Teaching Workplace Writing

Consulting, training co-workers, or training writers in other workplaces is a goal that I’ve had since seeing what all UALR had to offer in the Rhetoric and Writing Department. I wanted to take advantage of any course that would enhance my skills. Teaching Workplace Writing was a course I took to prepare me to teach professional communication in academic and workplace settings. The course is helpful for people who intend to teach business, scientific, or technical communication courses in high school, community college, university settings, or business settings. Among the assignments in this course were the following:

• Assignment Assignment: Develop a writing assignment (for a class meeting or as part of a training session) to be shared with the class. Include a memo with the actual handout for the assignment (what you would give to students or clients) describing where, how, and why you would make such an assignment. Target specific kinds of learning (synthesizing and presenting data, improving information skills, writing within a specific workplace genre, etc.)
• Style (and/or Editing) Exercise: Develop a handout for a lesson on some aspect of professional writing style. If you wish, you can incorporate editing as a way to differentiate what needs to be changed and what needs to be left alone. Classmates will work through the exercises in class. Plan for the exercise to take 20-30 minutes in a class setting. Read a textbook chapter(s) or an article(s) on style and/or editing or the teaching of style and/or editing as background for the exercise.
• Final: Submit a syllabus or courseplan for an academic or workplace training course. Cover it with a memo detailing the intended class, purpose, and whatever else to detail the rationale and philosophy for teaching the course the proposed way.

There were more assignments, but these are the three of which I provided samples. From left to right, I developed the first assignment alone. I worked with one other person on the second project. Because the project was my idea on which a classmate later wanted collaborate, I was the project manager. However, we developed the actual assignment and background information together. The last project was a collaborative project that involved three people, which was a courseplan for one of my groupmate's workplace. For this project, I was responsible for collaboratively brainstorming objectives for the course, collaboratively providing ideas for assignments, and developing the courseplan memo.

Samples

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