Across the Disciplines Jan 2022 Open Access

�Types of Writing,� Levels of Generality, and �What Transfers?�: Upper-Level Students and the Transfer of First-Year Writing Knowledge

John H. Wicker

Abstract

Transfer-focused pedagogies like Writing about Writing (WAW) or Teaching for Transfer (TFT) have claimed to better facilitate transfer of writing knowledge from first-year composition (FYC) courses. These pedagogies have emerged alongside research indicating that students in upper-level writing intensive courses often do not transfer FYC knowledge. While research has suggested that these transfer-focused pedagogies do improve transfer during subsequent semesters, research has not sought to determine whether students' long-term attitudes toward FYC knowledge is affected by these pedagogies. This article presents the results of an IRB-approved pilot survey study of what students enrolled in upper-level writing intensive courses at a small, private, Catholic, suburban university in the Midwestern United States remembered learning in their FYC courses, and whether they perceived that knowledge as having been useful for their writing. Results seem to indicate that some transfer-focused pedagogies do have significant effects on students' perceptions of the usefulness and transferability of what they recall learning in FYC. Additionally, many students identify conceptual knowledge of genre and discourse communities as useful for their upper-level writing, though often using alternative terms, particularly types, styles, forms, or formats of writing. To a large extent, this is true regardless of whether students enrolled in a transfer-focused course or not, but responses from those who experienced a transfer-focused course give indications of a more sophisticated understanding. These results might indicate that students may be predisposed to remember and connect knowledge at intermediate levels of generality that could lead to new possibilities for teaching for transfer.

Journal
Across the Disciplines
Published
2022-01-01
DOI
10.37514/atd-j.2022.18.3-4.05
CompPile
Open Access
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Cited by in this index (2)

  1. Cripps (2022)
    Introduction to Volume 18, Issue 3/4
    Across the Disciplines
  2. Wicker (2022)
    �Types of Writing,� Levels of Generality, and �What Transfers?�: Upper-Level St…
    Across the Disciplines

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