Jess House:
Transdisciplinarity, Transfer and the Teaching of Writing
Brief Overview
Transdisciplinarity is a relatively big picture issue and as such can seem esoteric or mostly theoretical. It is also a newer concept and can be easily confused with other kinds of discipline combining such us multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and cross-discipline research. Transdisciplinary Where it differs from these is that transdisciplinarity begins at the earliest stages of projects or problem solving and requires participants to not just apply the principles of their disciples, but bend, modify, and expand the boundaries of their disciplines to create new structural frameworks for problem solving. This requires participants who are aware of their own knowledge-making processes and have the ability to work and write collaboratively. Many of the articles that I looked at address the definition of transdisciplinarity and how the move towards it interacts (or not) with current teaching of writing movements such as WAC and WID. Authors such as Rademaekers and Hendricks find that WAC/WID’s current focus on disciplinary knowledge and writing within these disciplines do not adequately address the move towards transdisciplinarity. Blake and Pinkert suggest a reworking of writing programs with a focus on transdisciplinary to meet the needs of rhetoric and composition students and TCP students. Rademaekers suggest redesigning writing classes to be project based, include students of all disciplines, and encourage collaborative writing with a focus on new knowledge-making. I agree with Rademakers suggestions as well as Blake and Pinkert’s writing program redesign suggestions, however, I do think it is important for current teachers who may not be able to help redesign whole programs to still be aware of the rising popularity of transdisciplinarity and begin thinking through preparing their students to participate as transdiscipline collaborators in their future careers. Some ways to accomplish this would be to focus on problem-based assignments, collaborative writing opportunities, and increasing tasks designed for metacognition and transfer. Blake and Pinkert as well as Hendricks specifically focus on transfer as a way forward in addressing the move toward transdisciplinarity. Because of this, I have included teaching for transfer as part of the main focus of this project. In addition to the transfer pieces from the aforementioned articles, I particularly focus on Tinberg’s article for teaching for transfer and have also used his collaborative piece with Andrus, et al. on practical teaching suggestions for transfer to inform my focus on reflection as an integral part of transfer and in my teaching application piece.
Annotated Bibliography
Hendricks, C.C. "WAC/WID and Transfer: Towards a Transdisciplinary View of Academic Writing." Across the Disciplines, vol. 15, no. 3, 2018, pp. 48-62. https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/atd/trans/hendricks2018.pdf.
Hendricks uses the concept of transdisciplinarity to call for “more explicit intersections” between the concept of transfer and the Writing Across the Disciples and Writing in the Disciplines (WAC/WID) movements. The two disciplines view and study writing through different lenses with transfer studies often looking at writing as a disciplinary goal as opposed to the more transdisciplinary focus of WAC/WID. While acknowledging that measuring transfer is difficult and can often be restrictive to the teaching of writing, Hendricks, wants to look at transfer as “generative as opposed to negative.” Hendricks spends time evaluating several studies of transfer of writing skills to see where these connections between disciplines can be made to help dismantle the “silos” of specialization they see within WAC/WID. Many of these studies encourage a move towards a more student-centered model of transfer, wherein the key success is often that students are aware of the transfer of skills. Often this involves multi-modal forms of writing as well as a training of students to be aware of the need to acquire skills and acquire and use these skills across multiple modes of communication. Hendricks encourages WAC/WID scholars to interact more with transfer studies scholarship, and in fact take on the difficult task of adopting some of the methodologies of transfer studies in order to apply transdisciplinary approaches to academic writing. This can enrich both student experience in writing, in addition to making the concept of writing transfer itself more than just the responsibility of composition studies and help center student’s participation in their own learning. This article is important for my project because it attempts to synthesize the fields of transfer, transdisciplinarity, and writing studies while including important methodologies and a direct call for action.
Rademaekers, Justin K. “Is WAC/WID ready for the transdisciplinary research university?” Across the Disciplines, vol. 12, no. 3.
Rademaekers argues that current WAC/WID is insufficient to prepare students for a future of increasing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinarity because of its emphasis on disciplinarity. Rademaeker acknowledges that transdisciplinarity is a radical departure from traditional academic disciplines because collaboration begins at the highest/earliest levels and requires collaborators to push beyond the traditional bounds and methodologies of their own disciplines. Rademaeker finds that the “common communicative barriers” experienced by these collaborators should be of interest for discourse and writing pedagogy. He calls for those concerned with rhetoric and writing to investigate ways in which collaborators of diverse backgrounds can communicate effectively. Transdisciplinarity involves the earliest collaboration in a project process, collaborators are often having to examine and examine their conceptual and theoretical orientations as well as differences in philosophical and epistemological frameworks, linguistics, and social contexts, . Fostering communication in transdisciplinary collaboration involves preparing students to be able to negotiate the differences between philosophies, means of communication, and genres. Rademaekers calls for a move away from centering classrooms around disciplines (i.e. Writing for the Sciences) but in structuring classes around “applied problems” with students from diverse disciplines. This positions writing as a means of collaboration and communication and also as a means of negotiating differences and inventing solutions. This article is interesting for my research on this topic because it establishes important definitions of transdisciplinarity and the communicative barriers inherent in this type of collaborations while also including both large scale calls for change in how classes are structured as well as looking at ways in which rhetoric and writing can be used within those classrooms.
Scott, J. Blake and Laurie A. Pinkert. “Integrative Techne, Transdisciplinary Learning, and Writing Program Design.” College English, Vol. 82, Iss. 5, May 2020, 492-506.
The May 2020 special edition of College English focused entirely on the concept of transdisciplinarity between composition studies and technical writing. While many might not consider these truly different disciplines, Black and Pinkert note that they are treated as such within writing programs. The authors call for a reworking of writing programs around what they have coined “integrative techne” that focuses on student’s knowledge-making, integrative experiences, and reflection throughout the program. They combine rhetorical and learning philosophies into a framework students can use to “deploy their expertise” and envision this framework as a “capacity for intentionally enacting, connecting with, and articulating learning as a principle driven, adaptable, and cross-contextual knowledge-making experience” (493). Black and Pinkert spend a good deal of time justifying their new framework through first the philosophy of rhetoric from with they borrow the concept of techne and they define less as a true art or discipline and more as intelligence or ingenuity which is reliant on “enactment and adaptation” and then through the educational/learning concept of integrative learning which they define as understandings students create through making and then transferring to newer and more complex situations on their own. Therefore, their concept of integrative techne combines students development of their own “sensibilities” over time as they explore how they learn and also helps refocus learning into terms of “productive-knowledge making” (498). Blake and Pinkert then apply their concept of integrative techne to their writing program as a whole by centering a student’s experience with their own learning. They set out an “infrastructure for integrative techne” which includes iterative processes of students “planning, connecting, reflecting, and projecting” their own learning. This helps to put students in the driver’s seat of their own experience in the program. This concept, of having students consistently interact with their own learning process through periods of reflection and planning is interesting to me not just as it applies to whole programs, but in how it can be applied on a class-by-class basis and some of Blake and Pinkert’s larger ideas have been added in smaller form to my reflective journal assignment.
Tinberg, Howard. “Teaching for Transfer: a Passport for Writing in New Contexts.” Peer Review: Emerging Trends and Key Debates in Undergraduate Education, vol. 19, no. 1, 2017, p. 17.
In this relatively short but eminently practical piece, Tinberg focuses on why metacognition is the top priority of English 101 (freshman composition) teachers who want to teach for transfer. First, he lays out the importance of English 101 as a class that prepares students for basic learning not only throughout college, but in life. His focus is specifically for teachers at the community college level, but his focus and practical reflections exercises are helpful for early college level instructors at any type of institution. Tinberg refers to metacognition as a “habit of mind” that leads to “thoughtful creative problem-solvers” (17). Tinberg structures his 101 class around students developing their own theories of writing. He includes readings across genres and modalities, student definitions of key terms in writing, and robust reflective writing exercise. These include weekly reflective blogs where students write on a weekly topic, as well as reflections on major assignments. Tinberg also encourages more open-ended research and requires students to use a variety of primary and secondary sources including interviews and personal observations.
Additional Resources:
Andrus, Sonja, et al. “Teaching for Writing Transfer: A Practical Guide for Teachers.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 47, no. 1, 2019, pp. 76–89.
Brief Overview
Transdisciplinarity is a relatively big picture issue and as such can seem esoteric or mostly theoretical. It is also a newer concept and can be easily confused with other kinds of discipline combining such us multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and cross-discipline research. Transdisciplinary Where it differs from these is that transdisciplinarity begins at the earliest stages of projects or problem solving and requires participants to not just apply the principles of their disciples, but bend, modify, and expand the boundaries of their disciplines to create new structural frameworks for problem solving. This requires participants who are aware of their own knowledge-making processes and have the ability to work and write collaboratively. Many of the articles that I looked at address the definition of transdisciplinarity and how the move towards it interacts (or not) with current teaching of writing movements such as WAC and WID. Authors such as Rademaekers and Hendricks find that WAC/WID’s current focus on disciplinary knowledge and writing within these disciplines do not adequately address the move towards transdisciplinarity. Blake and Pinkert suggest a reworking of writing programs with a focus on transdisciplinary to meet the needs of rhetoric and composition students and TCP students. Rademaekers suggest redesigning writing classes to be project based, include students of all disciplines, and encourage collaborative writing with a focus on new knowledge-making. I agree with Rademakers suggestions as well as Blake and Pinkert’s writing program redesign suggestions, however, I do think it is important for current teachers who may not be able to help redesign whole programs to still be aware of the rising popularity of transdisciplinarity and begin thinking through preparing their students to participate as transdiscipline collaborators in their future careers. Some ways to accomplish this would be to focus on problem-based assignments, collaborative writing opportunities, and increasing tasks designed for metacognition and transfer. Blake and Pinkert as well as Hendricks specifically focus on transfer as a way forward in addressing the move toward transdisciplinarity. Because of this, I have included teaching for transfer as part of the main focus of this project. In addition to the transfer pieces from the aforementioned articles, I particularly focus on Tinberg’s article for teaching for transfer and have also used his collaborative piece with Andrus, et al. on practical teaching suggestions for transfer to inform my focus on reflection as an integral part of transfer and in my teaching application piece.
Annotated Bibliography
Hendricks, C.C. "WAC/WID and Transfer: Towards a Transdisciplinary View of Academic Writing." Across the Disciplines, vol. 15, no. 3, 2018, pp. 48-62. https://wac.colostate.edu/docs/atd/trans/hendricks2018.pdf.
Hendricks uses the concept of transdisciplinarity to call for “more explicit intersections” between the concept of transfer and the Writing Across the Disciples and Writing in the Disciplines (WAC/WID) movements. The two disciplines view and study writing through different lenses with transfer studies often looking at writing as a disciplinary goal as opposed to the more transdisciplinary focus of WAC/WID. While acknowledging that measuring transfer is difficult and can often be restrictive to the teaching of writing, Hendricks, wants to look at transfer as “generative as opposed to negative.” Hendricks spends time evaluating several studies of transfer of writing skills to see where these connections between disciplines can be made to help dismantle the “silos” of specialization they see within WAC/WID. Many of these studies encourage a move towards a more student-centered model of transfer, wherein the key success is often that students are aware of the transfer of skills. Often this involves multi-modal forms of writing as well as a training of students to be aware of the need to acquire skills and acquire and use these skills across multiple modes of communication. Hendricks encourages WAC/WID scholars to interact more with transfer studies scholarship, and in fact take on the difficult task of adopting some of the methodologies of transfer studies in order to apply transdisciplinary approaches to academic writing. This can enrich both student experience in writing, in addition to making the concept of writing transfer itself more than just the responsibility of composition studies and help center student’s participation in their own learning. This article is important for my project because it attempts to synthesize the fields of transfer, transdisciplinarity, and writing studies while including important methodologies and a direct call for action.
Rademaekers, Justin K. “Is WAC/WID ready for the transdisciplinary research university?” Across the Disciplines, vol. 12, no. 3.
Rademaekers argues that current WAC/WID is insufficient to prepare students for a future of increasing interdisciplinary and transdisciplinarity because of its emphasis on disciplinarity. Rademaeker acknowledges that transdisciplinarity is a radical departure from traditional academic disciplines because collaboration begins at the highest/earliest levels and requires collaborators to push beyond the traditional bounds and methodologies of their own disciplines. Rademaeker finds that the “common communicative barriers” experienced by these collaborators should be of interest for discourse and writing pedagogy. He calls for those concerned with rhetoric and writing to investigate ways in which collaborators of diverse backgrounds can communicate effectively. Transdisciplinarity involves the earliest collaboration in a project process, collaborators are often having to examine and examine their conceptual and theoretical orientations as well as differences in philosophical and epistemological frameworks, linguistics, and social contexts, . Fostering communication in transdisciplinary collaboration involves preparing students to be able to negotiate the differences between philosophies, means of communication, and genres. Rademaekers calls for a move away from centering classrooms around disciplines (i.e. Writing for the Sciences) but in structuring classes around “applied problems” with students from diverse disciplines. This positions writing as a means of collaboration and communication and also as a means of negotiating differences and inventing solutions. This article is interesting for my research on this topic because it establishes important definitions of transdisciplinarity and the communicative barriers inherent in this type of collaborations while also including both large scale calls for change in how classes are structured as well as looking at ways in which rhetoric and writing can be used within those classrooms.
Scott, J. Blake and Laurie A. Pinkert. “Integrative Techne, Transdisciplinary Learning, and Writing Program Design.” College English, Vol. 82, Iss. 5, May 2020, 492-506.
The May 2020 special edition of College English focused entirely on the concept of transdisciplinarity between composition studies and technical writing. While many might not consider these truly different disciplines, Black and Pinkert note that they are treated as such within writing programs. The authors call for a reworking of writing programs around what they have coined “integrative techne” that focuses on student’s knowledge-making, integrative experiences, and reflection throughout the program. They combine rhetorical and learning philosophies into a framework students can use to “deploy their expertise” and envision this framework as a “capacity for intentionally enacting, connecting with, and articulating learning as a principle driven, adaptable, and cross-contextual knowledge-making experience” (493). Black and Pinkert spend a good deal of time justifying their new framework through first the philosophy of rhetoric from with they borrow the concept of techne and they define less as a true art or discipline and more as intelligence or ingenuity which is reliant on “enactment and adaptation” and then through the educational/learning concept of integrative learning which they define as understandings students create through making and then transferring to newer and more complex situations on their own. Therefore, their concept of integrative techne combines students development of their own “sensibilities” over time as they explore how they learn and also helps refocus learning into terms of “productive-knowledge making” (498). Blake and Pinkert then apply their concept of integrative techne to their writing program as a whole by centering a student’s experience with their own learning. They set out an “infrastructure for integrative techne” which includes iterative processes of students “planning, connecting, reflecting, and projecting” their own learning. This helps to put students in the driver’s seat of their own experience in the program. This concept, of having students consistently interact with their own learning process through periods of reflection and planning is interesting to me not just as it applies to whole programs, but in how it can be applied on a class-by-class basis and some of Blake and Pinkert’s larger ideas have been added in smaller form to my reflective journal assignment.
Tinberg, Howard. “Teaching for Transfer: a Passport for Writing in New Contexts.” Peer Review: Emerging Trends and Key Debates in Undergraduate Education, vol. 19, no. 1, 2017, p. 17.
In this relatively short but eminently practical piece, Tinberg focuses on why metacognition is the top priority of English 101 (freshman composition) teachers who want to teach for transfer. First, he lays out the importance of English 101 as a class that prepares students for basic learning not only throughout college, but in life. His focus is specifically for teachers at the community college level, but his focus and practical reflections exercises are helpful for early college level instructors at any type of institution. Tinberg refers to metacognition as a “habit of mind” that leads to “thoughtful creative problem-solvers” (17). Tinberg structures his 101 class around students developing their own theories of writing. He includes readings across genres and modalities, student definitions of key terms in writing, and robust reflective writing exercise. These include weekly reflective blogs where students write on a weekly topic, as well as reflections on major assignments. Tinberg also encourages more open-ended research and requires students to use a variety of primary and secondary sources including interviews and personal observations.
Additional Resources:
Andrus, Sonja, et al. “Teaching for Writing Transfer: A Practical Guide for Teachers.” Teaching English in the Two-Year College, vol. 47, no. 1, 2019, pp. 76–89.
Semester Long Reflective Journal Assignment
Assignment Overview
This assignment is adapted from two of my own previous assignments and similar concepts are suggested by several sources from my readings including Tinberg, Blake and Pinkert, and Andrus, et al.
Learning Objectives
This is a semester-long assignment and has several learning objectives. Primarily, the objective is for students to learn to use reflective writing as a way to plan their own learning and writing objectives, describe and analyze their writing and writing process throughout various assignments, and then apply that analysis to future plans for writing and learning. This will aid in metacognition and transfer as students become aware of their own knowledge-making and writing processes and adapt and apply these processes to other classes and tasks. The start of semester and end of semester larger reflections are designed to help students reflect specifically on their time in this course and to aid them in setting out and meeting personal learning goals.
Assignment Length
This assignment spans the entire semester and includes two longer pieces: The Short Literacy Narrative and the Reflective Essay. This assignment also includes 10-15 minutes of reflective writing once a week in class and shorter or equal length reflections around the other assignments as needed/decided by the teacher. For example, I do a timed in class reflection during the planning process for major assignments, after first drafts, after peer reviews, and after turning in the final assignment. All of these would be included in the final reflection journal. These can take the place of, or be in addition to, weekly in class reflections depending on time constraints and necessity.
Required Materials
Students will need:
(A note on in class writing methods: students can either chose to bring a notebook consistently throughout the semester and do all of their reflections in that notebook, or they can use devices to type up their reflections and compile them into a Word document at the end of the semester. This would be up to instructor preference. I tend to leave reflective writing means up to student preference as different students process writing differently and some feel frustrated by the slowness of writing by hand or are worried about their penmanship, while others prefer it. I have also had some students write by hand sometimes and a device other times. They then take a photo of their handwritten piece and include that in the final Word document.)
Assignment Description (Assignment Sheet as given to students/posted in Canvas)
Reflective Journal Assignment
The Reflective Journal is a semester long assignment. This might look like a lot, but don’t panic! We are working on each of these as separate pieces and then compiling them together. The goal of the Reflective Journal is to document your time in this course and your growth as a researcher, writer, editor, and presenter. The Reflective Journal will include several assigned pieces as well as in class writings. You will turn these assignments in for a completion grade throughout the semester and then include them along with a short reflective essay at the end of the semester.
Format: Your Reflective Journal should include all of the following in ONE document (if you do the in class writings in a singular notebook during the semester, please turn in that notebook separately):
Short Literacy Narrative: This 2-3 page (double spaced, 12 point font, MLA format) reflects on how you have developed your literacy. It should focus on a specific point in your development and/or obstacle that you had to overcome. It should be written in first person and include scenes that demonstrate this point/obstacle. Please use sensory details. Please see the handout on the requirements of an effective narrative. Original due date: near the start of the semester.
In Class Writings: Your Reflection Journal should include all of your assigned in class writings. If you do your in class writings by hand and submit them to me via picture, please include the pictures in your document. If you do them in a singular notebook, please turn that in separately. Original due dates: As assigned in class.
Reflective Essay: This 1-2 page (double spaced, 12 point font, MLA format) essay will reflect on your time in this course. How have you grown as a researcher, writer, editor, presenter, and learner during this course? Remember that reflective writing should describe, interpret, evaluate, and plan. How will what you have learned in this course transfer to your later classes and/or life? Think of your Short Literacy Narrative and this Reflective Essay as the bookends of your journal and show your growth. Remember to be succinct; this is a brief essay! Due date: This essay is included in your journal at the end of the semester and does not have a separate submission date.
Audience(s): Your primary audience for the in class writings is you! You are not graded on what you write or how you write it. The purpose of these in class pieces is to help you think about you as a writer, your process, and your future projects. For your Short Literacy Narrative and Reflective Essay, the audience is your instructor. Please write in first person but avoid overly casual language.
Due Date: The final week of class.
Sample In-Class Writing Prompts:
Post peer review:
Post final draft:
Assignment Overview
This assignment is adapted from two of my own previous assignments and similar concepts are suggested by several sources from my readings including Tinberg, Blake and Pinkert, and Andrus, et al.
Learning Objectives
This is a semester-long assignment and has several learning objectives. Primarily, the objective is for students to learn to use reflective writing as a way to plan their own learning and writing objectives, describe and analyze their writing and writing process throughout various assignments, and then apply that analysis to future plans for writing and learning. This will aid in metacognition and transfer as students become aware of their own knowledge-making and writing processes and adapt and apply these processes to other classes and tasks. The start of semester and end of semester larger reflections are designed to help students reflect specifically on their time in this course and to aid them in setting out and meeting personal learning goals.
Assignment Length
This assignment spans the entire semester and includes two longer pieces: The Short Literacy Narrative and the Reflective Essay. This assignment also includes 10-15 minutes of reflective writing once a week in class and shorter or equal length reflections around the other assignments as needed/decided by the teacher. For example, I do a timed in class reflection during the planning process for major assignments, after first drafts, after peer reviews, and after turning in the final assignment. All of these would be included in the final reflection journal. These can take the place of, or be in addition to, weekly in class reflections depending on time constraints and necessity.
Required Materials
Students will need:
- Access to a computer for the Short Literacy Narrative and Reflective Essay
- A consistent way to write during class.
(A note on in class writing methods: students can either chose to bring a notebook consistently throughout the semester and do all of their reflections in that notebook, or they can use devices to type up their reflections and compile them into a Word document at the end of the semester. This would be up to instructor preference. I tend to leave reflective writing means up to student preference as different students process writing differently and some feel frustrated by the slowness of writing by hand or are worried about their penmanship, while others prefer it. I have also had some students write by hand sometimes and a device other times. They then take a photo of their handwritten piece and include that in the final Word document.)
Assignment Description (Assignment Sheet as given to students/posted in Canvas)
Reflective Journal Assignment
The Reflective Journal is a semester long assignment. This might look like a lot, but don’t panic! We are working on each of these as separate pieces and then compiling them together. The goal of the Reflective Journal is to document your time in this course and your growth as a researcher, writer, editor, and presenter. The Reflective Journal will include several assigned pieces as well as in class writings. You will turn these assignments in for a completion grade throughout the semester and then include them along with a short reflective essay at the end of the semester.
Format: Your Reflective Journal should include all of the following in ONE document (if you do the in class writings in a singular notebook during the semester, please turn in that notebook separately):
Short Literacy Narrative: This 2-3 page (double spaced, 12 point font, MLA format) reflects on how you have developed your literacy. It should focus on a specific point in your development and/or obstacle that you had to overcome. It should be written in first person and include scenes that demonstrate this point/obstacle. Please use sensory details. Please see the handout on the requirements of an effective narrative. Original due date: near the start of the semester.
In Class Writings: Your Reflection Journal should include all of your assigned in class writings. If you do your in class writings by hand and submit them to me via picture, please include the pictures in your document. If you do them in a singular notebook, please turn that in separately. Original due dates: As assigned in class.
Reflective Essay: This 1-2 page (double spaced, 12 point font, MLA format) essay will reflect on your time in this course. How have you grown as a researcher, writer, editor, presenter, and learner during this course? Remember that reflective writing should describe, interpret, evaluate, and plan. How will what you have learned in this course transfer to your later classes and/or life? Think of your Short Literacy Narrative and this Reflective Essay as the bookends of your journal and show your growth. Remember to be succinct; this is a brief essay! Due date: This essay is included in your journal at the end of the semester and does not have a separate submission date.
Audience(s): Your primary audience for the in class writings is you! You are not graded on what you write or how you write it. The purpose of these in class pieces is to help you think about you as a writer, your process, and your future projects. For your Short Literacy Narrative and Reflective Essay, the audience is your instructor. Please write in first person but avoid overly casual language.
Due Date: The final week of class.
Sample In-Class Writing Prompts:
Post peer review:
- How do you feel about your draft right now? Describe your process to get to this draft (is this a first draft? Have you read through it out loud? How much time did you spend with your original text?)
- Do you feel like you received good feedback from your peers? What is one piece of feedback you received that you are going to implement?
- What is one thing you love about your original text or argument?
- What is a question you’d like to ask your readers?
- What is your plan going forward into a final draft? Be specific – make a timeline or mind map or whatever type of plan works best for you.
Post final draft:
- Are you happy with the original text that you chose? Do you feel it gave you enough to work with? Too much to work with? Are you satisfied with the number of times you interacted with your original text?
- What was your process after receiving feedback on your rough draft? Did you implement any feedback from your peers? What was it?
- Did anything in your writing process not work for you? What was missing that might have helped?
- Finish the sentence: “If I had this paper to write over again I’d…”
- What is one thing you learned about yourself during this paper writing process?
- What is one thing you can take out with you from this paper to your next project?