Chapter 3: Rethinking Transfer: A Simple Proposal With Multiple Implications
Abstract
A belief in transfer lies at the heart of our educational system. Most educators want learning activities to have positive effects that extend beyond the exact conditions of initial learning. They are hopeful that students will show evidence of transfer in a variety of situations: from one problem to another within a course, from one course to another, from one school year to the next, and from their years in school to their years in the workplace. Beliefs about transfer often accompany the claim that it is better to ' 'educate' ' people broadly than simply to "train " them to perform particular tasks (e.g., Broudy, 1977). In this chapter, we discuss research on transfer from both a retrospective and a prospective perspective. What has past transfer research taught us that is especially important for education? What might research on transfer look like in the future? Our discussion of past research is brief, not because it is unimportant but because of space limitations and the fact that our primary emphasis is on the future. We argue that prevailing theories and methods of measuring transfer are limited in scope; we propose an alternative that complements and extends current approaches; and we sketch this alternative's implications for education. Our discussion is organized into five sections. First, we briefly summarize some of the key findings from the literature on transfer—both the successes and the disappointments. Second, we contrast the "traditional " view of transfer with an alternative that emphasizes the ability to learn during transfer. Third, we discuss mechanisms for transfer that emphasize Broudy's analysis of "knowing with " (which he adds to the more familiar replicative "knowing that " and applicative "knowing how"). Fourth, we show how our alternate view of transfer affects assumptions about what is valuable for students to learn. Finally, we show Funding for studies described in this chapter was provided by grants from the Office of Educational
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Transfer of knowledge and skills from one context to another can be quite difficult.
“In addition, research indicates that transfer of knowledge and skills from one context to another (e.g., printbased sources to digital sources of information) can be quite difficult (Bransford & Schwartz, 1999).”
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- Authors
- BRANSFORD, J. D., & SCHWARTZ, D. L.
- Affiliations
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- ORCID
- SCHWARTZ, DANIEL L.
- Venue
- Review of Research in Education
- Published
- 1999-01
- Volume
- 24
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 61-100
- ISSN
- 0091-732X (ISSN-L)
- 1935-1038
- OpenAlex
- W2095371090
- Cited by
- 881
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 35 · 2025: 39 · 2024: 41 · 2023: 41 · 2022: 57 · 2021: 55 · 2020: 40 · 2019: 53 · 2018: 50 · 2017: 56 · 2016: 46 · 2015: 45 · 2014: 36 · 2013: 43 · 2012: 44
- FWCI
- 4.83
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Review of Research in Education (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational Strategies and Epistemologies
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Innovative Teaching and Learning Methods
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Developmental and Educational Psychology › Educational methodologies and cognitive development
- Keywords
- transfer of learning, knowing that, knowing how
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