What is meant by the 'transfer of learning'?

'Transfer of learning' refers to the phenomenon where knowledge, skills, or competencies learned in one context are applied to different contexts or situations. This concept is crucial in educational psychology and cognitive science because it demonstrates how much a learner can leverage what they have previously acquired in new scenarios.

In practice, this means that when a student learns a particular skill or concept, such as problem-solving strategies, they can then apply those strategies not only in similar problems within the same subject matter but also in diverse areas and real-life situations that may not directly relate to the original learning environment. Such transfer can be seen when athletes use strategic thinking learned in one sport to improve performance in another sport, or when students apply mathematical concepts learned in class to solve real-world problems.

This capacity to generalize skills and knowledge is essential in education, as it indicates a deeper level of understanding and the ability to adapt to new challenges. The other answers focus on aspects of learning—like memorization, analysis of past experiences, and recall of facts—but do not capture the essence of how learning impacts the ability to apply knowledge across varied situations, which is the core of transfer of learning.