Connected, Disconnected, or Uncertain: Student Attitudes about Future Writing Contexts and Perceptions of Transfer from First Year Writing to the Disciplines

Autor/in	Driscoll, Dana Lynn
Titel	Connected, Disconnected, or Uncertain: Student Attitudes about Future Writing Contexts and Perceptions of Transfer from First Year Writing to the Disciplines
Quelle	In: Across the Disciplines, 8 (2011) 2 PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1554-8244
Schlagwörter	Writing (Composition); Writing Instruction; Student Attitudes; College Freshmen; Student Motivation; Student Surveys; Interviews; Writing Skills; Research Universities; Beliefs; Writing Across the Curriculum; College Faculty; English Instruction; Academic Discourse; Course Content; Transfer of Training + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Schreibübung; Schreibunterricht; Schülerverhalten; Studienanfänger; Schulische Motivation; Schülerbefragung; Interviewing; Interviewtechnik; Writing skill; Schreibfertigkeit; Forschungseinrichtung; Belief; Glaube; Fakultät; English langauage lessons; Englischunterricht; Discourse; Diskurs; Kursprogramm; Training; Transfer; Ausbildung
Abstract	Transfer, or how much knowledge from one context is used or adapted in new contexts, is a longstanding issue for researchers and teachers of writing in a variety of disciplines. Transfer is of particular concern when examining how effective first-year writing is in preparing students with a foundation for their disciplinary coursework. This article connects theories of student attitudes and motivation with theories of transfer to investigate their relationship. Data discussed includes beginning and end of semester surveys (n = 153) of first-year composition (FYC) students and interviews (n = 15) with students the semester after they finished their FYC course. Findings suggest that students' attitudes about their future disciplinary writing contexts and definitions of writing relate to their beliefs about their ability to transfer writing knowledge to new contexts. Four types of students are identified with regards to attitudes about future writing situations and transfer: explicitly connected, implicitly connected, uncertain, and disconnected. Furthermore, declines in the students' beliefs about the possibility of transfer occurred from the beginning to the end of the semester, raising questions about the effectiveness of pedagogies in FYC. The article concludes by introducing pedagogical techniques for fostering positive student attitudes and encouraging transfer in a variety of contexts. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	WAC Clearinghouse. Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523. Tel: 970-491-3132; Web site: http://wac.colostate.edu
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01