2008 PROCEEDINGS - Public Relations Society of America

The first process reviews homework assignments as a group activity. Student writing
(such as news releases, fact sheets, or advisories) are placed on a document camera for the entire
class to see. The student’s name is not revealed to the class in order to reduce potential
embarrassment for the student and others in the room. Generally, two or three examples of the
release are put up on the screen at the same time and students are asked to assess the strengths
and weaknesses of each written item. It is important to highlight items that are well done as well
as those that need improvement. This process can help to identify and praise good work and
discourage errors. It need not be used for every homework assignment, but it can be a valuable
tool for some exercises. Some of the questions that might be posed include:
• Which document has the most compelling lead? (Why?)
• Is there a way to say this more concisely?
• Do you see any problems with spelling, syntax, or vocabulary?
• Have the writers followed the AP Styleguide?
The suggestions provided through this feedback process give students the opportunity to
evaluate their classmates’ writing and suggest editorial changes to enhance their colleagues’
work in an unthreatening manner. The exercise can provide help to identify good writing
examples the students can learn from and highlight problems students should try to avoid.
Prior to any group activity it is essential that students know the applicable standards in
advance of attempting the writing assignment. It is essential for students to understand the
precise format or template you want them to use for their work. It is useful to explain to students
that there are many different acceptable styles for a document like a news release, but your
requirement to use one template in the class throughout the semester ensures that they master one
format during the class. They can always adjust the template to conform to an employer’s style
when they begin an internship or a new job, but the reinforced use of a widely used standardized
model in class gives them a solid foundation for their professional careers.
The second type of group writing/editing exercises takes place solely in the classroom. A
full class session or a portion of a period should be identified in advance as a practice writing
session. The students should be provided some written facts they should use for a news release
or a media advisory. The facts are arranged in no particular order and some of them are
inappropriate for students to include in the final document. Students should be given a few
minutes to write different elements of the document such as a caption or headline, a lead, or a
proposed quotation.
If the class is taught in a computer lab, students can print their efforts and the instructor
can put them on a document camera for class review, or they might project their work on a
screen directly from their computers. If the class is taught in a classroom without individual
computers for each student, the instructor can ask students to dictate their work as he or she types
it on a computer and projects the written material for the entire class to evaluate. It is important
to project 4-6 examples on the screen before you discuss any of them. Doing so allows the class
to compare and contrast a number of examples without focusing on one student’s work at a time.
With multiple examples being reviewed simultaneously, students tend to focus on the writing
and not on who submitted each item.
Students need to know that all of them will have their work evaluated and the
assessments made will be offered in a friendly way using only constructive comments.
Encourage volunteers in class to share their work. If you don’t have enough volunteers, ask
again for examples. If that fails, call on specific students who have not volunteered to share
what they wrote. As you make sure all students in the class participate in this process, students
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