Tip of the Week: That’s so Negative!

A California surfer new to the Northwest decides to try snowboarding. In his mind the sports are virtually identical, using the same movement patterns to get the same results. The only difference is that a surfboard glides on top of water, a snowboard on snow.

The surfer, once off the lift, straps in and points his board down the hill. He gains speed moving faster and faster. The conditions are icy. Deciding to initiate a bottom turn to slow himself down, he puts his weight on his back foot, lifts the nose of his board, and points to the left.

To his surprise, his board pivots 180 degrees and now he’s traveling down hill backwards. Losing control, he slams hard onto the ice. Ouch!

What happened?

In my last tip of the week, Wax on Wax Off, I wrote about positive transfer. Positive transfer takes place when something you’ve learned in the past helps you gain, develop, and remember a new learning.  In the above illustration, what the surfer had learned and what worked for him in surfing, interfered with his attempt at snowboarding. This is called the principle of negative transfer.

Both principles impact how you teach what you teach.

To take advantage of positive transfer, teach similar concepts together and emphasize their similarities.  

Think about wanting to teach the spelling and the meaning of words similar to the word “swim.”  Once a student knows how to spell swim, you can teach similar words by adding various suffixes like “s,” “er,” or “ing,” resulting in “swims,” “swimmer,” and “swimming.” Your student, knowing how to spell “swim” can learn how to spell these three new words quickly and easily. That’s the principle of positive transfer at work.  

To avoid and minimize negative transfer, do not teach similar but differing concepts together. Emphasize differences.

For instance, when teaching multiple facts whose products are nearly the same, i.e. 7×9 and 8×8, do not teach then together. Instead separate them. The answers to these facts, 63 and 64, are nearly the same and can be confusing.   

Here’s another illustration.  When teaching how to add two-digit addition problems with no carrying, parents often say “add the one’s place first, then the ten’s place.” Avoid using two-digit numbers in which there is a “1”  in the tens place such as 12 plus 17. Your student will see the one in both numbers and incorrectly add from left to right (negative transfer at work). Better to teach adding 21 plus 71. Doing so takes advantage of positive transfer, the number one being in the one’s place.

Take advantage of positive transfer by teaching similar concepts together, emphasizing their similarities. Minimize negative transfer by avoiding teaching similar but differing concepts together. Emphasize differences.

That’s the tip of the week!

Curt Bumcrot, MRE

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