Elon Statement on Writing Transfer

1. Elon Statement onWriting Transfer Jessie L. Moore Center for Engaged Learning Elon University jmoore28@elon.edu | @jessielmoore

2. CEL Research Seminars CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore

3. CEL Research Seminars Critical Transitions: Writing and the Question of Transfer From first-year composition through advanced professional and technical communication, writing curricula are constructed under a foundational premise that writing can be taught - and that writing knowledge can be “transferred” across critical transitions. First-year composition is often a required course for all students with the assumption that what is learned there will transfer to other coursework and throughout students’ educational careers. Senior capstone courses often integrate writing instruction that is intended to transfer to post-graduation writing in new workplaces or graduate or professional programs. Arguably, all of modern education is based on the broader assumption that what one learns here can transfer over there – across critical transitions. But what do we really know about transfer, in general, and writing transfer, in particular? Is “transfer,” and all of the assumptions that tag along with it, the best term to use to understand, enhance, and found writing education? CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore

4. CEL Research Seminars Critical Transitions: Writing and the Question of Transfer CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore

5. What terms best capture transfer practices and theories? • What types of reflection activities best support critical transitions? • How do students transfer writing knowledge between languages? CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore

6. How do classroom spaces/space designs impact transfer? • How do students transfer writing knowledge between academic and self-sponsored writing? • How do specific curricula (e.g., Writing about Writing, Teaching for Transfer) impact transfer? CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore

7. CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore

8. Elon Statement onWriting Transfer Writing transfer is a complex phenomena, and understanding that complexity is central to facilitating students’ successful consequential transitions, whether among university writing tasks or between academic and workplace or civic contexts. CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore

9. Elon Statement onWriting Transfer Students’ dispositions and identities inform the success of their unique writing transfer experiences. CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore

10. Elon Statement onWriting Transfer Successful writing transfer requires transforming or repurposing prior knowledge (even if only slightly) for a new context in order to adequately meet the expectations of new audiences and fulfill new purposes for writing. CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore

11. Elon Statement onWriting Transfer University programs can “teach for transfer.” Enabling practices that promote writing transfer include focusing on rhetorically-based concepts, asking students to engage in metacognitive awareness, and explicitly modeling transfer-focused thinking. CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore

12. Elon Statement onWriting Transfer Recognizing and assessing writing transfer requires using a mix qualitative and quantitative methods looking at both critical transition points and longitudinal patterns of learning. CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore

13. Elon Statement onWriting Transfer Visit http://www.elon.edu/writingtransfer for both Elon Statement on Writing Transfer and Showcase of ERS Participants’ Supporting Work CWPA F8 | @jessielmoore