School leaders are often in a position to advocate for their schools and for ways to improve the educational experience of students. By actively supporting a cause, such as increasing the rigor of the school, leaders provide information to stakeholder groups that will build support for their vision. Successful advocates incorporate several…

The study of bullshit, what the author calls "taurascatics", has been making a splash of late. It was Harry Frankfurt who tossed the stone: his essay "On Bullshit" came out in "Raritan" in 1986, hit the "New York Times" best-seller list as a book in 1995, and has been adopted, adapted, and criticized across the academy since. The ripples spread…

It is crucial for Tech Comm instructors to address challenges of audience within the artificial environment of classroom instruction. Without a distinct and specific audience, course content often remains theoretical and abstract, and students struggle both to connect the unknown to the known, and to generate meaningful and effective…

The increasing availability of recording technologies makes it easier to include usability testing projects in business communication courses. Usability testing is a method of discovering whether people can navigate, read, and understand a print or electronic communication well enough to achieve a particular purpose in a reasonable time frame.…

This essay builds upon prior attempts to foster linkages between the disciplines of Composition Studies and professional writing. I take up Jennifer Bay's suggestion that service learning is a site for connection and "hospitality" (in a Derridean sense) between these disciplines, advocating for and at the same time complicating Bay's proposal.…

In this Teaching Tips article, the author argues for a dialogic conception of voice, based in the work of Mikhail Bakhtin. He demonstrates a dialogic view of voice in action, using two writing examples about the same topic from his daughter, a fifth-grade student. He then provides five practical tips for teaching a dialogic conception of voice in…

Educational institutions understand the importance of having a positive image among their target audiences, but the process of creating, enhancing, and managing that image remains challenging to many. Confusion over what branding is only adds to the challenge. Consultants define "brand" as promising an experience and delivering on that…

The National Assessment Governing Board, recognizing that National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report releases were not conveying a sense of urgency, began an initiative in May 2010 to see what the Board could do to "make a difference" in fostering concern and action about the need to improve achievement and reduce…

Communication strategies emphasize concerns for "content" (what is said) and "process" (the way things are said). Scientists have a responsibility to communicate the findings of their research, enhancing prospects that their insights can meaningfully inform management practice. When used effectively, principles from geomorphology provide critical…

Being up front with students about Standard English as "the language of power" allows them to learn valuable lessons about Standard and non-Standard English dialects. In this article, the author describes an eighth-grade language unit that helps students understand the value of dialects and standardized English. The author concludes that the…

Whenever the author talks to audiences about transforming school systems, without exception people raise objections. The half dozen most common objections often come in the form of "Yes, nice idea but..." What follows the "but" is the objection. The author learned a technique for responding to these "buts" from family members who work in sales.…

Whenever the author teaches English 102, a research-focused, second-semester composition course, at least one student asks her whether or not she "allows" Wikipedia. She then redesigned her course to leverage Wikipedia as a source of inquiry. In other words, she "allows" Wikipedia, but through the Wikipedia project, which is designed to address…

This article discusses the ways issues of audience and authority are encountered and addressed by classroom teachers who write journal articles for publication. Drawing on an interview study of K-12 classroom teachers who have published articles in NCTE's journals Language Arts, Voices from the Middle, and English Journal, we show that teachers…

"ePerformance: Crafting, Rehearsing, and Presenting the ePortfolio Persona" exposes vital intersections between pedagogy and performance to reveal how using ePortfolio encourages not only student-centered learning, but facilitates collaboration through cooperative exchanges. Productive interactivity with audiences who actively influence…

Researchers in geography education have access to a wide range of research methods, spanning the quantitative-qualitative continuum. However, the choice of which methods to employ in one's research has a direct impact on the subsequent quality of the research findings and should therefore be carefully considered. This paper briefly explores the…