Agboka, Godwin Y. “Legally Minded Technical Communicators: A Case Study of a Legal Writing Course.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 34, no. 4, Oct. 2020, pp. 393–414, doi:10.1177/1050651920932198.

In this article, Agboka describes a topics and technical and professional communication (TPC) course in Houston. Through his description, Agboka argues for the importance of incorporating discussions of the law in TPC classrooms. In particular, Agboka describes how—in the aforementioned topics TPC course—students research legal statutes that affect problem solving in business, analyze the rhetoric of legal statutes and cases, and employ both to situate technical and professional communication and solve problems in the workplace. Agboka’s article is useful as a reflection on the struggles to integrate a field (law) into a writing classroom that also teaches genres and writing practices. It also illustrates a tension among departments whose content is both a subject and skill-oriented (i.e., writing practice), in addition to highlighting the difficulties a writing teacher faces when teaching specialized content.

Note: This article represents a particular mode of TPC scholarship: Published in a prominent journal and deeply researched along a narrow band of resources about the law and writing, it lacks any real contextualization within the teaching of writing or professional or technical communication. Instead, it reads like a (fascinating) case of a teacher working alone among their own great ideas, without a community of like-minded scholars who might receive and implement the ideas of the class.

Carmichael, Felicita Arzu. “Teaching Anti-Racist Reading Practices in First-Year Writing.” Writing Program Administration, vol. 44, no. 3, 2021, pp. 138-144.

In this article, Carmichael argues that first-year composition courses should be used to teach students about systemic racism and social injustice, in addition to students’ ability and responsibility to effecting positive social change in response. Throughout the piece, Carmichael shares methods of integrating greater anti-racist pedagogies in composition classrooms, both in a general theoretical sense and in the context of her own department’s first-year writing program. Finally, Carmichael shares her own anti-racist course assignments and the experiences she had while teaching her students anti-racist critical thought.

Note: Though Carmichael targets her analysis toward first-year writing courses, her anti-racist ideologies can be applied to professional communication courses, as well.

Chaterdon, Kate. “Writing into Awareness: How Metacognitive Awareness Can Be Encouraged Through Contemplative Teaching Practices.” Across the Disciplines, vol. 16, no. 1, 31 March 2019, doi:10.37514/ATD-J.2019.16.1.05.

In this article, Chaterdon reviews the growing body of research connecting metacognitive awareness of the writing process to both 1.) students’ enhanced writing ability and 2.) students’ ability to effectively apply writing skills to diverse, interdisciplinary contexts (i.e., transfer). After examining how contemplative pedagogy directly benefits this metacognitive awareness through the use of reflective and contemplative writing practices, Chaterdon then describes a contemplative composition course she designed at the University of Arizona: “Writing Into Awareness.” In essence, Chaterdon “argues that contemplative writing—as distinct from reflective writing—fosters simultaneous awareness of the internal and external factors at work in the writing process.”

DeJeu, Emily Barrow. “The Ethics of Delivering Bad News: Evaluating Impression Management Strategies in Corporate Financial Reporting.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 36, no. 2, Apr. 2022, pp. 190–230, doi:10.1177/10506519211064618.

In this article, DeJeu investigates a critical ethical dimension of business communication: improper uses of “impression management,” or IM. She argues that professional composition instructors have a responsibility to teach students how to engage in ethical writing, particularly where IM strategies are concerned—a responsibility often overlooked in professional writing classrooms.

Fisher, Rick, et al. “‘This is the type of audience I’ve learned to write to my whole life’: Exploring Student Perspectives about Writing for Different Types of Audiences.” Across the Disciplines, vol. 19, no. 3/4, 30 Dec. 2022, doi:10.37514/ATD-J.2022.19.3-4.03.

In this article, Fisher et al. explore the ways students perceive writing to various audiences, framed by the following three questions:

Do students value writing to different audiences?
If so, why? 
“How are students’ perspectives about writing to an audience of their choice connected to their perceived engagement and their perceptions of the assignment’s ease?”

Fisher et al. find that, when given the choice, students often opt to write to their instructors due to their ease and familiarity with this audience. However, they also find that students value being asked to write to different types of audiences, as they perceive such exercises to expand their rhetorical skill beyond the classroom. As a result of their findings, Fisher et al. identify ways that student choice of and interaction with notions of audience “inform ongoing conversations about writing-to-learn, writing transfer, and anti-racist teaching.”

Fredlund, Katherine, and Angela Morris. “Collaborating Toward an Anti-Racist Writing Curriculum.” Writing Program Administration, vol. 44, no. 3, 2021, pp. 114-120.

In this article, Fredlund and Morris describe their efforts to incorporate anti-racist pedagogies into their university’s first-year writing programs. In particular, the two authors focus on their fight to encourage language diversity and code meshing, teach African American rhetorical traditions, and refocus reflective assignments to address cultural compositional traditions. In addition to explaining the reasoning behind each initiative, Fredlund and Morris also describe the specific assignments and activities they used to fulfill their anti-racist vision.

Friess, Erin. “Scrum in Classroom Collaborations: A Quasi-Experimental Study.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 37. no. 1, 2023, pp. 68-94, doi:10.1177/10506519221121817.

In this article, Friess explores the ways TPC classrooms can use Scrum—a project management framework—to improve student interactions and outcomes during student collaboration. Friess defines Scrum as “an agile process that requires specific types of meetings […] that occur at specific junctures […] that are organized by people who have specific job roles […] and use a specific vocabulary […] to create ongoing incremental changes to product development.” Friess’s study proves that Scrum frameworks in student collaboration lead to 1.) higher team member ratings during peer assessment, 2.) higher student grades, and 3.) greater satisfaction with students’ group experiences. 

Fuller, Melissa, et al. “Conceptualizing Empathy Competence: A Professional Communication Perspective.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 35, no. 3, July 2021, pp. 333–368, doi:10.1177/10506519211001125.

In this article, Fuller asserts that empathy is essential when completing tasks of professional communication, yet research suggests empathy skills are on the decline. Therefore, she uses interviews with 35 communication professionals to:

“[Explore] the role and nature of empathy competence in professional interactions,”
Develop a “framework that details the skills, knowledge, and attitudinal aspects of empathy,”
“[Distinguish] five actions through which empathy manifests itself,” and
Apply this framework to “professional development, recruitment, and the design of communication education programs” (333).

Hass, Michael, and Jan Osborn. “An Emic View of Student Writing and the Writing Process.” Across the Disciplines, vol. 4, no. 1, 2007, doi:10.37514/ATD-J.2007.4.1.05.

In this article, Hass and Osborn analyze student reflections on successful writing experiences—an “emic,” or “insider’s” view—to identify the most beneficial aspects of writing assignments. Based on their evaluation, Hass and Osborn find that writing is successful when the writing assignment engenders the following: “engagement, commitment, collaboration, a systematic approach, and opportunities for external confirmation.” Not only do Hass and Osborn encourage instructors to consider these facets when designing course assignments, but they also argue for greater faculty awareness of student perceptions of writing assignments more generally.

Kassis-Henderson, Jane, et al. “Boundary Crossing and Reflexivity: Navigating the Complexity of Cultural and Linguistic Identity.” Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, vol. 81, no. 3, Sept. 2018, pp. 304–327, doi:10.1177/2329490618784893.

In this article, Kassis-Henderson provides a teaching model that enhances students’ ability to flexibly and effectively navigate intercultural interaction. Kassis-Henderson advocates for a model that moves away from “static comparative models of intercultural interaction” and towards “self-reflexive and analytical processes” that allow students “to apprehend the multiple facets of their own and others’ identities as these become salient in different contexts” (304). Kassis-Henderson also emphasizes the necessity of enhanced intercultural literacy given today’s ever-increasing multicultural and multilingual global business environment.

Lawrence, Heidi Y., et al. “Rhetorics of Proposal Writing: Lessons for Pedagogy in Research and Real-World Practice.” Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, vol. 49, no. 1, Jan. 2019, pp. 33–50, doi:10.1177/0047281617743016.

In this article, Lawrence et al. argue that proposal writing is a process with its own practices and rhetorics, not a matter of reproducing a genre that can be found in current TPC textbooks. The authors, all professional writers, investigate the problems with genre-based approaches to proposal writing in textbooks. They note that—although TPC pedagogy has announced a move away from genre- or forms-based teaching—in practice, forms and genres ground much TPC instruction. There are thus a “range of rhetorical needs and complexities not addressed by existing pedagogy” (39). These needs and complexities include the following:

Proposal writing includes research and conceptualizing a project.
The sources of “exigence” for a proposal come from years of research and project development and from a complex process of priorities-setting by funding agents and their stakeholders.

To address these needs and complexities, students should, in a TPC classroom, either 1.) practice the entirety of writing a proposal (including research and exigency-building) and apply for an actual proposal, or 2.) practice a smaller part of the proposal-writing process, such as researching the rhetorics and audiences of the proposal process or playing a small role (like editor or interviewer) in the complex process of proposal writing.

Note: Despite advocating for a rhetoric-grounded proposal-writing process, this article does not really define what rhetoric is.

Nielsen, Danielle. “Exploring Transformative Usability in the Business and Professional Writing Classroom.” Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, vol. 81, no. 1, Mar. 2018, pp. 66–84, doi:10.1177/2329490617748690.

In this article, Nielsen asserts the necessity of incorporating transformative usability and accessibility into every aspect of professional communication courses. More than simply adhering to legal considerations for disability (a paltry impetus for incorporating accessibility), this shifted focus acknowledges instructors’ ethical and moral mandates in integrating accessibility into professional communication. Furthermore, Nielsen argues that instructors must teach students to incorporate accessibility into their course assignments by doing the following: requiring students to account for diverse users when performing audience analysis and foreseeing accessibility issues at every step of their document development. To ensure this goal is met, Nielsen provides readers with a four-unit course model designed to teach students such orientation toward accessibility.

Pomerenke, Paula J. “Process: More Than a Fad for the Business Writer.” The Journal of Business Communication, vol. 24, no. 1, 1 January 1987, pp. 37-39, doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/002194368702400110.

In this article, Pomerenke asserts the importance of process in business writing, explains its relative novelty in business writing pedagogical literature, and describes her own teaching strategies for encouraging recursive process among her students.

Pope-Ruark, Rebecca. “Introducing Agile Project Management Strategies in Technical and Professional Communication Courses.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication, vol. 29, no. 1, 2015, pp. 112-133, doi: 10.1177/1050651914548456.

In this article, Pope-Ruark describes how she successfully applied Agile project management strategies to structure and enhance her professional communication students’ collaborative grant-writing projects. Through her detailed case study, Pope-Ruark describes how she trained her students to divide, categorize, prioritize, and delegate project tasks; reflect upon their project progress; and manage inter-group conflict. Furthermore, she also provides a host of tips for flexibly implementing Agile strategies in other TPC courses.

Note: Agile Project Management—originally created in the context of software development—emphasizes iterative process, human-centered design, and authentic communication between team members.

Ramos Salazar, Leslie. “The Influence of Business Students’ Listening Styles on Their Compassion and Self-Compassion.” Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, vol. 80, no. 4, Dec. 2017, pp. 426–442, doi:10.1177/2329490617712495.

In this article, Ramos Salazar investigates the correlation between students’ listening styles and their capacity for compassion and self-compassion. In analyzing data collected from 387 business students, Ramos Salazar concludes that “people listening” positively correlates with compassion and self-compassion, while “action listening” negatively correlates with compassion and self-compassion.

Robles, Vincent D., and Matthew J. Baker. “Using Case-Method Pedagogy to Facilitate Audience Awareness.” IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, vol. 62, no. 2, June 2019, pp. 192-207, doi: 10.1109/TPC.2019.2893464.

In this article, Robles and Baker analyze the effect of case-method pedagogy—in which students are provided a detailed audience and situation to fulfill a writing task using multiple genres and multimedia—on students’ audience awareness. To complete this analysis, the two researchers examined students in a 12-week genre-based TPC course as they navigated assignments built upon the case method. Robles and Baker then examine the specific ways in which case method pedagogy enhanced students’ ability to identify, understand, and respond to audiences’ needs. Following their analysis, Robles and Baker provide tips for instructors seeking to use case-method pedagogy in their own TPC courses.

Schieber, Danica L., and Vincent D. Robles. “Using Reflections to Gauge Audience Awareness in Business and Professional Communication Courses.” Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, vol. 82, no. 3, Sept. 2019, pp. 297–316, doi:10.1177/2329490619851120.

In this article, Schieber and Robles analyze how assigning reflections allows students to express their audience awareness in other written assignments. Not only do these reflections demonstrate students’ mindful application of audience awareness, but they also help instructors gauge how well students are able to consider audience when composing business documents—an otherwise “invisible” skill. As a result, Schieber and Robles encourage instructors to assign writing reflections so that they can both evaluate their students’ audience awareness and use their assessments of student skill/understanding to improve their instruction.

Smart, Karl L., and Jerry DiMaria. “Using Storytelling as a Job-Search Strategy.” Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, vol. 81, no. 2, June 2018, pp. 185–198, doi:10.1177/2329490618769877.

In this article, Smart and DiMaria explore the utility of effective “storytelling” in the professional world—particularly in the job-search process. This piece reinforces the importance of targeted, well-crafting storytelling in the job market and provides a method of teaching storytelling that is grounded in narrative theory, impression management, and behavior-based questions. Furthermore, Smart and DiMaria offer discrete lessons, activities, and case studies that could be applied in the professional communications classroom.

Wheeler, Stephanie K. “Harry Potter and the First Order of Business: Using Simulation to Teach Social Justice and Disability Ethics in Business Communication.” Business and Professional Communication Quarterly, vol. 81, no. 1, Mar. 2018, pp. 85–99, doi:10.1177/2329490617748691.

In this article, Wheeler describes her efforts to integrate social justice, disability advocacy, and civic engagement into business writing theories and practices—an integration students often find challenging—using a simulation based within the fictional universe of Harry Potter. Throughout the article, Wheeler examines her course design, objectives, course analysis, and social justice pedagogical orientation. Overall, Wheeler uses her course simulation to address “the need for our field to recognize the value of embodied knowledge and the degree to which the relationship between writing and disability is a global concern” (86).

Note: Wheeler provides a detailed table outlining the course’s schedule, organized by unit, core concept, primary source example, and deliverables.