What learning transfer concept is demonstrated when a coach assesses what skills to teach based on a student's prior experience?

The concept demonstrated when a coach assesses what skills to teach based on a student's prior experience aligns with proactive transfer. Proactive transfer refers to the influence that past learning experiences have on the learning of new skills. This process involves leveraging a student's existing knowledge and skills to facilitate the acquisition of new ones. By understanding a student's background, a coach can tailor their instruction to build on what the student already knows, making it more effective and relevant.

In practice, this means identifying which aspects of a student’s previous experiences can be applied to new learning situations. Coaches who utilize proactive transfer can enhance the learning process by encouraging fluidity in skill application and allowing students to connect familiar concepts with new techniques. This improves retention and mastery of the skills being taught.

Other terms listed, such as retroactive transfer, involve the influence of new learning on previously learned skills, while synaptic transfer generally refers to neurological connections in learning contexts, and skill adaptation pertains to the modification of existing skills for different contexts. These concepts do not specifically relate to the assessment of prior experience for teaching new skills, which is the essence of proactive transfer.