Recommendations from Transfer studies
Jan Meyer and Ray Land advocate teaching focused on threshold concepts which they describe as “portals” that open “a new and previously inaccessible way of thinking” (1). Threshold concepts “represent a transformed way of understanding, interpreting, or viewing something without which the learner cannot progress” (Meyer and Land 1). This is because threshold concepts exist as the “core of disciplinary worldview” that provides students with access to a focused community of discourse (Moore). These concepts block students from participating in disciplinary discourse until they have grasped them (Moore). One of the major struggles in transferring knowledge across disciplinary boundaries (far transfer) is the lack of communication between composition and other disciplinary instructors. These studies show that improving interdisciplinary communication among faculty can help teachers assist students in making connections across contexts.
While the difficulty of far transfer is still an issue of debate and research, it is helpful to understand the differences between the types of transfer as it provides instructors with an understanding of what signs to look for and how to facilitate transfer in the classroom. Perkins and Salomon promote “hugging” and “bridging,” which are practices teachers can use in the classroom to help students make local or abstract connections (28). Jarratt et al advocate a shift in the classroom towards "individual student's sense-making" by focusing on writing narratives, map-making, reflective writing, and interviewing (67). Nelms and Dively have added reflection as a bridging technique which achieves “metacognitive awareness” and facilitates high-road transfer (216). Metacognitive awareness is widely accepted by scholars, such as Driscoll, Wardle, and Beaufort, as a strategy which encourages high-road transfer. However, Elizabeth Wardle advocates “meta-awareness” and “rhetorical awareness” while recommending that composition instruction be centered on “writing about writing” (“Mutt Genres” 767). Beaufort also clarifies that while metacognitive awareness is a helpful tool for transfer (which is supported by neuro-cognitive research), it is not enough by itself. She advocates explicit instruction and assignment prompts which can help students’ access knowledge domains (Beaufort 144). Beaufort’s five knowledge domains (discourse community knowledge, subject-matter knowledge, genre knowledge, rhetorical knowledge, and writing process knowledge) act as a storehouse of prior knowledge that when accessed, can improve transfer (142-158). Similarly, researchers, such as Brent, Perkins and Salomon, suggest cuing as a technique that helps students make connections between knowledge domains. Theories in teaching for transfer suggest that threshold concepts, hugging and bridging, student's sense making activities, reflection, metacognitive awareness, explicit instruction, and cuing are best practices for facilitating transfer in the composition classroom. All of these contributions from various scholars imply that the success of transfer increases as measures are taken in the classroom to facilitate it. Research shows that neuro-science research supports many of these suggestions and adds new recommendations for successful learning and transfer.
While the difficulty of far transfer is still an issue of debate and research, it is helpful to understand the differences between the types of transfer as it provides instructors with an understanding of what signs to look for and how to facilitate transfer in the classroom. Perkins and Salomon promote “hugging” and “bridging,” which are practices teachers can use in the classroom to help students make local or abstract connections (28). Jarratt et al advocate a shift in the classroom towards "individual student's sense-making" by focusing on writing narratives, map-making, reflective writing, and interviewing (67). Nelms and Dively have added reflection as a bridging technique which achieves “metacognitive awareness” and facilitates high-road transfer (216). Metacognitive awareness is widely accepted by scholars, such as Driscoll, Wardle, and Beaufort, as a strategy which encourages high-road transfer. However, Elizabeth Wardle advocates “meta-awareness” and “rhetorical awareness” while recommending that composition instruction be centered on “writing about writing” (“Mutt Genres” 767). Beaufort also clarifies that while metacognitive awareness is a helpful tool for transfer (which is supported by neuro-cognitive research), it is not enough by itself. She advocates explicit instruction and assignment prompts which can help students’ access knowledge domains (Beaufort 144). Beaufort’s five knowledge domains (discourse community knowledge, subject-matter knowledge, genre knowledge, rhetorical knowledge, and writing process knowledge) act as a storehouse of prior knowledge that when accessed, can improve transfer (142-158). Similarly, researchers, such as Brent, Perkins and Salomon, suggest cuing as a technique that helps students make connections between knowledge domains. Theories in teaching for transfer suggest that threshold concepts, hugging and bridging, student's sense making activities, reflection, metacognitive awareness, explicit instruction, and cuing are best practices for facilitating transfer in the composition classroom. All of these contributions from various scholars imply that the success of transfer increases as measures are taken in the classroom to facilitate it. Research shows that neuro-science research supports many of these suggestions and adds new recommendations for successful learning and transfer.