Transfer Theory and Genre-Specific Tutor Training Interventions

Several studies on the implications of transfer theory for writing center practice have appeared in recent scholarship. And though the various approaches to training tutors for work in particular genres often draw tacitly on transfer theory, there are no studies examining the efficacy of tutor training interventions focused on transfer theory for particular genres, nor on the efficacy of these genre-specific training interventions in facilitating transfer for tutors working in other genres. In brief, this presentation shares the results of an in-progress quasi-experimental research design on transfer theory and genre. The researchers introduced two optional training interventions for writing center tutors and assessed the entire tutor population after each intervention to determine the efficacy of the interventions. The first intervention and assessment addressed applying transfer theory to writing center sessions in general and the second specifically to the legal brief genre. In short, the presenters will 1) examine quantitative data recording tutors’ self-perceptions of their frequency of use of transfer-based techniques in sessions and 2) examine tutor language describing how they use these techniques. Aside from findings specific to genre, the presenters found that direct training on transfer particularly influenced how often tutors claimed to encourage writers to connect previous experiences with writing to their current task. The intervention also seemed to influence how those tutors described doing so. By studying new training interventions of writing center tutor--specifically associated with transfer theory--writing centers may better adapt to the ever-changing needs of their institutions and writers who use that center