Journal of Academic Writing

The European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing has just published the inaugural edition of the Journal of Academic Writing   The journal, which is international and peer reviewed, focuses on researching and debating best practices in the teaching of academic writing.  It's interdisciplinary but there is much that will be of interest to case writers including this article by Liz Cain and Ian Pople on writing practices in Business Studies.
Interestingly, those writers interviewed in the study make no reference to case writing, which led me to think about the status accorded to case writing in comparison to other forms of academic writing.  Case writers conduct and convert research into written accounts just as in other forms of academic publication, so what leads to their work being under reported even in studies specific to their subject area, where one would expect recognition of the form to be almost universal?
This peer reviewed journal is a welcome contribution to the academic study of the value that good writing brings to education.  Our annual awards for case writers make a contribution, of course, but we must find a way of doing more.

Attributes of excellence

..is the title of a very interesting read in the latest (July/August) edition of BizEd.  Jerry Trapnell of AACSB and W. Randy Boxx of the Harry F. Byrd Jr School of Business, Shenandoah University, take a look at the attributes of business schools pursuing accreditation.
Many of the key attributes are supported or supplied by writing and teaching with cases:

• a high level of engagement with internal and external stakeholders (case research and writing engages with business  and case teaching with students)
• excellent teaching and strong student learning (case teaching challenges the best teachers and delivers an engaged, better classroom experience to students)
• high quality research (case writing engages with research activity and delivers...)
• a relevant curriculum (...teaching cases that align teaching and research)  
• a global perspective   (ecch distributes cases from around the world written by faculty engaging with their local business, economic and social cultures)
• current trends and technology  (cases deliver rapid up to date business experience into the classroom)
• emotional grounding  (has anyone ever engaged with a case in the classroom and not been better grounded emotionally as a result?)