How Can You Get Students to Transfer Their Knowledge and Skills from One Class to Other Classes and Outside-of-School Situations?

"Transfer of learning" is the term used to describe applying what one has learned in one situation to another in a different context. This chapter focuses on how teachers can encourage students to become more conscious of and interested in, "transferring their learning" to more challenging and higher-order thinking contexts. It shares many actions teachers can take on a regular basis to increase the chances of both near and far transfer occurring, and also includes a full lesson plan designed to help formative assessment understand what transfer is and why it is in their self-interest to engage in it. The chapter highlights the instructional strategies that specifically increase the chances of transfer. There are many elements researchers have found to be useful in promoting understanding, including teacher modeling, using sufficient "wait time" for students to respond to questions, showing visuals related to the learning topic, encouraging physical movement, and providing formative assessment.