Business and Professional Communication Quarterly

The move to incorporate computer-mediated communication (CMC) into the business curriculum is driven by job market demands for information technol ogy skills. Business instructors may discover, however, a pedagogical bonus: more communication with their students outside the classroom. We studied the perceptions and practices of 138 students in business communications at one of the historically black colleges and universities who used e-mail and the Internet to complete assignments. The results indicate that CMC encouraged students to become active learners and to contact instructors. Anecdotal evi dence suggests that e-mail helps African-American students to see instructors as facilitators, though it does not necessarily become a rhetorical "safe house," where students engage in vernacular discourse. Nevertheless, e-mail fosters an informal rhetorical relationship that rewards openness and collaboration among students and instructors within the formal academic setting.

In 1995, Elmhurst College began developing a new major in Human Services Administration to serve the needs of a burgeoning adult student population. It is an accelerated, interdisciplinary program in which a small cohort of stu dents matriculates as an interdependent group throughout their college work. Students begin the program with a five-week communication module that pre pares them to communicate information, coordinate activities, and make deci sions. The module includes five components: intercultural communication, the process and contexts of communication, relationship development and self- disclosure, group communication and team building, and oral communica tion. These components were selected as the most important topics to be covered in a short time frame. Teachers serve largely as coaches or guides, lead ing students through exercises in active and cooperative learning, especially those exercises that build listening skills, the fundamental skills for all commu nication.

Focus groups provide users with valuable qualitative data not readily obtained with any other data-collection techniques. First developed for market researchers to determine the present or potential impact of a product or ser vice, focus groups also help administrators and developers gain information about programs, assess the effectiveness of healthcare and family-planning projects, design political campaigns, and evaluate graduate programs and research efforts, among other data-collection tasks. Business communication classes provide an excellent setting for learning about focus groups and putting such a process into practice.

Many business communication teachers are grappling with ways to use the rich potential of the WorldWide Web. A categorization or typology of sites provides students with a tool to explore the Web systematically and attentively. The typology discussed in this article divides corporate sites into five cate gories depending on purpose: marketplace awareness and promotion, cus tomer support, sales, advertising, and electronic information services. Armed with this typology, students analyze sites as examples of business communica tion. Based on this analysis, they develop a collaborative oral presentation.

As the population of students speaking English as a second language increases, our business communication courses have required changes in both content and pedagogical approach. We have taught writing, speaking, and lis teningfrom a problem-solving perspective for many years and now find its emphasis on critical thinking poses different challenges for the ESL students in our courses. Consequently, we have designed a problem-based course struc ture for an upper-level business communication course that allows both ESL and native English-speaking students the opportunity to improve communica tion abilities in cross-cultural work groups.

In their business careers, today's students will probably compose and send far more e-mail messages than memos or letters. Students should understand that e-mail messages have a unique place in the communications continuum and, therefore, their own rules. While the format of an e-mail message may resem ble that of a memo, each element presents special requirements in an elec tronic medium. The interactivity of e-mail offers both opportunities and constraints to writers and readers. A special etiquette also applies to e-mail, especially the need to avoid flaming and spamming and to check e-mail often. While writers often think their office e-mail is private, employers who own the systems have been upheld legally in their right to monitor e-mail for business reasons, and thus students should pay careful attention to the content and tone of their messages. Assigning e-mail projects in class helps students prepare for this important communications medium, work effectively in teams, and corre spond with corporations as part of their classroom research.

There is little question among educators and business executives that excellent communication skills are requisites for today's jobs. Yet most business teachers realize the difficulty of getting students to take business communication courses seriously. Succcessful teachers know that students learn best when they value what they are learning as relevant. Teachers can often create learning environments that stimulate students' enthusiasm for learning if they can relate topics taught in school to career or life goals of students. This study was conducted to assist students in becoming more aware of business communica tion tasks they will be expected to complete when they enter the business world. The goal is to provide information to help create a learning environ ment where the significance of communication is recognized and appreciated. The study sought to answer this question: What are students' perceptions con cerning their future business communication tasks?

This article describes a series of low-tech and high-tech options for use in meeting management and summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of each. These options include (1) face-to-face meetings, with choices of flipcharts, non-electronic boards, electronic boards, handouts, still projectors, and multimedia projectors; and (2) groupware meetings, with choices of audio- and videoteleconferencing, e-mail meetings, and electronic meetings.

Community service learning offers a unique and rewarding way for business students to reinforce communication capabilities while developing lifelong career and social skills. This article defines community service learning, dis cusses its importance to business as well as higher education, and describes three community service learning projects. Students in these projects taught elementary students, designed a computer system for a community nonprofit, and developed accounting systems for university divisions. In doing so, they enhanced their understanding of classroom theories and communication skills through service-learning.