Complete thesis - Murdoch University

Given these, a moderate level of transfer can be expected, in particular if there is a learningfocus on strategic knowledge. This includes strategies for identifying and meeting subgoals,procedural steps and metacognitive strategies for directing, monitoring and evaluatinglearning (Larkin, 1989). These accord well with concepts of expertise and problem-solving,previously discussed.So, in summary:Declaration 10 transfer is fundamental to learning. A holistic approach (task, learner,context) is required to achieve transfer, which should preferably be ‘near’.The principles of the learning object (eg skill) must be made explicit to thestudent, who needs practice in adapting the specific learning to differentcontexts, thereby reassembling knowledge gained. Transfer is enhancedwith a learning focus on strategic knowledge.3.2.2 Acquiring membership of a disciplineEach discipline and domain of specialisation creates its own dialect of discourse in order tocounter the ambiguities of normal language. The relationships between the ‘discourse communities’(Swales, 1990), ‘communities of practice’ (Lave and Wenger, 1991) and disciplinary‘genres’ (Freedman and Medway, 1994) have produced an industry in the literature (Candlin,1998). To learn a discipline, one has to learn an appropriate language of technicality andabstraction (Daniels, 1995). The learner therefore must handle the representation system aswell as the ideas they represent. At an initial level this type of learning requires internalisingof elementary concepts and their associated set of assumptions, in order to determine a term’smeaning. These are later taken for granted. At an advanced level, abstraction is achievedthrough association of elementary concepts with higher order concepts. The ease with whichthis learning takes place is to some degree dependent on the ‘generic integrity’ found withinthe discipline.Constructivist theories posit that it is through communication with others that meaningis constructed from experience (Jonassen et al, 1995; Cronin, 1997). It is necessarily asocial dialogical process in which communities of practitioners socially negotiate the meaningof phenomena. Since the discourse of a discipline is central to the way its knowledge isconstructed and transmitted, the means by which learners acquire discursive knowledge isimportant. While expert members of a discipline share knowledge about discursive practicesin their community, this is mostly tacit, and, traditionally, given little emphasis within the(formal) educational environment.132