Abstract
This article, the first of a two-part series, presents teaching 10 innovations from the 2015 Association for Business Communication’s 80th annual conference. The creative new assignments offered here include building listening skills by journaling, oral interpretation, positive message framing, storytelling, delivering bad news, persuasive messages, and learning by teaching. Additional assignment support materials—instructions to students, stimulus materials, slides, grading rubrics, frequently asked questions, and sample student projects—are posted on these websites:http://www.businesscommunication.org/page/assignmentsandhttp://www.salesleadershipcenter.com/research.html#mfa16.
When not attending sessions at the Association for Business Communication’s (ABC) 80th annual conference held in Seattle, October 2015, many members enjoyed that city’s famous fish-tossing exhibitions held at Pikes Market. Like those skillful fishmongers, the 26 My Favorite Assignment presenters rapidly flung superb teaching innovations that were deftly caught by over 170 attendees. One could observe high dexterity in both places.
This collection, the 10th in the series, curates 10Favorite Assignmentsfrom those lively sessions. Readers will see innovative classroom assignments in two classic categories:
Oral communication exercises
Written communication class projects
TheMy Favorite Assignmentpresenters share a passion for active learning. Assignments engage students’ practical skill building, judgment, and communication skills. ABC members interested in exploring this article’sFavorite Assignmentsin greater depth may download additional materials fromhttp://www.businesscommunication.org/page/assignments. Readers may also access theMy Favorite Assignmentteaching resources athttp://www.salesleadershipcenter.com/research.html#mfa16. These websites house instructions to students, stimulus and exercise materials, slides, grading rubrics, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and sample student work products.