1. read a5 and half page reflection

Learning Objectives for Assignment

Students will be able to:

Analyze performance on previous assignment to identify areas of strength and in need of improvement.

Process their learning to articulate the benefit and value of concepts to future professional communication.

Rhetorical Situation of Assignment

Genre: Memo

Audience: Primary (yourself)

Purpose: Reflection plays a key role in both academic and professional life: Taking the time to step back from the torrent of tasks and information allows us to process and synthesize experiences, activities, and products. In other words, we cease engaging with mere information and begin to consider meaning. We come to contemplate and consider how we have evolved, what we have learned, and where we would like to head. With this reflection on the previous assignment, you will discuss your learning and take-aways from it, along with your performance on it.

Description of Assignment

Please write a memo, lasting no more than a page, in which you reflect on and discuss the previous assignment in terms of what you have learned and intend to apply in the future. Discuss important concepts or practices that you believe will prove useful in the future. In addition, consider the assignment you submitted for a grade and feedback: What went well with it, and what would you like to improve? Explore and consider what you would like to keep in mind and do better in the future as a professional communicator.

With your reflection, please note that there is no right or wrong answer; this open-ended prompt will allow you to concentrate on what is most meaningful or relevant to your learning and growth as a communicator and a student. What is most important is that you take the time to explore and consider your experience with and understanding of the content and the concepts of the relevant assignment, along with your performance on it.

Expectations for Assignment

Thoughtful and detailed support for observations about learning

Engagement with what you have learned, what you did well, and what you could do better

Demonstration of growth mindset by exercising positive emphasis and maintaining goodwill toward self

Awareness and application of best practices with document design (HATS framework, etc.)

Questions to Ask for Assignment

What were some key concepts from this previous unit and/or assignment that I would like to keep in mind and apply in the future?

With this previous assignment, where did I do well, and where could I perhaps improve in the future?

How can I design a user-friendly and engaging document by considering and accounting for the HATS framework for document design?

2. one page and half to two page

Learning Objectives for Assignment

Students will be able to:

1. Synthesize primary and secondary research to generate and support a recommendation.
2. Communicate ideas in an effective, engaging, and accessible manner across a variety of modes (written, visual, electronic, etc.).
3. Use you-attitude to explain and justify the viability and feasibility of adopting and implementing a recommendation.

Rhetorical Situation for Assignment

• Genre: Formal Report Document (also adapted into website with effective user-experience design)
• Audience: Primary (Dr. Martino Harmon, Senior VP Student Affairs; Dr. Ann Marie VanDerZanden, Associate Provost for Academic Programs; and Dr. Vernon Hurte, AVP Student Affairs/Dean of Students)
  • Please note that you will not actually communicate with the audience designated for this assignment; you are only doing so hypothetically.
• Purpose: This assignment asks you to practice report writing, as well as other professional writing and design conventions. The case scenario also requires you to use critical thinking and problem-solving strategies to respond effectively to your audience’s needs within the given context of the assignment. You and your group will analyze a real rhetorical setting and reflect objectively on the current setting and its norms, using that information to develop recommendations for change. You will hypothetically submit a formal report recommending a plan to improve the social and/or environmental sustainability of the Iowa State campus, based on a concern that emerged in the campus climate survey.

Description of Assignment

Context: Campus Climate

In October of 2017, a university-wide survey was conducted to gather actionable intelligence on ISU community members' perceptions of the living, learning, and working environment at Iowa State. In particular, results of that survey were to provide a basis for developing new policies and initiatives that would enhance and improve the campus climate in alignment with Iowa State’s strategic plan and principles of community. As part of this campus climate improvement initiative, President Wendy Wintersteen charged Dr. Martino Harmon (Senior VP Student Affairs), Dr. Ann Marie VanDerZanden (Associate Provost for Academic Programs), and Dr. Vernon Hurte (AVP Student Affairs/Dean of Students) with moving forward on actionable information from the survey results in order to address the experiences of ISU community members in these areas: (1) new student success, (2) campus climate, (3) diversity, (4) inclusion, and (5) equity.

Overall Group Project

As part of its continuous improvement effort, ISU is now actively seeking recommendations from students for how to further improve the experience of students and faculty/staff on campus. Thus, your team has been selected and tasked to identify, define, and investigate a campus problem and its impact on the Iowa State community. For the group project, your team will advance a recommendation to the institution to address and alleviate a concern from the campus climate survey. Utilizing primary and secondary research, your team is to develop viable solutions and provide recommendations for the proposed issue for either students or faculty/staff (or both) your group has chosen to solve. Your recommendation should positively impact Iowa State University socially and environmentally.

Assignment Six Specifically

After receiving your proposal (A5), university administrators have now permitted you to proceed with research into the feasibility and impact of your tentative recommendation. Utilizing further primary and secondary research, your team will determine whether or not the university should adopt and implement the tentative recommendation. You will use information obtained to justify and present a recommendation, perhaps the same as or perhaps different from the one from the proposal (A5). The final recommendation report will elaborate on and explain why the final recommendation advanced by your team is feasible for the institution and maintains goodwill with all affected stakeholders. In addition, the final recommendation report will consider the environmental and social impact of implementing the recommendation.

The final report will:

• Offer convincing support and evidence for the viability and feasibility of the recommendation being made.
• Account for and consider all affected stakeholders in the implementation of the recommendation.
• Explain the benefits to campus by adopting and implementing the proposed recommendation.
• Use a variety of modes (written, visual, etc.) to elaborate on and communicate the recommendation in an engaging and accessible manner.
• Use the HATS framework to create an appealing and accessible document.
• Avoid biased language and stereotyping.
• Employ authoritative and reliable primary and secondary research.
• Discuss the rhetorical settings.

Expectations for Assignment

Your formal recommendation report should include eight of the major report slots defined by Locker and Kienzler. These slots include:

1. Title Page
2. Letter of Transmittal
3. Table of Contents
4. Executive Summary
5. Introduction
6. Background/History
7. Body
8. Conclusions and Recommendations.

A detailed breakdown of each section can be found on pages 531-34 in your textbook. Include credible sources to support any claims and recommendations, strong document design, visual representations of quantitative data, and professional language. The document should demonstrate a strong audience analysis.

Questions to Ask for Assignment

• How is the recommendation viable and feasible for the institution?
• How will the recommendation benefit the institution?
• How can we communicate information about our recommendation in a compelling and appealing way across a variety of modes?

Relevant Learning Objectives for Assignment

• Apply writing skills to varied, new genres in communicating with diverse audiences.
• Identify and define effective document design and techniques appropriate to business communication.
• Analyze displays of quantitative and qualitative data and how organizational settings affect the design of professional documents.
• Apply quantitative and qualitative data techniques to communication artifacts.
• Create documents using formatting techniques and technologies appropriate to specific disciplines.
• Explain how different organizational settings influence the composition of professional documents.
• Analyze a variety of professional communications specific to organizational settings.
• Develop strategic approaches to various genres of business communication based on organizational cultures, contexts, and expectations (e.g. memos, emails, proposals, report, executive summaries, etc.)
• Practice value and respect for diverse perspectives.
• Organize and plan effective collaborative projects.
• Create effective professional documents collaboratively (e.g., planning, drafting, designing, revising, and editing)
• Recognize how ethical issues influence research, presentation of source material, design, and documentation practices in your discipline.
• Analyze ethical principles for professional communicators through case discussions.
• Incorporate effective ethical principles in all modes of professional communication.