Using criteria in the recommendation report: a case study of the Texas A&M university bonfire commission findings

This case study describes classroom use of the decision making criteria contained in a recommendation report for corrective action following the 1999 bonfire accident at Texas A&M University, in which 12 students were killed and 27 were injured during a school-sanctioned activity. The instructional framework introduces criteria as a decision making tool, asks undergraduates to apply simple criteria in a hypothetical situation, outlines the TAMU case, and analyzes the TAMU report´s criteria item by item. It also provides guidelines for assessing students´ integration of criteria into their own recommendation reports. This case study offers an analytical model not often available to readers outside an organization and introduces undergraduates to a more sophisticated evaluative methodology than most have used in previous writing projects.