Tailwind Tuesday: The Holy Grail?
Transfers of Learning
Welcome back to Tailwind Tuesday! This week, we’ll dive into the holy grail of learning. As many of you know, I’ve spent most of my life learning and discovering how to do things better. Something I stumbled upon in my time as a flight instructor is the transfer of learning. Learning a skill in one area and then applying it to a completely unrelated field. For many people, learning how to do this and teach it is the pinnacle of learning. It makes learning anything easier and saves people countless hours of studying. Despite many experts’ efforts, they haven’t cracked the code for transferring knowledge. Let’s explore this idea of transfer and why you should strive to learn this skill. So buckle up and fold those seat trays as we take off into another Tailwind Tuesday.
What is a “Transfer of learning?”
Transfer of learning happens when you apply a skill or fact you learned to help you learn another skill or fact. Experts often refer to this phenomenon as the holy grail of learning. I don’t know if I would go quite that far, but it’s a powerful learning tool. I utilize this powerful technique as much as possible as a business owner. When you start a business, there’s a seemingly endless list of skills to learn and things to do. Learning to prioritize is half the battle, but the other half is learning the skills and doing the work. If you can transfer learning between each new skill and an old skill you’ve learned, you’ll progress quicker than your competition. Time is money, and you typically lack both when you start a new venture. Now, let’s address something people often ignore about skill and knowledge transfer.
Positive and Negative Transfer
As lifelong learners, we should utilize positive transfer as much as possible. Wait, what do you mean positive? Well, there are two types of transfers of learning. In the above paragraph, I implied that a transfer of learning helps learn new skills faster and saves time, money, and effort. However, an often overlooked and common form of transfer of learning is a Negative transfer of learning. A negative transfer of learning occurs when previous knowledge or skill impedes your ability to learn new information or skills.
I love asking my students what they do for work before we begin flight training. Certain professions positively impact learning, while others detract from a student’s progress. An interesting negative transfer to flying is driving a car. In small aircraft, you control the airplane primarily with your feet using the rudder pedals and brakes. One hand rests on the throttle to maintain speed, the other on the yoke to handle the ailerons and cross-wind correction. Students who drive often try to steer on the ground with their hands instead of their feet. They will turn the yoke to make a turn instead of stepping on the rudders. I’ve taught a few younger students who haven’t driven yet. Teaching them to control the airplane on the ground is much easier since they don’t have that negative transfer of learning. I found that heavy equipment operators also have a high degree of negative transfer of learning. They control large equipment with their hands and feet, but it may make them overconfident. A transfer of learning isn’t always a good thing.
Why do people fail at positive transfers of learning?
If I had a simple answer, I would be filthy rich, but I have my
theories. Many people fail to pass through the four levels of learning correctly. When someone skips one of the four levels, the whole system breaks.
What are the four levels of learning?
I’ve touched on them in previous posts, but here are the steps I believe everyone must climb to master any topic.
Wrote knowledge – I’ve also called this the grammar stage. Here, people memorize facts, formulas, and important steps.
Understanding – People ask “why” something works or happens. They dive deeper and begin to learn theories and processes at this point.
Application – at this level, someone applies knowledge and understanding to a problem and discovers their weaknesses.
Rhetorical or Correlation – If someone makes it this far, they understand most of the ins and outs of a topic and can teach it. They can relate the topic to other areas and apply the principles they learned in one area to another.
Wait a second…That rhetorical stage sounds familiar. I believe you must achieve the rhetorical stage of learning before you can recognize learning transfers. You don’t need to achieve this level to enjoy positive transfers, but to capitalize on it, you’ll need to reach the rhetorical stage in one aspect of your life. Is it worth becoming a master in many areas to gain a greater benefit? That’s a question only you can answer, but for most people, probably not. But if I were to master one thing, I would master how to learn.
Master the skill of learning.
Many struggle to learn new things because they believe “I’m bad at such and such” or “I can’t learn that it’s too hard.” I can’t tell you how many people I hear say, “I’m bad at math.” You would be shocked by how many pilots refuse to learn basic principles and formulas because they give up before even trying. Step one is mastering a skill and unlocking the superpower of learning. You CAN learn anything. Most people face a lack of motivation or interest in a topic. So, if you want to learn something, you need a reason. If you want to master a skill or topic, you must have an excellent reason. Becoming a master isn't easy. To master a topic, you need broad knowledge, understanding, and creativity when applying it to problems.
The more things you learn and link, the easier it becomes to add another. Whether they are school projects, homework, or skills for work, imagine a spider web connecting each topic. The more connections you make, the easier things get caught on the web. The strong foundation laid by mastering a subject allows you to add threads that help you adapt to new knowledge faster.
You can learn the skill of positive transfer of learning. Pilots utilize it whenever we change airframes. It happens so often that many pilots don’t realize that they’ve achieved something some people have strived for years to achieve. Identifying when a positive or negative knowledge transfer occurs will help you learn quickly. I want to caution you against making it your goal to achieve learning transfer. While beneficial, it is not some “holy grail” and shouldn’t be the goal. You should strive for mastery of the subject. Focus on broadening your knowledge and understanding; the rest will fall into place. So, until next week, fly beyond the box and expand your horizons.
CFI, Signing off.