Dipl.-Psych. Dorothee Reiners & Sabine Hochholdinger
For several decades, workplace psychologists have researched the factors that influence learning transfer outcomes in continuing professional education. It seems reasonable to assume that the individuals responsible for designing and performing these services contribute significantly in this respect. Not only do they share their professional and didactic expertise, but also their personal experiences and viewpoint.
The current project examines what kind of subjective transfer theories guide so-called trainers in their attitudes towards learning transfer. What do they imagine learning transfer to be? How do they incorporate transfer requirements into their continuing education offers? Are there any content-related differences, since another kind of transfer mechanism would be needed for general, mostly behaviour-oriented services than for specialist, knowledge-oriented ones? During the first qualitative stage, we will conduct a series of interviews with experienced trainers to determine the major building blocks of these subjective theories. The second stage will consist of a survey in which other trainers will weigh the importance of the descriptive categories determined during the interview stage.