WRT 307: Best Practices

Establishing workplace ethos early in a WRT 307 class is important and begins with a well-designed syllabus, free of error. Clean assignment sheets and other documents are equally important. All course documents should function as examples of course and disciplinary principles: chunking, multi-level writing, parallel construction, etc.

WRT 307 is a course in user-centered workplace writing; written products that demonstrate that focus are appropriate.

As with all Writing Program courses, care should be taken to balance the components of the class according to program guidelines. (Guidelines for Grading in Studio Writing Courses). Care should be taken not to reward participation twice by assessing it as part of graded units as well as a separate participation grade.

Grading in WRT 307 should be based on the quality of written professional genres as measured by the response those products would likely receive in the workplace. Presenting students with a grading scale that contextualizes letter grades in terms of workplace outcomes (e.g., approval, advancement, termination) is a good way of establishing this standard. See the Shared Syllabus for an example.

Allowing revision after grading frequently leads to grade inflation, and in WRT 307 this practice is contrary to the course's goal to emulate workplace practices. Of course, providing students with opportunities for peer review and to request instructor comments prior to the deadline is appropriate.

Resumes are a pre-professional genre and therefore are not appropriate as part of a substantial assignment in a course focused on professional writing. Additionally, students in constituent departments have already received instruction and credit for this work. Some instructors have been successful with incorporating application letters and review of extant resumes in introductory, low-stakes activities at the beginning of a semester, but treating them as primary or secondary components of later units is not appropriate. See the Shared Syllabus for a statement about resumes.

Assignments that result in academic research and analysis of the professional workplace as a site of inquiry are inappropriate. Developing a structured audience analysis specific to a professional document or project is a more appropriate way of examining workplace audiences.

Real-world media artifacts have appropriate but limited applications for teaching professional writing. News stories, television programs, movie clips, and other items can help personalize, enliven, and update course content but should always demonstrate rhetorical aspects of workplace communication. 

Conventions, skills, and values students bring to WRT 307 from their home disciplines should be honored. This practice reflects interdisciplinary respect and helps to establish the WRT 307 teacher's credibility. Teachers who question the core values of other disciplines frequently encounter understandable resistance and an equivalent questioning of their own qualifications. Critical thinking (particularly concerning ethics) should remain a part of all assignments, but this skill can be taught and practiced without disparaging the student's career path.

Many of the values and practices of the composition classroom (e.g., drafting, workshopping, revision, etc.) have equivalencies in the WRT 307 classroom but may look very different. Specifically, the 307 classroom is more likely to be driven by student initiative, collaborative project planning, and firm deadlines rather than by teacher-directed project management.

Technology should be integrated as a natural element of writing assignments, since much writing these days happens in digital environments. This might mean conducting peer review via online collaborative sites, incorporating wikis in the instructions assignment or in the production of a different type of manual, or using web or blog pages and photo-hosting sites to create simple websites.