Assessment Methods

Portfolio Development»Guidelines by Curriculum

ENGL 435 Management Writing

The following guidelines include a course syllabus for ENGL 435 and a specific description of what should be included in the portfolio. Students who have been approved to do ENGL 435 via portfolio should contact the faculty assessor, Dr. Joyce Neff (jneff@odu.edu) to review portfolio expectations.

Course Description and Objectives

This course focuses on writing as a means of making and presenting management decisions. The overall goal is to increase students' effectiveness in developing and writing managerial documents in organizational settings. By the end of the course students will be able to:

• Use rhetorical tools to read texts and analyze writing situations.
• Produce clear, complete, correct, and convincing documents which demonstrate the conventions of typical business communications.
• Collaborate with others to respond to complex writing assignments.
• Manage their own and others' writing processes.
• Understand ethical and intercultural issues related to management writing.
• Use electronic tools to develop and share work in progress.
• Show competence in document design and project presentation.

Current Text

Inkster, Robert P. and Judith M. Kilborn. The Writing of Business. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1999.

Portfolio Guidelines

The student should confer with the assessor to identify materials that meet course requirements. Regardless of the specific documents included in the portfolio, the student should

• Describe the organizational setting where the documents were produced and explain the management philosophy of the company or agency.
• Describe how writing is managed in the setting, including the use of collaboration, electronic tools, and document cycling or review.
• Describe the types of managerial documents produced in the setting and explain the purposes and audiences for those documents.
• Assess the effectiveness of the documents in meeting the organization's purposes and satisfying audience needs.
• Discuss ethical and cross-cultural considerations taken into account in producing documents.
• Discuss the planning and research processes used for reports.
• Discuss graphic elements in oral and written reports.
• Explain how writing sustains the organizational culture under consideration.

Samples may include but are not limited to:

• Reports of all types
• Report elements (transmittal letters, executive summaries, appendices, research notes)
• Proposals and business plans
• Mission statements
• Performance evaluations and job descriptions
• Memos and letters
• Records of group projects
• Drafts that show revision and document cycling comments
• Minutes of meetings