with writing as a practice and instead described writing as being able to put together a grammatical sentence. Upperclassman said that writing was not taught in their business classes. The expectation was that that they already knew how to write and if not they could pick it up. Some of the upperclassman noted that they wished their business college professors took class time to review genres they were expected to already know such as article summaries, research papers, reports, memos, etc…Overall, upperclassman noted that the higher level classes, especially 300 level courses, had more writing assigned than the lower level courses. The higher level courses asked students to do case studies and conduct analyses of corporations. Upperclassman said the most common business genres they had to know in the business college were emails, memos and PowerPoint presentations. Some interviewees did state that they did not need to do much writing in their business courses. reviewing the research findings, I noticed that the Marketing major was expected to do the most writing and Accountancy the least. Marketing professors stressed that critical thinking and good writing skills were necessary to persuade an audience to purchase a product, develop marketing plans and run advertising campaigns. The marketing professors’ interviewed were the most willing to engage in conversations about writing as a type of research and practice. Some marketing professors said they did teach students how to write case studies and article summaries. The Business Administration major was another one in which faculty stressed the importance of writing. This was mostly the case in area of human resources, since students in that specific field need to communicate effectively and carefully with employees. Business professionals, COB professors and upperclassman in Accounting (and to some extend Finance) were in agreement that writing in accountancy is limited. Instead students and employees in accountancy worked on learning accounting systems like FARS, how to balance client accounts, and how to do audit reports. Overall Suggestions Overall, the 145.13 WAC Research Pilot Project was a (qualified) success. Most students found the project useful, especially the interviews. The only complaint from the students was that it was hard to find time outside of class to work with their teams.
with writing as a practice and instead described writing as being able to put together a grammatical sentence. Upperclassman said that writing was not taught in their business classes. The expectation was that that they already knew how to write and if not they could pick it up. Some of the upperclassman noted that they wished their business college professors took class time to review genres they were expected to already know such as article summaries, research papers, reports, memos, etc…Overall, upperclassman noted that the higher level classes, especially 300 level courses, had more writing assigned than the lower level courses. The higher level courses asked students to do case studies and conduct analyses of corporations. Upperclassman said the most common business genres they had to know in the business college were emails, memos and PowerPoint presentations. Some interviewees did state that they did not need to do much writing in their business courses. reviewing the research findings, I noticed that the Marketing major was expected to do the most writing and Accountancy the least. Marketing professors stressed that critical thinking and good writing skills were necessary to persuade an audience to purchase a product, develop marketing plans and run advertising campaigns. The marketing professors’ interviewed were the most willing to engage in conversations about writing as a type of research and practice. Some marketing professors said they did teach students how to write case studies and article summaries. The Business Administration major was another one in which faculty stressed the importance of writing. This was mostly the case in area of human resources, since students in that specific field need to communicate effectively and carefully with employees. Business professionals, COB professors and upperclassman in Accounting (and to some extend Finance) were in agreement that writing in accountancy is limited. Instead students and employees in accountancy worked on learning accounting systems like FARS, how to balance client accounts, and how to do audit reports. Overall Suggestions Overall, the 145.13 WAC Research Pilot Project was a (qualified) success. Most students found the project useful, especially the interviews. The only complaint from the students was that it was hard to find time outside of class to work with their teams.
eng145-13_writing_research_project_final_report_final.docx