Transfer of Learning by Ariel Sum

Transfer of Learning

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 05:33:00 UTC

Learning is interconnected and the transfer of learning is how things we've learned already can transfer information/skills into another situation.

Near Transfer

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 05:37:06 UTC

Imagine a train schedule: there are many different routes and two stops down is your next stop. It's got a connection with your current station. Near transfer considers how similar situations are to each other and how these skills transfer with ease because of it.

Far Transfer

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 05:39:16 UTC

Far transfer is when you have two vastly different situations and the transfer of previous knowledge is not so applicable because there's not much to compare. It's like a venn diagram without much in between.

High Road Transfer vs Low Road Transfer

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 05:52:26 UTC

High road transfer is intensive, very intentional mindfulness that considers patterns, considers how things happen in order to allow transfer to happen.

Low road transfer is semi-automatic. If someone is used to doing a task automatically and the situations call for similar skills, then a low road transfer calls for the skill to happen almost automatically.

Example: Playing chess teaches students how to think ahead, so it creates a sense of intentional mindfulness that is helpful for doing well in school. This is a far, high road transfer.

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 05:53:41 UTC

Positive vs Negative Transfer

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 05:59:01 UTC

If you've ever felt like something you've learned before is directly helping you learn something new more quickly because they're similar, then you've experienced positive transfer!

Negative transfer is when you learn something new that directly negates or contradicts something you knew before.

Specific vs Nonspecific Transfer

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 06:02:21 UTC

Specific Transfer: When two subjects are similar through a specific, clear stimulus, there can be specific transfer.

Nonspecific Transfer: When two subjects don't have a clear connection and still somehow affects the way that the other is then acquired.

Transfer is a synonym to application!

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 06:03:21 UTC

Transfer in the Classroom

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 06:07:53 UTC

We are constantly building on the idea that students are learning and retaining information. They are expected to come into the next grade with skills that they're meant to have previously known. We believe that there is some level of transfer to be done in the classroom!

Transfer Failures

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 06:12:19 UTC

This can happen because of a variety of reasons, but one example could be the mathematics question in the video that was answered incorrectly. The students most likely got it incorrect because they went through a low-road transfer instead of high road. This affects how they think and whether they automatically work or whether they put more effort into understanding how it happens.

Novices vs Experts: Abstraction

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 06:19:30 UTC

The initial learning is rather important to how transfer can succeed or fail. The deeper understanding of a situation is critical to effective transfer.

This would be the abstraction that comes into play. The intentional ability to abstract what is critical and the foundation of something is rather important to how someone can deeply understand what needs to be transferred.

Increasing Successful Transfers

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 06:25:02 UTC

Increase depth of understanding in initial learning (like through abstraction and metacognition)

Practice transfer in different contexts so as to prepare their mind for vastly different contexts in the future

Provide hints in order to guide students well

Explain EXPLICITLY to students how the knowledge can be transferred

Bridge between classes to create flexible pathways

Best Type of Transfer?

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 06:29:26 UTC

The transfers that show great understanding are typically transfers that are far, general, or high road. These cause people to apply something that they know in a very wide range and show the depth of what they know. This is to show how well your mind has grasped what you've learned.

Transfer's Criticisms

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 06:38:19 UTC

Many studies have shown that far transfer is not quite so reliable to show how much someone understands a situation. Chess, music, and Latin are not necessarily so transferable. These skills don't necessarily show that they cause different skills or traits that they are rumored to cause (level of intelligence is meant to improve by knowing these things). These learnings are not necessarily proven to be far transfer because there are many variables that can cause confusion.

Bridging

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 06:39:45 UTC

Make sure that your students know the concept in different contexts, so as to build their skill of abstraction and have successful transfers!

Intelligence vs Chess

asum0025 — 2025-10-01 06:42:09 UTC

The article states that chess is not necessarily the cause of intelligence, but there is great correlation there. Many people who are intelligent do very well with chess. This, however, is only a correlation that does not prove that the opposite is true.