e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

10.8. Support Learning Transfer

In our first edition, we offered guidelines for designing the context of your examples to support near or far transfer. Here we repeat those guidelines and add a new guideline based on recent research related to far-transfer learning.

10.8.1. What Are Near and Far Transfer?

In some training situations, the main goal is to teach learners procedures, tasks that are performed pretty much the same way each time they are completed. Accessing your email or filling out a customer order form are two typical examples. When teaching procedures, your goal is to help learners achieve near transfer. In other words, your goal is to help learners apply steps learned in the training to similar situations in the work environment. ...