Types of Transfer: Applying What You Have Learned, Explained

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Types of Transfer: Applying What You Have Learned

Educational Psychology · Chapter 2: Memory, Thinking, and the Learning MindSection 2.8 · lesson 13 of 1009 min · free with a free account

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In this lesson

Positive and negative, near and far, specific and general.

  • Define transfer and explain why it is not automatic
  • Distinguish positive from negative transfer
  • Compare near, far, specific and general transfer
  • Apply varied practice and interleaving to promote transfer

Transcript

Everything said in the video, section by section (1,194 words). Read along, or search it.

Memory, Thinking, and the Learning Mind

Types of Transfer: Applying What You Have Learned

A student aces the unit test and fails the same idea three months later. In a different course. In a slightly different form. Everyone has watched this happen, and it has a name. This section is about transfer of learning. It is the application of what was learned in one context to a new one. We will separate four dimensions of transfer. Positive and negative. Near and far. Specific and general. Then we will look at what actually produces transfer in a classroom. Varied practice. Interleaving. Principles taught explicitly. Metacognition. None of those is accidental, which is the real message of this section.

The Goal

What Transfer Actually Means

Transfer of learning is applying knowledge or skills to a new context. Knowledge, skills, or strategies learned somewhere else. And it is arguably the whole point of education. We do not teach students merely to perform well on tests. We teach them to apply what they learned in novel situations, for life. But here is the difficulty, and it is a serious one. Transfer is neither automatic nor guaranteed. It depends on the depth of the original learning. It depends on how similar the learning and application contexts are. And it depends on whether learners understand the underlying principle, rather than only the surface-level procedure they were shown.

Direction

Positive and Negative Transfer

Transfer has a direction, and it can run either way. Positive transfer is when prior learning facilitates new learning. A student who has learned algebra finds it supports understanding physics equations. That is the case every curriculum is designed around. Negative transfer is when prior learning interferes with new learning. Consider a driver trained in a right-hand-drive vehicle. Now they must adapt to driving on the other side. Ingrained habits actively disrupt the new skill acquisition. That is negative transfer, and note what makes it worse. The stronger and more automatic the old habit, the more it interferes. Which means expertise itself can be an obstacle in the right circumstances.

Distance

Near Transfer and Far Transfer

The second dimension is distance. Near transfer happens when the new situation closely resembles the original. A student learns to solve quadratic equations. Then they solve slightly different quadratic equations on a test. That is near transfer, and most assessment measures only this. Far transfer happens when the application context is substantially different. Using logical reasoning learned in geometry to construct a persuasive essay. Nothing about the surface features matches. Only the structure does. Far transfer is more valuable educationally. It is also much more difficult to achieve. It requires a deeper, more flexible understanding of underlying principles. Which is exactly why it is rare, and why it has to be designed for.

Breadth

Specific and General Transfer

The third dimension is breadth. Specific transfer is the carry-over of particular habits, skills or knowledge. It moves from one task to a closely related one. Typing speed carrying across from one keyboard to another is specific transfer. General transfer is the application of broadly applicable principles. Strategies, or cognitive skills, applied across genuinely diverse domains. Logical reasoning is one. Metacognitive monitoring is another. General transfer is the foundation of what educators call transferable skills. Or twenty-first century competencies, depending on the document. It is also the hardest promise in education to actually deliver on. Claiming it is easy. Producing it takes deliberate design.

Key Idea

Teaching for Transfer Is a Design Choice

So here is the key idea of the section. Teaching for transfer is a design choice, not a natural outcome. It requires going beyond procedure to principle. It requires using varied examples and varied contexts. And it requires explicitly helping students identify where their knowledge applies. Notice that none of those happens by default. A lesson can teach a procedure cleanly, and practice it in one context. That lesson will produce near transfer only. And it will look completely successful while doing it. Which is the trap. Good near-transfer results hide the absence of far transfer. Far transfer is rare. It represents the deepest form of learning. It should be planned for rather than hoped for.

Varied Practice

Many Examples, One Principle

The most reliable strategy for promoting transfer is varied practice. That means applying concepts in multiple different contexts during learning. Not more practice. Differently distributed practice. Here is why the variety matters so much. When students see a concept illustrated through many different examples, they become better able to extract the principle that connects them. And it is the principle, not the example, that travels to a new situation. A single example teaches that example, thoroughly. Several dissimilar examples teach what they have in common. That common structure is a different thing, and a far more portable one. So when you choose a second example, choose one that looks different.

Interleaving

Making Students Choose the Method

Interleaving is the second strategy, and it is uncomfortable to use. It means mixing different problem types during practice. Rather than doing all of one type before moving to the next. The mechanism is worth stating precisely. Interleaving forces students to identify which approach applies to each problem. In blocked practice, they never have to decide. The method is given by the position on the page. But identifying the right approach is exactly what a novel situation demands. Here is the awkward finding about interleaving. Blocked practice produces better performance during practice. And worse performance later, when it counts. The discomfort of interleaving is the part doing the work.

Principles And Metacognition

Two More Levers

Two more levers, and both involve talking about thinking. The first is explicit discussion of abstract principles. And of the conditions under which those principles apply. Do not teach purely procedural steps. Discuss why a strategy works, and when it is most useful. Discuss how it connects to other concepts the student already has. The second lever is metacognitive instruction. Teach students to reflect on their own learning. And to identify parallels between a new situation and prior learning. That skill is what lets a student find a transfer opportunity unaided. Because here is the underlying problem with procedural teaching. A student taught only steps has nothing to apply when the surface changes.

Six Types

The Transfer Vocabulary in One Place

Six terms, all worth holding precisely. Positive transfer is prior learning helping new learning. Algebra skills aiding physics problem-solving. Negative transfer is prior learning hindering it. Right-hand driving habits obstructing adaptation to the other side. Near transfer is application in a similar context. A different but similar mathematics problem type. Far transfer is application in a very different context. Geometry reasoning applied to essay writing. Specific transfer carries particular habits, like typing speed across keyboards. General transfer applies broad principles, like metacognitive monitoring across subjects.

In Practice

From Short Stories to an Editorial

Here is a deliberate transfer sequence in one English classroom. The teacher teaches literary analysis using short stories. Familiar territory, and the surface features support the skill. Then she asks students to apply the same analytical framework elsewhere. To a newspaper editorial. Nothing about an editorial looks like a short story. The framework has to survive without the surface support. That is a near-to-far progression, and it was designed on purpose. Establish the skill in a familiar context, then displace it. The general recipe is short. Vary practice contexts. Interleave problem sets. Teach underlying principles explicitly, and build metacognitive awareness. And set assessment tasks that require application to genuinely novel problems. Those tasks do two jobs. They assess transfer, and they reinforce it.

About Educational Psychology at UPI Study

Educational Psychology (Psychology 120) is a self-paced online course of 100 video lessons in 11 chapters, from memory, conditioning and child development to motivation, individual differences, assessment, instruction and educational technology. It carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits.

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Educational Psychology carries a NCCRS credit recommendation. These universities work with NCCRS; some are UPI Study's signed partners. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.

Thomas Edison State UniversityThomas Edison State UniversitySigned partnerUniversity of the PeopleUniversity of the PeopleSigned partnerCharter Oak State CollegeCharter Oak State CollegeSigned partnerStrayer UniversityStrayer UniversitySigned partnerColumbia Southern UniversityColumbia Southern UniversitySigned partnerIndiana TechIndiana TechSigned partnerPenn StatePenn StateWorks with NCCRSSouthern New Hampshire UniversitySouthern New Hampshire UniversityWorks with NCCRSSUNYSUNYWorks with NCCRS +many more cooperating universitiesFind my college →

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FAQ

Questions students ask us

About Types of Transfer: Applying What You Have Learned

What is transfer of learning?
Transfer of learning is applying knowledge, skills or strategies learned in one context to a new one. It is arguably the main goal of education, but it is neither automatic nor guaranteed. Transfer depends on how deeply something was learned, how similar the learning and application contexts are, and whether the learner grasps the underlying principle rather than just a surface procedure.
What is the difference between positive and negative transfer?
Positive transfer occurs when prior learning helps new learning, and negative transfer occurs when prior learning interferes with it. Algebra skills that make physics equations easier to understand are positive transfer. A driver whose ingrained habits from one side of the road disrupt driving on the other side shows negative transfer. The stronger and more automatic the old habit, the more it interferes.
What is the difference between near and far transfer?
Near transfer applies learning to a situation that closely resembles the original, such as solving a slightly different quadratic equation on a test. Far transfer applies it to a very different context, such as using geometric reasoning to build a persuasive essay. Far transfer is more valuable but harder to achieve, because it requires flexible understanding of underlying principles.
How can teachers promote transfer of learning?
Teachers promote transfer by design: varied practice, interleaving, explicit teaching of principles and metacognitive instruction. Seeing a concept in several dissimilar examples helps students extract the shared principle. Interleaving mixes problem types so students must choose a method, which feels harder during practice but helps later. Discussing why and when a strategy works helps students spot new opportunities to apply it.

About the Educational Psychology course

How many college credits is Educational Psychology?
Educational Psychology (Psychology 120) carries a NCCRS credit recommendation for 3 semester credits. ACE and NCCRS have over 2,100 cooperating colleges that will consider accepting credits; the final decision is with the universities.
How much does Educational Psychology cost and what is included?
$250, paid once, with lifetime access: all 100 video lessons, a practice quiz after each, the graded work and final exam, and an official transcript when you finish. Students who want several courses choose UPI Study PRO instead.
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How long does Educational Psychology take?
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