Simulating Professional Writing Experiences in the Classroom

Abstract

"A positive new trend has come to academic writing classes - - many schools are emphasizing professional writing skills in an advanced course. A growing number of schools, recognizing that students need thorough training to compete in the job market, are requiring such a course. While merely requiring more writing of any kind would probably help many students, adding writing experiences that correspond to the type of writing that will be done on the job is most helpful. My experience in teaching in professional writing programs in California and Maryland offers some useful ideas on how to design such writing assignments. A positive new trend has come to academic writing classes - - many schools are emphasizing professional writing skills in an advanced course. A growing number of schools, recognizing that students need thorough training to compete in the job market, are requiring such a course. While merely requiring more writing of any kind would probably help many students, adding writing experiences that correspond to the type of writing that will be done on the job is most helpful. My experience in teaching in professional writing programs in California and Maryland offers some useful ideas on how to design such writing assignments. A positive new trend has come to academic writing classes - - many schools are emphasizing professional writing skills in an advanced course. A growing number of schools, recognizing that students need thorough training to compete in the job market, are requiring such a course. While merely requiring more writing of any kind would probably help many students, adding writing experiences that correspond to the type of writing that will be done on the job is most helpful. My experience in teaching in professional writing programs in California and Maryland offers some useful ideas on how to design such writing assignments. "