We have talked about transfer in laboratory experiments but, studies on transfer have also been carried out in the classroom. What practical implications do they provide for the field of education?
The extent of transfer of an academic subject clearly depends on the teaching method. As we said earlier, Latin can be taught so as to improve understanding of English vocabulary. It is equally true that history can be taught in order to provide an understanding of current political and economic problems, and arithmetic in a way to provide positive transfer to the study of algebra.
Teaching for transfer requires emphasizing the similarities between the current subject and the situations to which the new learning will transfer, if the two subjects areas are similar in general principles or concepts, then transfer depends upon the extent to which the principles and their broad application are stressed.
Studies have shown, too, that principles transfer more readily when the student (1) has practiced the basic problem to a high degree of mastery and (2) has experience with a variety of similar problems to ensure generalization of the principle. If a student is presented with a wide variety of problems without time to learn any one to a moderate degree of mastery, there will be little transfer.
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Improvement in learning how to learn (in the sense of learning efficient study habits) provides another opportunity for transfer. One study demonstrated that college students who were taught certain principles of efficient memorization showed marked improvement in their ability to retain various memorized materials as compared with students who simply practiced memorizing without any specific instructions.
Other studies have shown that introducing lessons on study skills in a high-school course (teaching such skills as learning to use reference books, interpret charts, summarize, and outline) results not only in substantial gains in that specific course but, in a transfer of these gains to other courses (Gagne, 1970).