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Maggie VanNormanJanuary 20, 2004

To:M.S. Technical Communication faculty

From: Maggie VanNorman

CC:Dr. Susan Katz

Re: ENG 675 project proposal for development of online ethics module

Date:January 24, 2004

Overview: In order to fulfill the ENG 675 requirement for the Technical Communication program and to enhance the ENG 332 curriculum, I propose to create an online ethics module for undergraduate business communication students. The module will include short scenarios with feedback from professionals for students to read, as well as focused learning objectives, supplemental readings, and suggested assignments for instructors to select for their students.

Problem: Recent, highly publicized cases of corporate fraud (e.g., Enron and WorldCom) have turned an intense eye on ethical business practices. One of the most notable results of this increased scrutiny is the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, covering disclosure and financial accounting practices. However, no act or accepted guidelines exist to facilitate ethical business communication practices. Likewise, most business curricula include coursework on ethics and legal issues. At NCSU business management majors are required to take a course on ethics, often Issues in Business Ethics. According to the NCSU Course Catalog, the topics in this course include the social responsibility of business, the rights and duties of employers, and the ethics of advertising. Again, however, ethical decision making in communication (except advertising) is not typically a part of the NCSU business curriculum.

Business students at North CarolinaStateUniversity are also required to take a professional writing course, often ENG 332. One of the primary objectives of this course is to develop familiarity with the purposes, audiences, and conventions of communication prevalent in non-academic settings. Course instructors choose from a variety of business communication textbooks; however, not all textbooks explicitly discuss ethical business and professional communication. Whether ethics is explicitly discussed or not, students are not given a means to actively interact in making ethical communication decisions and receive professional and ethical feedback on those decisions. Professional feedback from business professionals is important for students to help them understand how professionals respond to ethical challenges on the job. Ethical feedback from ethics professors is important to help them understand the decisions that professionals make in an ethical light to allow them to evaluate the decisions. Without this practice and input, students may not smoothly transition into making ethical business communication decisions in their professional careers.

Deliverable: During the Spring 2004 semester, I will create an online ethics module for NCSU students in ENG 332. The module will incorporate approximately five short scenarios. These scenarios will ask students to formulate a response to the scenario, and then give them an opportunity to read what professionals in a variety of business fields and business ethics professors at NCSU and UNC would do in the same situation. In order to generate the response from business professionals, I will ask students enrolled in the Executive MBA (EMBA) program at UNC-Chapel Hill to complete the surveys for the project. The EMBA students represent a variety of fields, and all have worked in a professional capacity for a minimum of five years. My husband is enrolled in this program, and has already received confirmation from more than seven of his classmates that they will help in the project. For the feedback from professional ethicists, I will solicit assistance from ethics professors at NCSU and UNC.

This feedback will allow students to compare their responses to those of professionals as well as ethicists. Each scenario will be accompanied by teaching objectives, recommended readings, and suggested additional assignments. When I finish the online module, I plan to house it on the NCSU Professional Writing Program website. From there, instructors can direct their students to complete the module.

Objectives: The online ethics module will facilitate business communication students in the transition from their student life to their professional life. ENG 332 instructors will not be required to use the online ethics module but will have the opportunity if they choose.

The objectives of the module are as follows:

  1. Increase student awareness of ethical business communication practices through realistic scenarios.
  2. Provide ENG 332 instructors with an ethics module tailored to specific course objectives.

Work plan: I will complete this project by drawing on my coursework and experiences in the M.S. Technical Communication program in the following ways.

  • Project management. In ENG 518, I learned how to outline a work plan to manage the creation of an online ethics module and schedule appropriate resources to ensure timely completion of a quality product.
  • Classroom content knowledge. As the teacher of record for two sections of ENG 332, I have an opportunity to conduct thorough audience and needs analysis. Additionally, I have spent two semesters observing many different instructors and working with students in this course.
  • Website development. In ENG 517, I created a website using sound document design principles. In this class, I used Macromedia Dreamweaver for website development and Fireworks for website graphics, both of which I will use to design the online ethics module. My work in website development continued in ENG 508, where I learned how to conduct usability tests on online interfaces. This semester I am also taking ENG 519, where I will develop a deeper understanding of how online space can shape a learning environment.
  • Rhetorical principles. Further, through my work in ENG 512, ENG 511, and ENG 515, I have developed a more thorough understanding of rhetorical and theoretical principles that will help guide this project.

Stage / Project milestone / Definition / Date
1 / Project proposal due to Dr. Susan Katz / First draft submission. / January 20, 2004
(Complete)
Project proposal due to M.S. faculty / After the first revision, I will e-mail the proposal to the M.S. faculty for approval. / January 29, 2004
2 / Complete audience and needs analysis / Conduct informal surveys of ENG 332 instructors and students to determine what ethical communication issues they are concerned with. / February 2, 2004
Complete literature review / Research current practices in business communication ethics; locate articles to be used for students’ additional readings. / February 9, 2004
Complete content specifications / Define goals and objectives for module, determine content, and create section overviews. / February 15, 2004
3 / Draft I due for peer review / Electronic copy of templates; surveys sent to professionals and ethicists for responses to be included in module; scenarios and objectives written. / February 19, 2004
Draft I due to Dr. Susan Katz / Electronic copy of site to include template pages with working navigation and graphic and text placeholders; scenarios and objectives written; survey results from professionals returned; comments from peers integrated. / February 24, 2004
Draft I due to consultants / Electronic copy of site to include template pages with working navigation and graphic and text placeholders; scenarios and objectives written; comments from peers and Dr. Susan Katz integrated. / March 2, 2004
4 / Draft II due to Dr. Susan Katz / Comments from consultants integrated. Feedback from professionals and ethicists integrated; suggested assignments and readings completed. / March 30, 2004
Draft II due to consultants / Comments from Dr. Susan Katz integrated. / April 6, 2004
5 / Final draft to consultants / Online Ethics Module complete. / April 20, 2004
6 / Evaluation / Project defense. / April 27 ~ May 4, 2004