Date of Award
5-25-2021
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Amanda Sladek
Committee Members
Tiffani Luethke, Janet Graham, Susan Honeyman
Keywords
Composition;Higher education;Secondary education;Transfer theory;Writing;Writing knowledge transfer
Abstract/Description
Writing knowledge transfer is a cognitive practice where students apply skills gained in the composition classroom to other contexts, such as different disciplinary fields. While transfer sounds natural in theory, students often struggle to establish such connections independently, raising the question of how educators might promote successful transfer in their instructional practices. Especially with the transition to college, students tend to have difficulties linking the crucial skills presented in their high school English classes to other writing situations. While high school and college instructors may have different curricular constraints, the shared practice of providing feedback is one potential avenue that could support knowledge transfer. To explore this phenomenon, I interviewed six educators from both the secondary and postsecondary levels about their respective teaching practices. I asked the subjects what they knew about writing knowledge transfer theory and how feedback is used in their classrooms. Using a phenomenological approach, I transcribed and coded the interviews to identify overarching patterns across the practices employed by both high school and college instructors. The results showed a strong relationship between the method of feedback and the potential for successful writing knowledge transfer. In addition, the findings of this research also suggest that educators from high schools and colleges may need further training on knowledge transfer theory in order to better support student writing across disciplines.
Recommended Citation
Grove, McKenna Fay, "Building Bridges and Roads: A Phenomenological Exploration of Feedback's Role in Writing Knowledge Transfer" (2021). English Theses, Dissertations, and Student Creative Activity. 1.
https://openspaces.unk.edu/eng-etd/1