Self-Assessment Reflection
ENGL 301 taught us the guidelines of technical writing, allowed us to practice those guidelines, and enabled us to teach and learn these guidelines from our peers in the class. Upon completion of this course, I feel I have greatly improved my technical writing skills, as well has highlighting my strengths and weaknesses which will enable me to further develop as a writing and aid me in a professional setting.
Strengths
Throughout ENGL 301, I have recognized three strengths in my learning process and writing. My first strength comes in the form of organization and a systematic approach. This was highlighted in the Formal Report process, having to write a proposal, an outline, and progress report helped me structure my writing for a fifteen plus page report. Revising through each section and having a clear outline enabled me to write efficiently and effectively. My second strength comes in the form of professional emails. Having learned the proper etiquette and structure of an email, whether it be providing an update or making a request, the skill of email writing imposed to me by this course is extremely valuable. I am thankful to have employed it already in an email correspondence with Dr. Paterson not as part of an assignment. My third strength is my ability to receive and apply feedback. This course offered feedback via instructor grading, peer revision, and self-reflection. In each case I was grateful for the feedback I received and happily implemented them to improve my work.
Weaknesses
Reflecting upon the ENGL 301 experience I have identified two weaknesses to my learning process and assignments. The first weakness I identified is providing peer feedback, particularly without using imperative verbs. I find it difficult to convey extremely accurate feedback to my peers as I feel I am constantly balancing the line between constructive criticism and offensiveness. Moreover, in some of my peer revisions and the Evan Crisp assignment I caught myself egregiously using imperative verbs, something that I have started working on removing towards the end of the course. Another weakness I identified is my lack of patience. This primarily manifests as a less thorough proof-reading as I am too eager to submit my work. Furthermore, my lack of patience sometimes arises when I begin an assignment. I will catch myself writing headstrong without a plan or structure, only to realize and have to heavily edit or start over, something that is counter to my learned strength of a systematic approach.
How My Strengths Support my Future Goals
My long-term career goal is the enter the tech industry as a software developer. From my brief foray into software related courses, a systemic approach to any problem is the most effective way to tackle an issue. Working through a problem stepwise will prevent me from feeling overwhelmed and present me with a clear plan of work. Furthermore, e-mail and digital message correspondence is rampant in any industry, so being a strong technical writer and maintaining and air of formality in my messages and requests will serve to better me in a job environment. Lastly being new to the tech field, I will eagerly be looking for mentors and other experts to provide me with valuable feedback on my work. Feedback which I will willingly accept and hopefully apply to my work to become a better software developer.
Overall, ENGL 301 has served as a great foray into the world of technical writing. I am grateful for this introduction. The overall course structure of online delivery, team-based learning (with peer reviews), and a chance to constantly revise and update work has served to enhance my learning of the technical writing and allow me to enhance and develop many skills. Skills, which I know I will employ for many years to come.