The present study aimed to examine the effects of learning strategies including retrieval practice, note-taking, and rereading on transfer, and to explore how those effects would be differentiated by learners achievement goal. A total of 128 university students in South Korea participated in the experiment where the students in three different conditions read the same complex learning materials using different learning strategies and completed the transfer tests twice, immedate test and one-week delayed test. The results are as follows. First, retrieval practice was the most effective learning strategy for the knowledge transfer in the one-week delayed test.
Second, the ability-focused performance-approach goal moderated the effects of the note-taking strategy on transfer, meaning that note-taking had a more positive effect for the students with higher ability-focused performance-approach. In sum, the present study confirms that retrieval practice is the most powerful learning strategy, regardless of learners’ achievement goals. The results also suggest that different types of learners achievement goals should be taken into account for future studies on learning.