Learning Transfer to facilitate learning state capitals

For my scenario I will be teaching state capitals to 4th grade students.


Teaching the topic with the intention of students' positive transfer of their learning:

To ensure positive transfer of their learning, I would go over anything related that was covered earlier in the year or in a previous grade. Students may have a general understanding of what a state capital is or may know the capital of the state in which they live. This could be used as a foundation and transferred to the new topic of learning all 50 state capitals. I would go over all the general similarities of all state capitals, and let them explore ways in which their own state capital is similar to that of other states. I would strive to give students a deep understanding of what we learn about all state capitals through a variety of classroom activities so that what we learn can later be positively transferred to future geography, government, politics and/or other lessons.


Teaching the topic to facilitate to facilitate students' near transfer of their learning:

Students could benefit from near transfer of learning each time a new capital is introduced and we explore facts using the vocabulary we've learned at the beginning of the unit. For example, students would already be familiar with the terms "capital" and "population" from learning one state capital, then that knowledge can be transferred to facts learned about a different capital. Students would not have to relearn relevant vocabulary with each new capital. Rather, it would be transferred.


Teaching the topic to facilitate students' far transfer of their learning:

Far transfer could be facilitated by tying in previous knowledge from different areas of geography or other subjects. Since far transfer involves students applying previous knowledge to a novel problem or situation, prior knowledge gained from similar or different subjects could be connected to the new learning. For example, students may already be familiar with the concept of the nation's capital of Washington, D.C. Although the concept of a state capital is novel learning, they could transfer what they know about the term "capital" to the new situation. This would be far transfer because the concept of a state capital is structurally different from the concept of our nation's capital, but certain ideas with which they are already familiar about the term "capital" such as being a place for government meetings or a geographical location in which leaders meet could be applied.


Teaching the topic to prevent students' negative transfer of their learning:

To prevent negative transfer of knowledge, I would begin the unit by exploring what students already know about the topic to find out if they have any misconceptions that need to be cleared up before we proceed. An example might be if students had learned similar vocabulary in other subjects that could be confused. An example might be the word "capital" which could have different meanings in different subjects or contexts. Another example might be that students have heard of big or well-known cities which they assume are the capitals since they are so well-known. It would be important to access how much students already know on the topic and make sure they are clear on all vocabulary. Then I would strive to make sure that all new learning acquired in this unit would be taught in a meaningful way and that students understand the concepts deeply to prevent any negative transfer of this learning to future learning. I would hope to teach the topic so that everything learned could be appropriately applied when students build upon their learning in the future.