Assignment sequencing in professional communication courses: the search for an innovative pedagogy

Abstract

<p>Kotler's cry for practical dialogue, rather than an exchange of complicated theories, among business communication professors is a rare one. It is not that professors in the discipline don't crave such a thing; rather their peer juries don't believe it to be a respectable quest, one weighted with scholarly worth.· Seldom do articles offering such practical advice appear in prestigious academic journals. If pedagogical practicality is included in these journals, the brief blurb (usually one paragraph) is usually confined to the last paragraph of the article, offering little chance for explanation of how to implement the theory discussed in the bulk of the article. Journals which do include pedagogical articles often consider the information less valuable to scholars than true "theoretical" articles, demonstrated by restricting the pedagogical articles to columns such as "The Scholar Who Helps Me Teach Better". or "My Favorite Assignment" (The Bulletin for the Association of Business Communication).</p>