This qualitative research study examined whether or not reflection facilitates transfer. While scholars have addressed the role that transfer may play in the composition classroom (e.g. Beaufort 2007), none has addressed the role of reflection as a deliberate, systematic practice to assist students in transferring knowledge and practice to other contexts. Using Schon's and Yancey's contention that reflection allows people to 'theorize [their] own practices' so that they can improve their work, this research uses case study methodology to analyze the experience of six participants'3 male and 3 females'that were in enrolled in a first-year composition course designed specifically to teach for transfer. The course, called teaching for transfer, incorporates three reflective components'reflective theory, reflective assignments, and reflective activities'in systematic, intentional, and explicit ways. By using a triangulation of the instructor's teaching journal, a set of four interviews and an exit survey, and the students' reflection-in-presentation, this study charted five themes that emerged from the data, including the role of prior knowledge and current attitude, a response to external benchmarks, the influence of key terms, and the influence of a student's theory of writing, and the difficulty of transfer. The findings from these themes indicate that students use reflection as a means to look backwards so they can progress forward in their writing; that reflection becomes a key term students use in their writing practices; and that systematic reflection becomes a reiterative practice encouraging the students to identify themselves as reflective writing practitioners as a way to promote transfer. Further analysis provides the ways reflection does foster the transfer of knowledge and practices from the first- year composition class to other academic writing sites, and drawing from the teaching from transfer course, recommendations for including reflection in first-year composition course design are also included. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of English in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2011. / June 8, 2011. / Includes bibliographical references. / Kathleen Blake Yancey, Professor Directing Dissertation; Shelbie Witte, University Representative; Kristie Fleckenstein, Committee Member; Leigh Edwards, Committee Member.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183637 |
| Contributors | Taczak, Kara (authoraut), Yancey, Kathleen Blake (professor directing dissertation), Witte, Shelbie (university representative), Fleckenstein, Kristie (committee member), Edwards, Leigh (committee member), Department of English (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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