professional writing

Antagonizing & Tailoring LLM Writing in a Mock Public Relations Crisis Management Campaign for Business Communication Classes

Amanda Rioux Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This Business Communication in-class activity uses a sample case study in which an imaginary company had a public fallout, with the purpose of students developing and refining the skills needed to regain trust and goodwill amongst the company’s various stakeholders—both internally within the company itself, and externally […]

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Documenting Campus Spaces: The Collaborative Accessibility Guide Assignment

Marie Pruitt Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description The Collaborative Accessibility Guide (CAG) assignment was originally designed for an upper-level writing course, Technical and Scientific Writing, taught at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) and large public research university. However, this assignment can easily be adapted for any technical or professional writing course. Over the course

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Framing Bad News: Hedging, Voice, and HR Memos

Chris Mayer Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This two-class sequence, which is an ideal fit for professional writing or business communication courses, helps students see how grammatical and lexical choices shape the ethical and practical work of workplace communication. The project culminates in students drafting a one-page memo delivering bad news through announcing policy

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Owning the Process: Co-Learning AI Through Critical Inquiry and Workflow Literacy

Jennifer N. Mason Assignments & Activities Archive Activity Description This in-class activity invites students and instructors to co-investigate how generative AI and other writing technologies shape composing processes across academic and professional contexts. The activity is grounded in workflow literacy—defined here as the reflective practice of analyzing how tasks, tools, technologies, and collaborators interact across

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Can ChatGPT Make the Right Moves? A Comparative Rhetorical Analysis of Human-Authored and AI-Generated Texts

Michelle Cook, Gaby Meindl, and Angela Laflen Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description Helping students develop rhetorical knowledge acts as a bridge between understanding GenAI tools on a functional level and being a critical reader of texts generated by AI. Because we are preparing students to enter academic and professional spaces that have been, and

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Convincing the Machine: Using Rhetoric to Get the Most Out of AI Writing Assistants in Proposal Writing

Ronald B. Cole, Lauren N. Maher, and Rich Rice Assignments & Activities Archive Assignment Description This assignment teaches students to treat generative AI as a rhetorical collaborator that must be convinced through recursive prompting, strategic data curation, and continuous adjustment. Students assume the role of grant writers advocating for a project, community, or initiative of

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Storytelling, Narration, and the “Who I Am” Story

Catherine Ramsdell Volume 2 Chapter Description This chapter focuses on the importance of storytelling to successful personal and professional communication in the 21st century. Because narration transcends experience, and because stories “can be found anywhere from a movie theatre to a corporate boardroom, everyone should know how to tell a good story.”  While the chapter

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Writing “Eyeball To Eyeball”: Building A Successful Collaboration

Rebecca Ingalls Volume 2 Chapter Description Collaborating on a written project can be one of the most beneficial, and challenging, strategies to include in a writing class. While all students have likely worked in groups before, many do not yet know how to mindfully prepare, manage, and negotiate the conflicts that may arise in group

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