When and Where did I find the word: I found the word on page 7 of Fisher and Frey's(2009) book Background Knowledge: The Missing Piece of the Comprehension Puzzle.
Formal Citation: Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2009). Background knowledge: the missing piece of the comprehension puzzle. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
What it means: As stated by the authors, trasferable refers to "the ability to transfer background knowledge to novel situations" (p.7). They also go on to say that transfer is "the application of new learning" (p.7). Transferability is the "ultimate goal" of teaching yet it's one of the "biggest challenges we face each day" as educators (p.7).
Level of Familiarity: Though this term is very familiar to me, I find a new and deeper understanding of it after reading chapter 1 in Fisher and Frey (2009). Prior to reading, if I thought of the term "transfer" something educational would probably be one of the last things that I would have thought of. Now, I find it to be a very good word to describe moving background knowledge into new situations and material.
Do I Want to Know This Word Well and Why? As stated in the reading, this word and idea is the ultimate goal of educators. I think that this term is definately something that I want to know and keep in mind as the end result of my teaching. By this, I mean that I want my students to be able to transfer their background knowledge into new material discussed in class. I need to keep this goal in mind so that I can decifer the best ways to get the students to make those connections.
Do I Think Others Should Know This Word Well...If So, WHO and WHY?: I do believe that educators should know this term and the idea behind it in order to better serve their students.
I am so glad you chose to select this word. I agree that the issue of "transferability" along with "conditionalized" and "organized" are key to keep in mind when planning meaningful instruction which involves learning from text especially, but ultimately learning in general.
ReplyDeleteOf course, I am also curious to know if you have thought of any useful mnemonic devices yet to remember all three? OR if simply because I set forth this task and we all keep plugging away at it, we will remember the three terms through natural repeated exposure and meaningful use?