Unit 3 – Reflection Blog

Introduction

In Unit 3 of the course, we had the opportunity to work on a draft of our Formal Report, and Peer Review a partner’s report.

Researching, Writing, Organizing Formal Report Draft

I found several aspects of performing the research for the Formal Report to be challenging. I had a difficult time getting engagement for the survey from students and fitting in interviews with professors.  I distributed the survey via the UBC Bachelor of Computer Science students’ Discord server. Here, I was able to obtain a few responses, however the overall engagement with the survey was fairly low. I ended up contacting Computer Science students individually to obtain a sufficient number of responses for the investigation. In the end, I was able to receive responses from 15 students in the Computer Science program. From here I was able to write comments on the findings and use the results to support a list of recommendations. To round out the research for my topic, I also wanted to gain the perspective of several Computer Science professors on running and setting up courses in the Hybrid delivery model. I contacted four professors, only to find that three of them were sick during the week most of the research was meant to be conducted. I ended up being able to speak with two of the professors I contacted in the few days just before the Formal Report draft was due. These interviews gave me invaluable insight that helped to round out the research for the report. For example, Dr. Karina Mochetti indicated that she was able to create an anonymous question forum for questions during lectures. She mentioned that students felt so comfortable using this forum, and there were so many questions asked during lectures, that she was able to use this to better structure her lectures surrounding complicated topics.  In organizing the Formal Report in my proposal, I thought that it would be useful to write about the costs of setting up courses in the hybrid delivery model. It ended up being difficult to get cost information, and I ended up needing to pivot to focus on the level of effort to set up courses in this model instead. The interviews conducted with the Computer Science professors were fantastic for gathering this information. I found that writing the report came fairly naturally after properly organizing it. I created a list of bullet points for each of the subheadings, complete with all the information and ideas that I wanted to convey. Once all of the information was in place, I changed the structure to sentences from bullet points, and edited the result for clarity. I was happy with how the draft turned out. Overall I found the writing process for the Formal Report draft to be a rewarding experience.

Peer Review Process

As in the previous peer review activities in this course, I learned a significant amount from the peer review process for the Formal Reports. My partner for this peer review was Kashish Garg. Kashish wrote a fantastic report about the feasibility of adopting an ungraded approach in Biology Lab courses at UBC.  This is a method of grading that foregoes numerical grades throughout the semester in favour of detailed feedback and reflections. The final course grade is based on a multiple-page reflection document completed at the end of the semester detailing the successes and material learned throughout the course. I learned a significant amount in reviewing Kashish’s report. In his report, there was a clear description of the limitations of the investigation. He also made some comments about how the limitations may impact the results. It made me realize that this kind of transparency helps the reader to more effectively evaluate the data and the final list of recommendations. This is something that I would like to incorporate into the final draft of my own report. Also found that Kashish provided fantastic support for his argument using existing research. In my own report, I primarily used secondary research to support the findings of my survey.  To improve my report, I may change this section to support the overall argument that a switch to a hybrid course delivery model would be beneficial for students’ education. For myself, the peer review process has helped identify several areas for improvement within my Formal Report. I look forward to addressing these to make the report as good as it can be for the final submission.

Conclusion

Unit 3 of the course has been challenging and rewarding. I have learned so much through the process of writing the first draft of the Formal Report, and through the Peer Review process. I am looking forward to the final unit of the course as a further opportunity to improve my writing.