Join us online as Melissa Bugdal shares about her current research project, “Writing Knowledge Transfer from Basic Writing to Workplace Writing.”

Abstract: Research has been done on writing knowledge transfer in several contexts, including first-year composition to later writing experiences, high school to college transitions, and writing across the curriculum contexts. Likewise, workplace writing is well studied in several contexts and settings. However, the transitions and transfer of writing knowledge for a group that initially placed into a basic writing college course and are now approaching new workplace writing contexts has yet to be thoroughly investigated. My dissertation followed a cohort of 6 students across the first two years of their college writing experience at a large, research-intensive, land grant institution in the northeast region of the USA. This research led to a broader longitudinal study of these writers throughout their full time as college students (including taking courses at branch campuses and community colleges). 4 of the 6 participants have expressed interest in continuing with the study into a workplace writing context, as they make the transition from students to employees, which will constitute the next stage of this longitudinal research project.