I agree wholeheartedly (used for emphasis) with Charlie Wankel's comments on
writing. I am also a business school professor and have writing assignments
on the first day of class in order to assess the students' writing
abilities. Detail comments are returned the next week and recommendations to the
school writing center are made. Two other short assignments follow the next two
classes.
My key point to the students is that writing is more than just the content
of the message. An e-mail message should involve as much care in preparation
as a final exam or course paper. The care given to the structure, grammar
and logic in that message sends a different message to the recipient, often far
more important that the content of the note. Since students like to use
e-mail to communicate, they can easily identify with my comments.
Just an additional note, my grading for grammar, etc. becomes more severe as
the semester goes on. Most students get my message and understand how
important writing is by the end of the semester. BTW, I teach only grad students,
of whom over 85% work full time and must communicate effectively to succeed
on their jobs.
Ted
_______________________
Ted Rosen, Ph.D.
202/994-1562
throsen@aol.com