CF 26 - A Writing Program Based on Transfer (Dartmouth)

Oct 15, 2026

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A program profile examines how Dartmouth’s Institute for Writing and Rhetoric (IWR) can use “transfer” research to shape writing and speech instruction. It frames transfer as a complex, contested process occurring through relationships between learners and activity systems rather than moving knowledge intact. The document outlines IWR’s evolving vision, reviews foundations of the institute, and connects learning outcomes to literature review findings, first-year writing study, curricular pilots, and ongoing exchange efforts.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time53 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Introduction

Our histories, then and now

CF 26: “A Writing Program Based on Transfer (Dartmouth)” by Stephanie Boone, Sara Biggs Chaney, Josh C... Page 1 of 21 Composition Forum 26, Fall 2012 [http://compositionforum.com/issue/26/](http://compositionforum.com/issue/26/) Imagining a Writing and Rhetoric Program Based on Principles of Knowledge “Transfer”: Dartmouth’s Institute for Writing and Rhetoric [[http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=compforum](http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=compforum)] Stephanie Boone, Sara Biggs Chaney, Josh Compton, Christiane Donahue, and Karen Gocsik Abstract: While “transfer” has become, in recent years, a subject of great research interest to our field, we still have much to learn about how we can best use this research knowledge to inform local efforts in program development. In this profile, we describe the foundations ofthe Dartmouth Institute for Writing and Rhetoric and explain how transfer research might inform our future directions in writing and speech. We conclude by explaining what we have learned already from our literature review, our study of first-year student writing, our curricular pilots, and our efforts at ongoing exchange. Introduction Dartmouth’s Institute for Writing and Rhetoric (IWR) is a program in dynamic flux, with a long, strong history and an evolving vision for the future. We are collectively thinking about transforming our program design to intentionally foster writing knowledge transfer, operationalizing the available research about transfer while remaining open to the evolution of this research over time. This program profile is a collaborative attempt to identify the reasons for such a move and the shapes it might take, in hopes that other programs will find our process and thinking useful. The profile overviews our program, its current underpinnings, and the transfer research that might ground our program’s future shape. We offer a sketch of an ideal program that might foster opportunities for students to transfer writing and speech knowledge across their studies and beyond. Finally, we discuss what we have learned so far about our students and our program design, the curricular and faculty development initiatives with which we are experimenting, and what remains to be considered. We use the word “transfer” in this profile with full acknowledgement of its contested and complex nature as a term. Learning does not occur “in” an individual who moves it from context to context, but in the ongoing relationships between the individual and the activity systems she occupies and shapes. Writing knowledge and know-how do not simply move from one context to another; they adapt, transform, orient, are re-imagined and newly applied; they change the context in the process and are changed by the process.“Transfer,” developed also in other contributions to this special issue of Composition Forum, is the label we use to index this broader dynamic. We understand it as the very heart of learning—how it occurs and how it is sustained. For this reason, Dartmouth’s Institute for Writing and Rhetoric is beginning to re-imagine a writing program that puts facilitating the possibility of transfer at its core. Our histories, then and now Formally established in 2008, the IWR stands as the largest academic enterprise on Dartmouth’s campus, offering 125 courses in writing and speech per year. While the Institute offers a healthy slate [http://compositionforum.com/issue/26/dartmouth.php](http://compositionforum.com/issue/26/dartmouth.php) CF 26: “A Writing Program Based on Transfer (Dartmouth)” by Stephanie Boone, Sara Biggs Chaney, Josh C... Page 2 of 21 of speech courses and a growing list of upper-level writing courses (see Appendix 1 for course descriptions [dartmouth-course-descriptions.pdf]), the bulk of the Institute’s course offerings are firstyear writing courses, including Writing 5 and the writing-driven, discipline-inspired first-year seminar, which together com

FAQs

How does the document define “transfer”?

It treats transfer as a complex dynamic process shaped by relationships between individuals and activity systems, rather than moving knowledge unchanged across contexts.

What is the purpose of the Dartmouth IWR program profile?

It explains the institute’s foundations and discusses how transfer research can inform future directions in writing and speech, including lessons learned from studies and pilots.

What kinds of courses does IWR primarily offer?

The institute offers 125 courses per year, with a major focus on first-year writing courses forming a required two-term writing sequence, plus core and optional upper-level writing and speech offerings.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by jayni