Harnessing what you know: The role of analogy in robust learning

Robert G.M. Hausmann & Timothy J. Nokes

Abstract: Knowledge transfer is a core assumption built into the pedagogy of most educational programs from K-12 to college. It is assumed that the material learned in the fourth week of the course is retained and transfers to material taught in the eighth week of the course. This is particularly true for highly structured courses such as physics; however, the empirical literature on learning suggests that far transfer is much more difficult than traditional pedagogy assumes (for reviews, see Bransford, Brown, & Cocking, 2000; Bransford & Schwartz, 1999; Gick & Holyoak, 1983). The goal of the present project is twofold. First, we will use Educational Datamining techniques to identify knowledge components from translational kinematics that fail to transfer to rotational kinematics. Second, we will design an intervention, based upon cognitive principles from self-explanation and analogical comparison, to support knowledge components that fail to transfer.