceptualizing transfer: from standard notions to developmental perspectives. In T. Tuomi-Grohn & Y. Engeström (Eds.), Bewteen school and work: New perspectives on transfer and boundary crossing (pp. 1–14). Oxford: Elsevier.
Tynjälä, P. (2009). Connectivity and transformation in work-related learning. Theoretical fundations. In M.-L. Stenström & P. Tynjälä (Eds.), Towards integration of work and learning. Strategies for connectivity and transformation (pp. 11–37). New-York: Springer.
Veillard, L., & Coppé, S. (2009). Mobilisation de connaissances antérieures en formation professionnelle par alternance: perspectives apportées par une approche comparatiste. Education et Didactique, 3(2), 47–80.
Volanen, M. V. (2009). Being, doing, making. A paradigm for the connective curriculum. In M. L. Stenström & P. Tynjälä (Eds.), Towards integration of work and learning. Strategy for connectivity and transformation (pp. 39–59). New York: Springer.
Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of practice: Language, learning, and meaning. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Veillard, L. Transfer of Learning as a Specific Case of Transition between Learning Contexts in a French Work-Integrated Learning Programme. Vocations and Learning 5, 251–276 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-012-9076-y
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12186-012-9076-y