Knowledge Transfer

CORE DEFINITION

Knowledge transfer is the application of knowledge acquired in one situation to a different situation. The core claim is that transfer depends not on surface features but on the deep structure shared between the old and new contexts: knowledge learned as a context-bound procedure stays locked to its original setting, while knowledge abstracted into a principle can cross domains. The key condition is that near transfer, between similar contexts, happens readily, whereas far transfer across dissimilar fields requires deliberately building a structural mapping. The concept is central to instructional design and expertise research.