by Dr Davis on October 20, 2009
At a recent conference, I told someone I was an adjunct and watched her physically lean back in her seat. She didn’t leave the table—I was sitting with her friends—but she certainly disengaged from any part in my conversation.
When I later mentioned to a colleague sitting beside her that I have a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition from Purdue University, she said, “Oh really?” in a bright and happy voice and leaned toward me, putting her elbows on the table to propel her body forward.
She didn’t ask me any other questions, so the change in attitude didn’t seem to have been about Purdue or their program, but rather about my legitimacy. She apparently thought I couldn’t be a serious scholar as an adjunct.
She may be right about that. Scholarship is difficult, when teaching is the primary focus of work and an overload must be carried simply to achieve financial independence.
by Dr Davis on October 20, 2009
Teaching Business Writing as a business was an idea I used back in 1991 when I was first teaching the course on my own. But I just saw an article at Questia which very much talks about the kinds of things I covered.
The following questions will be addressed: (a) What are the advantages of using a business structure in the classroom? (b) What are the purposes of discussing ethics in the classroom? (c) What is an effective design for a classroom business? (d) What methodology can be used to implement the activity? (e) Why is it necessary to assess outcomes? (f) What are results of the exercise?
Baylor has “Teaching Business Ethics: A Faculty Seminar Model” online.
A survey of AACSB member schools found that “teaching of business ethics is indiscriminate, unorganized, and undisciplined in most North American schools of business,” according to Solberg, Strong, and McGuire (1995); the authors argue for a practical, discovery-based approach to ethics coverage in business schools. Using an example of this approach, McQueeney (2006) employs ethical dilemmas that balance ethical imperatives with the drive for profit. Some academicians hold that failing to teach ethics tells students that ethics is not important enough to be included (Etzioni, 1989; Piper, 1993; Parks, 1993; Fulmer, 2005). The inference is that the “head in the sand” approach will result not in a neutral message, but in a negative message, concerning the place in ethics training in business school curricula and programs.
For future reference…
