A student takes a part-time job in an architect’s office and applies learning…

Concept

Transfer of learning is the use of knowledge or skills acquired in one setting in another setting. Near versus far transfer classifies how similar the learning and application contexts are; low versus high road classifies the degree of automaticity or reflection.

Far transfer occurs when the new context or problem differs substantially from the original learning situation, even though an underlying principle can still be carried across.

Application

The student moves from classroom geometry to an architect’s office and applies that learning to a spatial problem explicitly described as unlike the classroom problems. The large change in context and problem form makes this far transfer.

Contrast

• Near transfer involves closely similar tasks or settings with substantial overlap in cues and procedures.

• Forward-reaching transfer involves deliberately abstracting learning in anticipation of applying it in a future situation.

• Low-road transfer is the automatic triggering of a well-practised response by a situation with similar cues.

• Far transfer carries learning to a context or problem that is markedly different from the original one.

Therefore, the described case is far transfer.