As a response to research about both the work space of professional writers and the pedagogy using workplace simulations, a professional writing course was adapted for a high-tech conference room equipped with electronic meeting tools. This experiment improved students’ learning of course content, which included collaborative writing strategies, project management, and teamwork; research methods; presentation and design skills; and organizational culture and professional development. Students also better understood workplace realities and distinctions between academic and workplace environments. In addition, the experiment facilitated students’idea sharing and communication as well as their preparation for transitioning to the workplace. The teaching experience was more creative and rewarding, too.

(2002). Review of Untying the Tongue: Gender, Power, and the Word. Technical Communication Quarterly: Vol. 11, No. 1, pp. 96-98.

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Administrators and teachers for professional communication programs often are anxious to develop curricula that will teach “real world” practices of workplace practitioners. Many connections can and have been established in response to that concern. However, both practitioners and educators may mistakenly see such connections as a one-way exchange: practitioners with privileged knowledge sharing as a professional courtesy and with hopes of hiring graduates who may need less training on the job. However, the growth and sophistication of scholarship in professional communication, along with changes in the workplace that have led to more professional development needs among practitioners, have created new opportunities for two-way exchanges of expertise. Academics from professional communication programs now can and should use their programs' connections with the workplace to influence practices in the field. This article suggests ways to create more bi-directional educational exchanges.

Recent studies identify gendered differences in communication and collaboration styles which suggest consequences for professional writing classrooms. If, indeed, men tend to stereotype women as clerks, prefer hierarchical collaboration, and value product over process, and, too, if gendered differences tend to increase counterproductive dissent, then the gender balance of writing groups might affect their dominant styles in those respects. However, when I analyzed the behaviors of over sixty student groups in my professional writing classes, I did not find gender balancing to have such effects. Instead, however, I observed other gender-related effects on collaboration: tendencies to stereotype men as technical experts and to self-segregate into gendered working teams. These findings suggest new perspectives on the role of gender for collaborative groups in professional writing classrooms.