MOST EDUCATORS HAVE WONDERED at one time or another, will the knowledge their students gain today, still be there next week? The principle of learning known as Transfer offers insights and suggestions to ensure that knowledge gained now will be available for use later.

Transfer is the "ability to learn in one situation and then use that learning, possibly in a modified or generalized form, in other situations. Transfer is the core of problem solving, creative thinking, and all other higher mental processes, inventions, and artistic products" (Sousa, 1995, p.67).

Transfer can be thought of as a two-part continuous process in which past learning affects new learning, which in turn will be applied to novel learning situations in the future.

Child using past learning to make sense of new information.

Learner using past understanding to solve a problem in a novel situation. 

What can be done to enhance transfer in a classroom? The following are suggestions to consider when setting up a learning environment where transfer is fostered:

        Use thematic units and integrated curriculum to promote connections between concepts and topics. This reinforces understanding and meaning and promotes transfer to future situations.

        Incorporate a period of question and answer

        Allow time for the student to investigate, construct relationships and create meaning

        Foster student dialogue

        Make the current learning environment similar to the future learning environment to enhance transfer

        Refer to past learning to help the student make sense of the new information

When the principle of transfer is understood and considered in planning lessons, students will solve diverse problems and create products that demonstrate they can transfer what they learned last week and apply it to their work this week. Educators can be assured that the lessons were successful when the principle of transfer is considered.

Sousa, D. R., How The Brain Learns. Reston, VA: NASSP. 
Terri Linman， Department of Educational Technology ，San Diego State University