This article describes an interdisciplinary partnership that resulted in the introduction of a writing coach into an MBA class on critical and analytical thinking. By examining the response to this role by the writing coaches themselves and by the students enrolled in three sections of this new course, this exploratory study endeavors to answer the question: How can a writing coach best support student writing in an MBA course? Major findings are that students predominantly liked receiving written feedback and mini-lectures by the writing coaches, mini-lectures were met with mixed reviews, and there was a strong perception by participants that their writing had improved.

The research described here examines the problems encountered by people when filling in forms. Subjects were required to complete forms on the basis of a situation sketch, while thinking aloud. From the completed forms, the observations, and the subjects' comments, conclusions could be drawn about the types of problems the subjects had encountered and about the strategies they had used. These conclusions, together with various suggestions found in the literature, provided a guideline for a thorough revision of seven forms. A test showed that, after revision, the number of forms completed unacceptably was reduced by about half.

This article surveys and critiques the literature on using style checkers and the text-editing capabilities of the computer to assist in revising technical writing. The literature on text-editing capabilities is inconclusive because it is largely anecdotal and methodologically flawed. The literature on style checkers is similarly inconclusive. To better assess the value of the computer, we need to examine the basic premise of the research on revising and word processing: that more revising leads to higher-quality writing. We need to be sure that our evaluative techniques for measuring writing improvement are valid; to focus our attention not only on computer novices but also on computer-experienced writers; to examine other factors that affect how writers use word processing and that in turn might affect writing quality; and to examine more carefully the differences among word processors and among the different style checkers to determine their effects on writing behavior and writing quality.

Complicated documents often affect readers the way computer programs affect computers; technical writers are prone to many of the same serious errors that plague programmers. Among the many principles that writers can learn from programming are: 1) Models save money: it is far more economical to develop detailed outlines and mockups than to improvise from a vague outline. 2) Quality demands maintainability: every complicated document will need frequent revision, and only documents designed for ease of change will be kept current. 3) The trouble is in the interfaces: the procedures and tasks in a manual are not as error-prone as the rules for moving from part to part of the book itself. 4) Readers are subject to the laws of physics: many publication economies produce documents that defy the physical powers of the reader. 5) Communication is control: readers must be prevented from getting lost.

The computer's ability to store and process large volumes of material can be very helpful in writing criticism and evaluation. By using this technological capability, evaluative decisions made by an instructor can be processed quickly and transformed into typewritten commentary. This article describes a method for storing anticipated instructional comments in computer memory and retrieving those comments for the purpose of providing both evaluative and reinforcing feedback to students. In this manner, the computer aids the instructor by improving the speed of encoding those comments into written form.

Although you write the proposal before, and the report after, you do the research, both require the application of principles that will demonstrate to the reader two skills needed by every investigator: clear thinking to produce worthwhile research, and clear writing to communicate the results of that research. Sharp delineation of the problem to be addressed, thoughtful preliminary preparation, careful outlining, and concentration on orderly sequence of ideas in the first draft will help produce a unified, coherent proposal. Critical revision, with emphasis on simple, direct, forceful language will enhance the persuasiveness of the proposal.