Case Method Instruction in the Business Writing Classroom

An effective pedagogy narrows or closes the gap between what is taught in pre- professional communications programs and what is expected on the job. Case studies are often an important element in such pedagogy. But an analysis of cases recently published in Business Communication Quarterly and a survey of 25 employees who consider writing important to successful performance at work show that we may be giving our students instruction they will rarely use. The BCQ cases typically require students to respond to exceptional rhetorical situations when in reality the rhetorical situations writers usually face require more mundane and standardized types of discourse.