From Learning to Action: Making Transfer Real - Blog 5 of the Leveraging Deep Learning Blog Series
Written by: Tania Lattanzio
“Authentic learning “is an activity that involves real-world problems and that mimics the work of professionals; the activity involves presentation of findings to audiences beyond the classroom”
About this series: This blog series is based on ideas from Andrea Muller and my latest book, Leveraging Deep Learning: Strategies and Tools for Continuous Assessment of Conceptual Understanding. Each post shares practical insights and tools designed to support educators in planning for deeper learning, involving students in the assessment process, and making understanding visible in everyday teaching. I hope these reflections help spark thinking and support you in your practice.
We often talk about "real world learning" but what does that actually look like in the classroom? In Chapter Six of Leveraging Deep Learning, we explore the powerful idea of transfer: students taking what they’ve learned in one context and applying it meaningfully in another. As Dixon and Brown (2012) state, “It is clearly not enough to change teaching strategies to promote transfer; assessment strategies must also change to acknowledge and support transfer of learning.”
Transfer is not just about using knowledge in a different subject. It’s about using understanding to engage with unfamiliar problems, take action, or design solutions. When students transfer learning, they show us what they truly understand.
To support this kind of deep transfer, we need to be solution-oriented in our planning. This means designing tasks that position students as real-world thinkers and problem-solvers. We need to ask: What do people actually do with this kind of thinking? What do they do with this kind of understanding? and then structure learning around opportunities for that.
And before we jump to performance tasks or final projects, we need to ask an even more fundamental question “So what?” Why are we learning this? Why does it matter? What can students do with this knowledge and understanding? Now that they have understood, what will they do?
If we don’t ask so what, we risk treating learning as a disconnected series of tasks. But when we do ask it and encourage students to ask it too we bring purpose to the forefront. Students begin to understand that learning isn’t just about gaining information; it’s about engaging with ideas that matter and using them to make a difference. That mindset shift unlocks motivation, deepens thinking, and invites action.
One way we’ve captured this approach is through the development of the PRAC task, adapted and inspired by Wiggins and McTighe’s GRASPS framework (Goal, Role, Audience, Situation, Product, Standards):
Purpose and Situation
Role
Audience
Criteria
A PRAC is not just a fun activity or something “for the end of the unit.” It’s a designed experience that invites students to perform their understanding in ways that reflect how it lives in the world.
For example, students might be invited to design a sustainable solution for their community. This doesn’t mean every student must create the same poster or model. It’s not about having 25 identical outcomes. It’s about choice and relevance. One student might develop a clothes swap morning. Another might design a compost system for the school. A third might advocate for reducing packaging at the school cafeteria. The key is that the learning is applied authentically and personally, based on a shared conceptual focus like sustainability, systems, or impact.
Importantly, PRACs don’t always need to come at the end of a unit. They may happen during learning, depending on the PRAC. If the concept is community, students might reflect on what builds connection and choose to take small actions, like welcoming a new classmate, organising a team clean-up, or supporting someone who feels left out. These moments, while small, are powerful evidence of conceptual understanding in action.
And it’s essential to remember action doesn’t have to be loud or large-scale. It might be a change in thinking, a shift in feeling, a new awareness, or a more empathetic response. When students begin to see something differently or care more deeply because of what they’ve learned, that is transfer. That is impact.
In the book, we outline a PRAC planning guide to help teachers design these kinds of experiences. It supports alignment to the Rubric for Understanding, encourages flexibility for student voice, and keeps conceptual clarity at the core.
When students are given real tasks, rooted in purpose, they begin to ask not just What did I learn? but What can I do with this? That’s when deep learning takes hold.
Helpful Hints
Use the PRAC acronym to guide task design: Performance-based, Real-world, Authentic, and Concept-driven.
Begin with the question So what? to define the purpose of learning.
Design tasks that allow students to make choices about how they apply their learning.
If appropriate, build in opportunities for PRACs throughout the unit not just at the end.
Recognise and celebrate small acts of transfer action can be quiet, local, and meaningful.
Encourage students to reflect on how their learning might make a difference in their thinking, relationships, or community.
References
Dixon, Raymond & Brown, Ryan. (2012). Transfer of Learning : Connecting Concepts During Problem Solving. Journal of Technology Education. 24. 2-17. 10.21061/jte.v24i1.a.1.
Found this article helpful? Get more of such strategies and tools for making learning visible in my book, Leveraging Deep Learning: Strategies and Tools for Continuous Assessment of Conceptual Understanding. Get the paperback in the link below