Often students view the assignments and skills used in composition courses as isolated to that class or discipline. Part of our job as instructors of English 150 and 250 is to make clear how the knowledge and practices students acquire in our courses can be applied in numerous contexts within and beyond the university. Making this potential transfer explicit is important, rather than simply assuming that students will see connections between different communication contexts.
Several scholars study transfer and their work is invaluable to our understanding of the theory behind transfer. For instance, using the work of Terttu Tuomi-Gröhn and Yrgo Engeström, Elizabeth Wardle notes that transfer can be thought of in three different ways: at the level of the individual task, at the level of the individual student’s ability and tendency to search for transfer opportunities, and at the level of the individual within an environment. This last perspective sees transfer as a process of generalizing and transitioning; importantly, successful transfer asks the learner to cross a “border” or “boundary” deliberately from one context to another, making use of previously learned information and practices while also being open to learning what is new and productive in the different context (from Yancey, Robertson, and Taczak, Writing Across Contexts: Transfer, Composition, and Sites of Learning 8-9).
Wardle chooses a helpful expression for what we are asking students to be aware of and make part of their communication repertoire: “creative repurposing for expansive learning” (Wardle 2012). This characterization of transfer is especially useful to us and our students working in 21st-century communication classrooms in that we often repurpose text (of various kinds) for different rhetorical situations and/or for different communication modes: written, oral, visual, and electronic (Yancey, Robertson, and Taczak 10).
What is important to note here is that transfer is complex (it is about more than declarative or procedural knowledge) and does not necessarily occur automatically. We need to teach in a way that highlights for students how one assignment is scaffolded to the one before it and after it so that what is learned in one part of the course can be expanded upon and reapplied in a later part of the course—and to other communication situations, as well. Key is using a consistent vocabulary for the knowledge and practices students are learning in English 150 and 250, so that they can develop their ability to think and discuss their work metacognitively. Closely related is the importance of reflection—what Yancey et al. call “systematic reflective practice” (Yancey, Robertson, and Taczak 35) which encourages students to gain understanding and control of their own communication work, developing what these researchers call a kind of theory about their own writing, one on which learners can base future decisions and modifications.
Discussion of the expectations of knowledge and practices/skills to be developed, learned, and practiced in English 150 and 250 should take place at the beginning of both of these courses. Students who take English 250 may not have had English 150 at Iowa State or may have placed out of that course. The ISUComm Foundation Courses Student Guide provides you and your students these expectations, the rhetorical framework, and the vocabulary to do this effectively at the beginning of the semester and to reinforce it throughout. Use the Goals for English 150 and English 250 (see pages 25–26 and 31–33) to involve students in the management of their learning by discussing their experiences practicing and improving their communication skills in different contexts, with different purposes, for different audiences, and with different media.
Below is a list of activities and assignments that can help you integrate and make more explicit the transfer (generalizing and transitioning) that we expect of students.
- Engage students in an audience analysis exercise. For example, they can draw a stick figure audience member and list their characteristics, or you could have them discuss or briefly outline how they would direct an assignment towards an entirely different audience such as a class of fourth graders. Audience awareness is an important aspect of transfer.
- Do group brainstorming activities for projects, asking how these kinds of activities can help in other communication tasks for other purposes.
- Ask students to analyze their composing processes to determine what working conditions and processes are best for their own optimal performance. It is important for them to realize they are in charge of their own learning.
- Whether you do the visual or textual rhetorical analysis assignment first (in English 250), ask students to consider how rhetorical-analysis concepts should transfer from one assignment to the other (and from one class to another). They can list similarities on the board or on a piece of paper you pass around class.
- Make sure students know that, while disciplines vary in the style of documentation they prefer, much of the basic information required is the same even if the format differs. Ask them to notice similarities between two or three different styles and, importantly, to articulate the “why” behind the need for formal documentation. If they understand what the basic elements of a citation are, they can more easily learn how to use an unfamiliar style. Then make sure they know what resources they can draw on (handbooks, etc.) in order to properly use an unfamiliar style.
- Since visual analysis is introduced in English 150, design principles can be reemphasized in English 250, but attention needs to be directed to what has already been learned. Put up a visual and have students tell you what design principles they see in it. Refer them to their Student Guide.
- Many composition students have had high school or community college speech classes. Call on the expertise of those students as you describe and design rubrics for speeches.