Book cover for Writing Beyond the University: Preparing Lifelong Learners for Lifewide Writing. Edited by Julia Bleakney, Jessie L. Moore, and Paula Rosinski.
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October 3, 2022

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ISBN: 978-1-951414-09-2

November 2022

From chapter 10, “‘What One Learns in College Only Makes Sense When Practicing It at Work’: How Early-Career Alumni Evaluate Writing Success”

Coder Notes: Use terms exactly as in the code book (capitalization and punctuation). Separate sub codes with commas (co-workers, team). When you have good quotes, add as a comment on the relevant cell. This should always be done with references to transfer.

The coders read all the interviews first to get the sense of the data and then code 1st and 2nd interview of each person successively as the interviews build on one another.

Code [Definition]

Category 1: Purpose for Writing [the “why” behind the writing]

  • organizational (assigned | self-motivated) [writing that serves an organizational need, either assigned by supervisor or self-sponsored]
  • personal [something the writer chose to do for their own need]
  • real (client) [something written on behalf of a paying client]
  • unreal (university | work) [applied, but not for a concrete audience, like a school assignment or busy work]
  • other [code as other if none of the above apply; copy in quote from text as comment in cell]

Category 2: Audience [intended user of writing]

  • self [written for the writer’s benefit]
  • other (internal | external) [written for the benefit of others inside or outside the organization; copy in quote from text as comment in cell]

Category 3: Collaboration with Others [who the writer collaborated with]

  • co-workers (individual | team | supervisor) [created in concert with others at an organization]
  • audience (others | clients | liaison) [created in concert with those outside the organization]
  • other [code as other if none of the above apply; copy in quote from text as comment in cell]

Category 4: Assessment [how writers evaluate writing]

  • analytics [passively or actively collected/measured audience data]
  • heuristics [rules of thumb for good writing]
  • supervisor feedback [value assigned by a supervisor in a workplace]
  • faculty feedback [value assigned by a professor or teacher]
  • peer feedback [value assigned by a co-worker OR university peers]
  • audience feedback [value assessed through audience reactions other than analytics (emails, comments, etc.)]
  • feedback unknown [mention of feedback without source attribution or in something not categorized; copy in quote from text as comment in cell]

Writing Assessment Valence

  • success [assessment led to a successful writing project]
  • fail [assessment led to a failed writing project]

Category 5: Writing Issues [writing topic or problem shared by participants]

  • voice [reference to tone, persona, or writing identity]
  • focus [ability to direct full attention to writing]
  • time [duration of process or completion of project]
  • conciseness [reference to length, detail, brevity]
  • clarity [understandability for audience]
  • language [switching between languages]
  • formality [etiquette or style]
  • lack of experience [reference to inexperience with convention or process]
  • translate thoughts [converting thought to writing]
  • other [code as other if none of the above apply; copy in quote from text as comment in cell]

Writing Issue Valence

  • struggle [experiencing difficulty with writing]
  • success [accomplishing aim and purpose]

Category 6: Disposition [attitudes/habits that determine intellectual traits)

  • self-regulation [being able to set goals, monitor, and adjust]
  • striving for accuracy [precision or avoidance of mistakes]
  • flexibility [capacity for change in writing context]
  • solution-oriented [seeking resolution to a problem, issue, or question]
  • creativity [use of imagination to solve a problem]
  • self-motivated [reason for acting related to self]
  • goal-oriented [focus on reaching a specific objective]
  • perseverance [persistence in doing something]
  • self-efficacy [beliefs about one’s capabilities]
  • loves challenge [valuing hardship and learning from it]
  • fear/anxiety [distress or unease]
  • openness [receptiveness to new or different ideas]
  • listening [attending closely or understanding]
  • other [code as other if none of the above apply; copy in quote from text as comment in cell]

Disposition Valence

  • generative [disposition seems to aid transfer]
  • disruptive [disposition seems to hinder transfer]

Category 7: Prior Knowledge (references to where prior knowledge was gained)

  • education (high school | college | self-motivated) [acquiring writing knowledge from any type of education, excluding workplace training]
  • background [any reference to acquiring writing knowledge to personal experience or family resources]
  • workplace training [attribution of acquiring writing knowledge to any type of intended workplace training, both self-sponsored or company sponsored]
  • professional experience (own | others) [reference to learning writing on the job, either from personal experience or learning from others]
  • other [code as other if none of the above apply; copy in quote from text as comment in cell

Category 8: Metaphors for Transfer

[Writers use different metaphors when they refer to transfer. We’d like to try and capture these metaphors. This category will expand with more codes during coding. The codes should be direct quotations.]

  • reskilling
  • put it to use
  • adapt
  • channelling
  • figure out
  • build up
  • practice
  • connect

Category 9: Supports [reference to tools or people who help with writing]

  • heuristics [rules of thumb]
  • procedures [actions taken to solve a writing problem]
  • models (online | offline) [exemplar sample used to support writing]
  • search [seeking information from internet search engines]
  • process tools [Spellcheck, Grammarly, Slick Write, ProWritingAid, etc.]
  • co-workers (individual | team | supervisor) [help from colleague in organization]
  • audience (help from target readers)
  • clients [helpful remarks by a person or organisation paying for a service]
  • mentors [workplace and external trusted advisers]
  • lack of [no available mechanism, people, or tools to help in writing]

other [code as other if none of the above apply; copy in quote from text as comment in cell]