Situated at the intersection of research on writing transfer, dual coding theory, and concept mapping, this empirical research study investigates students' representation, development, and transfer of conceptual writing knowledge across writing contexts, taking a 2000 level Teaching for Transfer (TFT) course (Yancey, Robertson, and Taczak) as the site of study. In taking up students' use of prior knowledge—made explicit in their visual maps and represented through their key terms for writing and the knowledge structures linking them—this project continues a line of research that Kathleen Yancey, Liane Robertson, and Kara Taczak began in 2009 at Florida State University when they designed the TFT curriculum for first-year composition (FYC) courses and studied whether, and how, the course supported students' transfer of writing knowledge and practice from the TFT course to other writing sites. Carrying forward this line of research, this dissertation (1) documents, via a series of visual mapping assignments, the prior knowledge of writing that students bring with them into the composition classroom as indexed in their key terms for writing and writing knowledge structures, and (2) traces whether, and how, these visual mapping assignments, integrated into the TFT curriculum, can assist students in both developing new writing knowledge and transferring this conceptual writing knowledge from a sophomore-level writing course, ENC 2135: Research, Genre, and Context, for use in other post-TFT writing sites. Using deductive and inductive coding, descriptive analysis, scored compositions from TFT and post-TFT courses, and four single-case studies of writers, this mixed-methods dissertation identifies changes in students' representations of their conceptual writing knowledge and provides documentation of how this conceptual writing knowledge assisted them—or not—in composing across contexts. This nine-month research study resulted in the following four claims: (1) Participants’ model of prior knowledge use is visible in the conceptual writing knowledge structures represented in their visual maps: Remixers use a network knowledge structure comprised of a mix of their self-selected and TFT key terms, whereas assemblers use a chain knowledge structure onto which they have grafted selected TFT key terms. (2) Remixers can be differentiated based on the process by which they develop their networked knowledge structure—structural development or structural change—and the orientation of their knowledge structure—to concept or process. (3) Visual mapping can support writers in dually-coding their Theories of Writing (ToW) by helping them to “see connections” among concepts and to articulate their verbal ToWs, but having a dually-coded ToW does not necessarily guarantee that a writer can effectively use their ToW to frame new writing situations. (4) Participants who transferred their writing knowledge and practice from ENC 2135 TFT for use in other sites met the three conditions for transfer outlined by Yancey et al. As a result, this dissertation suggests that writing studies scholarship and pedagogy can benefit from additional research on concurrent visual and verbal reflective activities that enable writers to articulate and externalize their conceptual writing knowledge. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester 2017. / June 22, 2017. / Concept Mapping, Conceptual Writing Knowledge, Dual Coding Theory, Knowledge Transfer, Visual Mapping, Writing Transfer / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathleen Blake Yancey, Professor Directing Dissertation; Jennifer Proffitt, University Representative; Michael Neal, Committee Member; Kristie Fleckenstein, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_552343 |
| Contributors | Workman, Erin Leigh (authoraut), Yancey, Kathleen Blake, 1950- (professor directing dissertation), Proffitt, Jennifer M. (university representative), Neal, Michael R. (committee member), Fleckenstein, Kristie S. (committee member), Florida State University (degree granting institution), College of Arts and Sciences (degree granting college), Department of English (degree granting departmentdgg) |
| Publisher | Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text, doctoral thesis |
| Format | 1 online resource (279 pages), computer, application/pdf |
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