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Preparing Students for Professional Writing Following Graduation
James Coyle
University of Windsor
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At the end of this workshop, participants will be able to
• Describe examples of professional writing preparation
• Identify potential teaching resources
• Develop strategies for identifying, teaching, and assessing writing skills needed in their profession or discipline
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This workshop
• Focuses on specific types and styles of writing used in workplaces
• Does not emphasize– Good grammar, composition, diction, and
presentation – Although they are essential skills in all writing
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3 Steps for Preparing Students for Professional/Career Writing
• Step 1: Defining Professional or Career Writing
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Academic versus Professional Writing
Academic
• Tests knowledge• Defines terms and
concepts• Supports statements with
literature references
Professional/Career
• Applies Knowledge• Uses terms and concepts
appropriately• Most often applies
learning from literature
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What type of writing occurs in my field?
• Business writing– letters, memos & emails, minutes, reports
• Client contacts
• Action plans
• Proposals & advocacy
• Evaluation
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What writing styles are used in my field?
• Objective descriptions
• Critical analysis
• Synthesis of different sources of knowledge
• Persuasion
• Reflective: personal reactions or challenges
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3 Steps for Preparing Students for Professional Writing
• Step 2: Develop learning modules for identified writing skills
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Link Course Content with Work Experience
• Examples
• Exercises
• Writing skills
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Resources
• Writing texts and manuals
• Online materials
• Writing Centres
• Library Resources
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Potential Texts: Writing Style Manuals
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th Ed.)
• Chicago Manual of Style• Modern Language Association (MLA) Style
Manual & Guide to Scholarly Publishing• American Medical Association Manual of Style• Canadian Guide to Uniform Legal Citation• Council of Science Editors (CSE) Manual for
Authors, Editors, & Publishers
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Potential Texts: Writing Manuals
• A Guide to Writing for Human Service Professionals (Glicken)
• Writing for Business (Harvard Business School)
• The OTA’s Guide to Writing SOAP Notes (Borcherding & Morreale)
• Plain English for Lawyers (Wydick)
• A Field Guide for Science Writers (Blum, Knudson, & Heniq [Eds])
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Online sources
• Critical thinking– http://www.criticalthinking.org
• Synthesis writing– http://www.users.drew.edu/sjamieso/Synthesis.pdf
• Persuasive writing– http://www.geocities.com/soho/Atrium/1437/pers.html
• Objective description– http://www.wadsworth.com/english_d/templates/
student_resources/0838405452_connelly/ex_descript.htm
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Online sources, cont.
• Reflective writing– http://learningcommons.sfu.ca/resources/writing/
writing-reflective.pdf
• Business letter– http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/653/01/
• The OWL at Purdue – http://owl.english.purdue.edu
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3 Steps for Preparing Students for Professional Writing
• Step 3: Creating course assignments that correspond to career writing
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In-class Writing Exercises
• Use specific, narrow topic or question
• Short answer
• Focus on form rather than polish
• Small groups (3 or 4 students)
• Read each others’ writing
• Give feedback (instructor provides feedback guide)
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Group Assignment
• Students take roles of a typical work team
• Specific, narrow task
• Brainstorm, research content
• Identify roles for each group member
• Write a report (present report)
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Writing Assignments
• Letter to the editor or response to publication
• Report, Proposal, Summary
• Evaluation or recommendation
• Client Notes or Action Plan
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Use these steps in your courses
1. Define professional/career writing
2. Develop learning modules
3. Create course assignments
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Thank you for sharing ideas today
Are you able to
• Describe examples of professional writing preparation?
• Identify potential teaching resources?
• Develop strategies for identifying, teaching, and assessing writing skills needed in your profession or discipline?