Paradox in the Business Writing Classroom

Paradox in the Business Writing Classroom: "Nevertheless, while behavioral grading allows students to discover the best ways to write in the business world, it cannot provide a pedagogical panacea. The business writing instructor is faced with a Catch-22: placing students in a business writing environment does not foster the best learning environment, yet allowing them to work outside a deadline-oriented system misrepresents the business environment. Even though it focuses on learning to write, on the developing writing process, behavioral grading should provide students with a reasonable understanding of the environmental situations they will face in the business world and of how their efforts in a business writing class will transfer to that business world. The system’s largest discrepancy is its violation of the business world’s deadlines—a fact that they should be aware of in their learning rather than be surprised with when they actually enter the business world."