Rebecca Pope-Ruark

We Scrum Every Day: Using Scrum Project Management Framework for Group Projects

Collaborative group projects have documented learning benefits, yet collaboration is challenging for students because the educational system values individual achievement. This article explores Scrum, an approach to framing, planning, and managing group projects used in Web-software development. Designed for multi-faceted projects, this approach facilitates collaborative goal setting, breaks tasks into small manageable chunks over short periods of time, and encourages communication, accountability, and reflection among team members. In this article, I discuss how I have adapted and implemented Scrum in a number of my courses including examples, tips, and suggestions for using Scrum in the classroom.

Introducing Agile Project Management Strategies in Technical and Professional Communication Courses

Technical and professional communicators spend a good deal of time managing teams and documentation projects, and their organizations are increasingly introducing new project management practices. This article introduces Agile project management strategies that were created in software development environments, exploring how these iterative strategies can complement the traditional linear project management approaches that are taught in technical and professional communication (TPC) programs. To do so, the author presents a brief history of Agile, a case study of how the author applied specific Agile strategies in a grant writing course, and a comprehensive set of tips for implementing Agile in other TPC courses.

Student and Faculty Perspectives on Motivation to Collaborate in a Service-Learning Course

This case study, an example of scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) research, explores student motivations to collaborate with both peer teams and community partners in a service-learning course. Written by one instructor and three undergraduates, the article draws on personal narratives, student reflections, and a postcourse student survey. Our experiences and findings suggest that in courses like these positive extrinsic factors motivate students to collaborate in ways that the extrinsic motivators in typical assignments do not, helping to foster trust and shared goals. We also share our work as an example of how to include student voices in SoTL work.

Exploring Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Approaches to Business Communication Research.

With our core focus on teaching and scholarship, business communication teacher-scholars are well placed to become leaders in the international Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) movement. In this article, SoTL is defined and contextualized, three SoTL research approaches are introduced, and disciplinary research projects are suggested. A SoTL research agenda in business communication can improve our teaching practices, our students’ learning, and our disciplinary knowledge in very compelling ways.

Challenging the necessity of organizational community for rhetorical genre use: Community and genre in the work of integrated marketing communication agency writers

genre theory posits that people categorize events and perceive them as recurring types, and that they generate recurring rhetorical responses to those perceived recurring situations. The theory assumes that people are socialized to have those perceptions, and that in business communication, the socialization usually takes place in an organization. That is, as Carolyn Miller (1994) says, genre is a form of social action.

Back to Our Roots An Invitation to Strengthen Disciplinary Arguments via the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning

This article argues for a scholarly research agenda in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) for the broad discipline of professional communication by distinguishing SoTL from other types of teacher-scholar practice, including anecdotal publications, action research, traditional educational research, and scholarly teaching. Doing so carefully positions SoTL as an extension of the pedagogical roots of business and technical communication and as a way to reinforce our teaching fortes, unite the fields within the discipline via research, and strengthen arguments for disciplinarity and academic respect.