How To Ensure Far Transfer Of Students’ Executive Function Skills?

| by Thuy Truong, M.A. Ed., 2/28/2025 |

The literature suggests education professionals should consider both motivation and learned cognition when thinking about students’ skills transfer (McKeachie, 1987).  From the learning science perspective, student motivation is highly correlated with student success. After all, motivation drives action. Executive function training should include emotional, cognitive, and reflective or metacognitive components to "promote far transfer of trained skills” (Zelazo & Carlson, 2020).  Evidently, both past and present research have suggested that skills transference involves “remembering, problem solving and cognitive activities” (McKeachie, 1987; Pugh & Bergin, 2006 ).  And yet one more instructional pillar  education professionals should contemplate is degree of skills versus exposure of skills. The fine difference to remember here is exposure of skills does not always equate to the full extent of skills (McKeachie, 1987).   Therefore,  multifaceted teaching is a critical component in assisting students with far transfer of executive function skills.  In this article, I will make three suggestions on how to teach all dimensions of one executive function skill thoroughly to maximize the extent of skills transfer for neurodivergent students.  

Step 1:  Assess Student’s Prior Skills 

When you are instilling a new skill to a student, take notice of their verbalized language for understanding both the literal and figurative meaning of the skill.  It is the student’s processing and synthesis of the lesson that will indicate to you what the student already knows. For skills gaps, do make sure you have a curricular strategy to bridge the past skill with the present skill.  This act of skills bridging will give the student the necessary sub-skills to learn and apply the new, larger skill you are teaching them.  Think of sub-skills as the glue between previous skills and present skills.  In many ways, sub-skills make the assimilation of newer skills possible.  Otherwise, students may experience the challenge of taking their previous skills to the next level without the “glue” component. However, there is a caveat. There is no universal glue component; each neurodivergent student may need a different type of scaffolding.  That is why current skills assessment for each student  is a critical step because it will inform the direction of  your teaching.  

Step 2:  Observe Student’s Understanding

After you have finished imparting the new skills to the student and it is the student’s turn to demonstrate to you what he has processed, understood, and is now ready to display his newfound skills,  at this stage, it is vitally important that the coach/teacher takes note of how the old and the new skills blend together.  If the blending is harmonious, then the student has a high chance of adapting previous skills to the newly learned skills.  If their demonstration of understanding reveals to you something is missing, then it is better to reteach to get the student up to speed or teach the required sub-skill(s), so the skill transfer can be maximized as much as possible. In other words, identify  specifically what’s missing in the student’s comprehension and provide the student more sub-skills to gel old skills with new skills together.  

Step 3:  Help The Student Transfer And Apply One Skill To Many Situations

Because most students still lack the full spectrum of  life experiences to stitch one skill to the next seamlessly by seeing the deeper, nuanced connections clearly because they are still young in their years, therefore, using the data you’ve gathered in Step 1 and Step 2, you can co-author and co-visualize with students how they can use one skill that they have learned today to 3-4 similar situations in the coming months or however it may pan out in their particular situation based on each  student’s unique dispositions, goals, personalities and preferences.  The primary aim here  is to help the student see nuanced, almost invisible connections between two or more skills, so they can begin to see the tapestry of related skills. They then can begin to zoom out in their thinking.  Also, teach the full spectrum and all dimensions of one skill because they have a domino effect on the student’s comprehension and application of the skills  in the long run.  For example, when you teach a student how to plan ahead using a checklist, you also have to show them how to write an efficient, concise checklist, how to check things off as you go, and also where do you keep a checklist so it won’t get lost because that would derail the whole strategy.    

Instead of teaching students with ADHD and other learning differences one executive function skill independently, educators  should think of all the sub-skills that a student may need to perform before, during, and after the academic task as well as how they can best transfer it into other similar real-world applications (I once showed a neurodivergent student you can use a checklist for homework management, camping trips, moving, packing, shopping  and so many more situations).  The real-life scenarios must be discussed with the student to assist them with abstract and critical thinking.  Otherwise, the student wouldn’t  think about the skills as a vast collection within her toolbox, but she would simply look at it like I’ve got a hammer but I don’t know where to find the extra nails to build something new. 

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Sources: 

McKeachie, W. J. (1987). Cognitive Skills and Their Transfer: Discussion. International Journal of Educational Research. 11, 707-712. https://doi.org/10.1016/0883-0355(87)90010-3

Pugh, K. J., & Bergin, D. A. (2006). Motivational Influences on Transfer. Educational Psychologist, 41(3), 147–160. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep4103_2

Zelazo, P. D., & Carlson, S. M. (2020). The neurodevelopment of executive function skills: Implications for academic achievement gaps.Psychology & Neuroscience, 13(3), 273–298. https://doi.org/10.1037/pne0000208