The PaddlerUK magazine July 2015 issue 3 | Page 60

P D L RUK 60
A DE

By Dave Rossetter –paddlesport instruct

Transfer of – knowle
In a previous article I mentioned the work of Simon & Chase, 1973 about
the 10,000 hours rule. Where to become good at a skill, or more especially
to become an expert we must put in the time and practice, especially
deliberate practice

That article looked at various ways to help us with this practice.This one however, is
concerned about building on this and the work of others to aid us in our development.

Sir Isaac Newton back in 1676 stated in a letter about his attempt to, “See a little
further” phrased, “By standing on the shoulders of giants.” This built on the writings
of theologian and author John of Salisbury back in the 12th century.The meaning
behind this seeing further by being taller isn’t about being superior but by using the
work of those that went before aids us by adding their knowledge to ours, this in turn
moves on our development.

Definition
Transfer of learning is the ability to apply
knowledge learned in one context to new
contexts.

Transfer of learning occurs when the learner:
l
Recognizes common features among
concepts, skills or principles.
l
Links the information in memory.
l
Sees the value of utilizing what was learned
in one situation in another.

By building up ways to help students with their
ability to tap into previous learning, schemas
and past experiences we can speed up the
learning.

The following are some examples of ways that
could apply to us and hopefully give the
inspiration for coaches and leaders to look into
how they aid their paddler’s development.

Problem solving

Previously I touched on the work of Brymer
and Renshaw (2010) about the constraints that
we could change to aid in a paddler’s
development. This ability for a paddler to
problem solve by looking at how the task is

achieved in a different way or in a different
environment or seeking ways for the individual
to reduce the effort. By changing these
constraints the paddlers are continually looking
into their past experiences as to how they have
achieved the task previously and forces the
looking into the internal question of, “What did
I do previously?” and in turn therefore, “What
do I need to do this time?”

This works well with those that have an
outcome already achieved and therefore have
the knowledge that they can complete the task a
way.When paddling harder waters, newer waters
or trying to do something new this tapping into
previous knowledge allows the transfer of what
is common between the new task and previous.

Tasks can also be set where the paddler hasn’t
previously done it. By using questioning with
them about how they might go about
completing the task with periods of discovery
will tap into previous learning. This could be
linking to similar manoeuvres from other areas,
understanding form other areas such as water
flow knowledge etc.