A Professional Memorandum
Writing Workshop
Patricia Elliott, MPH
Candidate for DrPH
Boston University Instructional Innovation Conference
March 2, 2012
Overview

Innovation purpose

Workshop components

Application to other courses

Questions
INNOVATION PURPOSE
Context

Course: Women, Children and
Adolescents: Public Health Approaches

Assignment: Craft a professional
memorandum informing a decision maker
of a health issue along with a
programmatic or policy response.

Need for innovation: Students lack
professional writing experience.
Goals of the Memo Assignment

Synthesize information

Present ideas clearly and efficiently

Build career related skills

Create a polished writing sample
Challenges for Students

Professional writing ≠ academic writing

It is difficult to break successful habits

Short assignments are the enemy of
procrastinators
Innovation: Memo Workshop

Students need practice and support to
build new skills

Multifaceted skills-building workshop
◦ An interactive in-class session
◦ Students work with their own material
◦ Uses lecture, individual, and group work
THE WORKSHOP
Components

Instructional lecture

Individual brainstorming

Group collaboration

One-on-one instructor interaction

Class-wide group discussion of prepared
examples
Section 1- Memo Dissection


A close look at each memo section:
o Introduction
o Proposed program/policy
o Scope of the problem
o Major constituencies
o Current approaches
o Conclusion
The importance of
being concise and direct
Instructional Lecture
Section 2- Partner Time
Practice being succinct and clear
 Students turn to their neighbor and must
summarize in 60 seconds:
◦ The importance of
their health issue
◦ A brief description
of their policy or
programmatic
recommendation

Class discussion of challenges
Group Work
Section 3- The Art of Writing

Presentation of the nuances of
professional writing with a focus on:
◦ Tone
◦ Formatting
◦ Content

General writing tips
◦ Active/passive voice
◦ Grammar
◦ Citations
Instructional Lecture
Section 4- Practice with Topic

Individual work
◦ guided by a handout

Partner work
◦ present ideas and ask
questions to neighbors

Faculty work
◦ one-on-one questions
addressed by roving
faculty and TAs
Individual and Group Work
Section 5- Analysis of Examples
Examples of each memo section are
displayed on-screen and in a handout
 Class-wide discussion of strengths and
weaknesses, followed by faculty analysis
 Slides, with faculty analysis included, are
posted to course website after class

Class-Wide Group Work
Section 5- Analysis of Examples
APPLICATION TO
OTHER COURSES
Application of Innovation

Direct use in other courses
◦ Any course that requires students to write a
memorandum
◦ Applications in public health, public policy,
business sector, etc.

Expanded use for the format
◦ This multi-faceted format for skills building
can be applied across the curriculum to help
student acquire a variety of new skills
SUMMARY
Benefits

Improves students’ understanding of the
nuances of professional writing

Engages and challenges students to work
through their own topic in a way that
identifies hurdles and provides immediate
support from peers and faculty

Offers flexibility for a range of audiences
and educational goals
QUESTIONS?