Teaching for Transfer: Theory and Practice Adrienne Jankens & Thomas Trimble 2013 Fall Orientation

Transfer Defined “The ability to extend what one has learned in one context to new contexts” (Bransford, 1996). “Preparation for future learning” (Bransford and Schwarz, 1999) Ade

Basic Concepts Low-road transfer (car to truck) High-road transfer Automatic, stimulus-driven High-road transfer Mindful, deliberate Near transfer- from one context to another similar context from algebra to geometry Far transfer- from one context to a seemingly unrelated context from algebra to cooking Negative transfer-when experience in one context hurts performance in another from soccer to basketball Thomas

Characteristics of Learning and Transfer (Bransford) Initial learning is necessary for transfer New learning involves transfer based on previous learning Transfer is best viewed as a dynamic, active process Transfer is not a unitary process-different routes to transfer Ade

Factors that impact transfer Abstraction-transfer is enhanced by instruction that helps students reconstruct problems at higher levels of abstraction Abstraction builds bridges between different contexts Learner-generated abstractions promote transfer better than instructor-supplied abstractions Transfer is difficult when knowledge is over-contextualized (only taught in one highly specific context) Prompting Helping students see the potential for transfer in other settings and contexts Reflection (metacognition) Self-monitoring Thomas

Engaging and Recontextualizing Prior Knowledge Rounsaville, Goldberg, and Bawarshi (2008): Prompting and encouraging students to reflect on what prior knowledge is influencing their approaches to new writing tasks is key for their development of metacognition Reiff and Bawarshi (2011): “Boundary crossing” and “boundary guarding” Nowacek (2011); Rounsaville (2012): Students work through a negotiation between prior knowledge and present task Roberston, Taczak, and Yancey (2012): “remixing,” “assemblage,” and “critical incidents” Ade

Discussion Reflection as a genre? The vocabulary of reflection?

Teaching for Transfer: Practice Adrienne Jankens & Thomas Trimble 2013 Fall Orientation

Goals Provide activities that promote high-road transfer across writing contexts (both near and far) Forward-reaching—preparing for future tasks Backward-reaching—approaching current tasks using learning from past experiences

Scaffolding and Sequencing Help students learn to write reflection Use reflection to support the development of other writing projects Build reflective activities to lead effectively to the final reflective text: the reflective argument essay Ade

Tools Engaging Prior Knowledge: KWL (Ogle) Ade We could alternate if you like—you present one, I present one, etc.—That’s a good idea!—I’m separating my slides to make this easier to see—integrate yours in whatever way makes sense

Tools Thomas Journal Prompts Describe a time when an argument changed your mind. Describe a time when you encountered a writing task that you did not know how to complete. What did you do? What was the most difficult part of this assignment? How did you deal with that difficulty? What part of this assignment is still fuzzy? Thomas

Tools In-Process Reflections: tuning-in journal, talk-backs Ade

Tools Thomas Letter to the Reader (from Sandra Giles’s article “Reflective Thinking and the Revision Process”) Thomas

Tools Tying to Course Learning Outcomes: strategies for making them accessible Clear identification on schedule Discussion of terms (via KWL) Midterm practice Ade

Tools Thomas Outcomes Memo Thomas

Discussion I think they will have their own questions to ask here, and if they don’t, we can ask them to share practice re: reflection, or to focus on something like student examples and see what questions come from their review of those.

Resources 1020 Teaching Resource Site Bransford and Schwartz. “Rethinking Transfer: A Simple Proposal With Multiple Implications.” Review of Research in Education. 24.1, Jan. 1999: 61-100. Web. Giles, Sandra. “Reflective Thinking and the Revision Process.” Writing Spaces: Readings on Writing. Vol. 1 Ed. Charles Lowe and Pavel Zemliansky. “Learning and Transfer.” How People Learn: Brain, Mind, Experience, and School. Eds. John D. Bransford et al. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2000. 51-78. Perkins, D.N. and Gavriel Salomon. “Rocky Road to Transfer: Rethinking Mechanisms of a Neglected Phenomenon.” Educational Psychologist 24.2 (1989): 113-142.

Resources Nowacek, Rebecca. Agents of Integration: Understanding Transfer as a Rhetorical Act. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press, 2011. Print. Reiff, Mary Jo and Anis Bawarshi. “Tracing Discursive Resources: How Students Use Prior Genre Knowledge to Negotiate New Writing Contexts in First-Year Composition.” Written Communication. 28.3. 2011. Web. Roberston, Liane, Kara Taczak, and Kathleen Blake Yancey. “Notes toward a Theory of Prior Knowledge and Its Role in College Composers’ Transfer of Knowledge and Practice.” Composition Forum. 26. Fall 2012. Web. Rounsaville, Angela, Rachel Goldberg, and Anis Bawarshi. “From Incomes to Outcomes: FYW Students’ Prior Genre Knowledge, Meta-Cognition, and the Question of Transfer.” WPA. 32.1. Fall/Winter 2008. Web. Yancey, Kathleen Blake. Reflection in the Writing Classroom. Logan, UT: Utah State University Press, 1998. Print.