Integrating WBL in English Courses

The goal of WBL is to provide more students work-based learning opportunities, such as guest speakers, industry panels, and opportunities for “learning by doing" that help connect students to future careers. While internships are an excellent way to experience work-based learning - for a variety of reasons - many students do not have that opportunity. This creates a disadvantage for those students when they apply for jobs and have no practical experience in the field, or knowledge of the work done in that role, much less an idea of whether they have interest/fit for a career in that field due to lack of exposure. WBL helps students "test drive" different careers in writing, and by integrating WBL into GE courses, we help close this equity gap.

How You Can Help

Consider incorporating one assignment drawn from fields such as Public Relations, Marketing, Journalism, Advertising, or Computer Science, to provide career awareness and exploration. Here are a few examples:

Public Relations

Invite MiraCosta’s PIO, Kristen Huyck, to class to speak about writing for Public Relations. Assignment opportunities might include writing a press release announcing a new service or development at MiraCosta (for distribution to media outlets) or crafting talking points that can be publically shared during a hypothetical PR crisis.

Marketing

Invite France Magtira, MiraCosta's Digital Marketing Coordinator, to speak to the class about writing for social media. Content creation is a central part of marketing efforts. By conveying relevant information that appeals to a target audience, brands can deepen customer loyalty, and create greater awareness as users’ like/comment/share that content. While students are exposed to this as social media users, that's quite different from doing it for a career. (If they think writing a 10-page paper is challenging, they should not underestimate the challenge of conveying meaning in just a few lines!) Students can be tasked to write an attention-grabbing caption to accompany a quality image (student shoots image or royalty-free images can be obtained through sites like shutterstock.com). Students are assigned a specific brand persona/tone to convey in their writing (such as humor, innovation, healthy, or speedy.) This could be done as a contest where the best caption could be posted on MiraCosta's social media accounts.

Journalism

Invite Jane DeRoche, Chariot advisor, or the student Editor of The Chariot, to speak to the class and assign a 500-word editorial piece – the best one will be published.

Advertising

Copywriting is at the core of all good advertising. A select few words that capture the essence of a brand can become a slogan that generations will remember. It's difficult to be succinct, and it's especially difficult to express a complex emotional concept in just a couple of words -- which is exactly what slogans do. Challenge students to create original slogans for a product and have the class vote on the best one. A slogan may encompass a company's mission, what it stands for, and how it helps customers. Introduce the exercise by asking students to identify the companies behind these memorable slogans: "Just Do It" (Nike), "Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands" (M&Ms), "Can You Hear Me Now? Good." (Verizon), and "Think Different" (Apple).

Computer Science

Technical writers work in many fields from gaming, to finance, to biotech, to healthcare. Technical writers prepare instruction manuals, how-to guides, journal articles, and other supporting documents to communicate complex and technical information more easily. Many technical writers freelance and work for different companies. Have students write a step by step guide that is easy for any new students to learn how to sign in to Canvas, add a photograph to their profile, and set up notifications in Canvas so they receive a text each time an announcement and grade are posted in a course. (The best submission can be shared with other faculty to help their students' use Canvas in ways that make students more focused and connected – keys in student achievement.)

Soft Skills

An opportunity to infuse WBL into the curriculum is to have students write an effective, professional email. Email is one of the most widely used forms of communication both in and out of the workplace. Because of its speed and efficiency, students will likely use email in some capacity no matter their future role or industry. You can write professional emails for a variety of reasons, such as recapping an important meeting or sending an update. A well-composed email provides the recipient with a friendly, clear, concise and actionable message. Learning how to write an email that meets all of these criteria can take practice.

This article can serve as a guide. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/how-to-write-a-professional-email