Category: Blog

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.

Web Folio Reflection

In the final unit and one of the final tasks of ENGL 301 we were given the assignment to create a Web Folio. A Web Folio is the opportunity to recognize and display our past works, as well as make it a custom representation of ourselves. I decided to build my Web Folio out on our original UBC Blog website.

Similar to the Formal Report, the Web Folio served as a daunting task. However, by applying a systematic approach I was able to accurately organize and structure my Web Folio in a meaningful way. I started by creating the pages I needed and the pages I wanted to include in my site (Best Work, Resume, etc.) and from there I provided guidance for a reader’s journey through the Web Folio. Like the Formal Report process it served as a great reminded of organization and structure serves as the building block for any project.

One of the key steps in creating my Web Folio was determining an audience or purpose for my page. I decided to take the approach that this Web Folio will serve as an adjunct to my resume. Where a resume provides a snapshot of one’s career and academic achievements, this Web Folio would provide a live look at my writing and organizational process. Additionally, I chose to offer personal elements as well like a link to my movie podcast (a hobby of mine). The intention is that this Web Folio serves as an extension of myself and allows any reader (or employer) the opportunity to get to know me and my personality, beyond the resume.

Creating the Web Folio has been a rewarding and rather addicting task! I am finding myself making revisions, adding pages, and removing pages. It has served as a great exercise to reflect and review my work throughout ENGL 301. It has also highlighted an overall positive trend in the quality of my writing over the course of the term. Moreover, the process of creative design has allowed me to make a professional website whilst still maintaining personality and uniqueness.

The Web Folio process is a disguised vessel for self-reflection. Self-reflection has been a consistent theme throughout ENGL 301. It allows me to think critically about my work, edit and revise, and consequently, improve my writing. I know I will continue to employ self-reflection in future writing, coursework, and beyond.

Unit Three Reflections

In Unit Three of ENGL 301 Technical Writing course, we had the opportunity to craft a memorandum to a fictitious student to help correct a professional email, we had to construct a formal report draft, and lastly provide a peer review of a classmate’s formal report draft. Each of these tasks provided a chance to practice the technical writing skills we have developed in this course as well as reach beyond our learning, and research for our formal report drafts.

Memorandum Demonstrating You-Attitude

In this exercise we aided mock student Evan Crisp in tailoring a more professional email to a professor. This task highlighted the importance of using a You attitude, that is putting the reader first, especially when enlisting the help of a superior. This idea of addressing the reading in a more personal and respectful manner goes a long way when asking for help and maintains and air of professionalism. Furthermore, this task taught me about avoiding the use of imperative verbs when providing feedback. I initially struggled with using too many imperative verbs, however, the feedback from this task helped me greatly when it came time to peer review my partner’s formal report draft.

Formal Report Draft

In the second task of this unit, we were challenged to write a first draft of our formal report. At first this tasked seemed daunting as the target length of the report was the longest assignment yet. However, using the outline I had provided in Unit Two along with taking the time to map out the structure of my report I was able to build a first draft that I am quite proud of. My biggest takeaway from this process was how the investment in time spent ensuring that the report would follow a logical flow, maintained a structure that told a story, and kept the target audience in mind enabled me to write efficiently and with passion all to enhance the reader’s experience. Moreover, I was able to further develop the skill of creating and integrating graphics to add more brevity to my report. I am becoming more confident in writing longer proposals, and I am looking forward to polishing up my final report.

Peer Review of Formal Report Draft

In the final task of this unit, I was given the chance to peer review Corbyn Kwan’s formal report draft. Corbyn has a unique proposal, and his draft covers a variety of topics all the while maintaining a logical structure so the me (the reader) does not get too confused. Corbyn’s report did have some issues particularly in the Data section relating to figures and the data presented. This review process providing me the opportunity to build on what I learned and feedback I received from task 3.1. I was able to offer suggestions without the use of imperative verbs in a way that I believe will improve Corbyn’s report. Reading Corbyn’s report with a critiquing lens also helped me analyze my report further as there were various organizational structures present in his report that could be beneficial in mine. Corbyn provided a review of my report, this is my second peer review from Corbyn, and I am always grateful for his feedback, he often catches my grammatical errors and overuse of technical jargon. As always, the peer review portion provided valuable feedback.

Overall Unit Three was the most challenging unit thus far. I was challenged to apply a new technique in the You Attitude assignment and I was challenged again in developing a draft of my formal report. I learned the importance of not using imperative verbs when providing feedback and I employed this knowledge when giving my partner a peer review. I tackled my report from a systematic point of view, and this helped me write in a more meaningful way. I look forward to continually using these techniques in future writings.

Formal Report Draft: Feasibility Analysis of Increasing the Student Transportation Methods on UBC Vancouver Campus_Draft 1

Reflections on Unit Two

In Unit Two of ENGL 301, I was tasked with conceptualizing and forming a topic for a formal report. Beginning the process of writing a formal report, I wrote a Formal Report Proposal as well as a Formal Report Outline. In addition, I was able to peer a fellow groupmate’s Formal Report Proposal. Lastly, I wrote a memorandum on the top LinkedIn practices.

Report Proposal and Outline

Brainstorming a topic for a formal report was quite difficult. Through this process I learned that writing a formal report is more enjoyable and meaningful if the topic is one of passion. For me my topic came as a it is a point of frustration and anxiety for me to rush to classes which are back-to-back and inevitably be late. From this I was able to see what the current offerings there are for on campus travel. After surveying the current landscape, I was able to do extensive research on various ridesharing options implemented in cities and campuses elsewhere. As my research progressed my proposal structure became clearer. I will keep this approach in mind when tasked with future reports. Having genuine interest and taking an logical approach makes the process more digestible and cohesive.

Reviewing a Groupmate’s Proposal

I was able to peer review Justin Tang’s proposal. I was impressed by Justin’s analytical solution to an everyday problem he and other students face. I also noted some research gaps in Justin’s proposal and minor grammatical errors, which reminded me of common errors and to keep my research clear and concise. Overall, the peer review process proved to be a beneficial learning opportunity.

Revising My Proposal

I was fortunate to receive two peer reviews on my proposal. Both Corbyn and James provided great feedback on my proposal and I am grateful for 2 pairs of eyes to help me with my grammatical errors. James provided valuable feedback about including environmental impacts and costs in my scope. Which I plan to implement in the final report under the “potential challenges” aspect.

LinkedIn Best Practices

This was quite an enjoyable and relevant writing assignment for me. As someone who is relatively new to using LinkedIn it proved to be very beneficial to read about how to have a proper profile and conduct proper etiquette on the site. Specifically, about the importance of developing a complete profile and managing and fostering connections. Furthermore, I found additional benefit from reading through other classmates posts as they had other tips I had not found.

In conclusion, as a second unit wraps up in ENGL 301 I found this unit to be highly rewarding. The process of developing a topic and using that to shape and build a formal report proposal is a valuable skill which I will continually apply in my life and career. Moreover, the peer review processes was enlightening as group collaboration is a tenet in all careers and workplaces.

Link to revised Report Proposal
https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30199c2022w2/2023/03/17/formal-report-proposal-revised/

Link to Peer Reviews received
https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30199c2022w2/2023/03/02/peer-review-of-formal-report-proposal-for-aman-johal/

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30199c2022w2/2023/02/28/peer-review-formal-proposal-to-increase-student-transportation-methods-on-campus/

Unit 1 Reflection Blog

Writing the first draft of the Technical Definition

In the first unit of ENGL 301 we were presented with the challenge of writing a definition for a technical term for a non-technical audience. While I have experience preparing materials for a technical audience (members in my field of study) I seldom have the opportunity to present to a non-technical audience. My term of choice was “Bioequivalent Medication” stemming from my background of being a pharmacist. Part of this assignment was to write three different types of definitions; parenthetical, sentence, and expanded. Each definition increases in the breadth and detail of the definition. The expanded definition is the most robust definition and within it there are several methods to help explain a topic including the history of the term and the etymology. It was interesting to see how only some of the expanded methods were appropriate to my term of choice. Explaining the history behind bioequivalent medications and the stepwise process of how bioequivalence is achieved allowed me to explain more technical terms without the needless jargon. A few challenges that I faced during the assignment was filtering out technical terms which I used to support my definition. Furthermore, using appropriate expansion methods took some time, as I was focussed on picking the clearest methods for my non-technical audience. Overall, this was a challenging assignment, but in completing it I found that this is a pivotal skill to have moving forward.

Peer Review Process

For this part of the assignment, I was partnered with a member of my team (James Edralin) and tasked with reviewing his technical definition, while he reviewed mine. This was an extremely helpful portion of the assignment, as I was able to compare my techniques to James’. Being a member of the non-technical audience reading about a new term provides excellent perspective for writing techniques that made it helpful for me to understand. For example, James’ followed a nice chronological expansion in his expanded definition. He went over the etymology, the history, how it’s made and tied it together nicely with a picture. As part of the review process, I was able to provide James with some constructive feedback and James was able to do the same to mine. James was able to highlight some areas that still had too much jargon, areas that as a non-audience member I had missed, and he pointed out some grammatical errors. I am grateful for the opportunity to receive feedback as well as being able to analyze a peer’s work.

Revision Process

After the peer review, I had gathered great feedback on the pitfalls of my definition, and I had gained valuable perspective of being an audience member. My team member provided excellent feedback and suggestions on how to implement some changes. Through this I was able to edit my definition to remove some jargon and expand on terms in a more digestible manner. Moreover, I was able to clean up my grammatical errors and change some sentence structures. Now my revised definition is more easily read and understood by a non-technical audience.

In conclusion, this was a methodical assignment where each step provided valuable knowledge towards developing a critical skill. I have a deeper appreciation for the value of learning a new skill, offering and receiving constructive feedback, and applying changes to revise and improve.

Link to Peer Review of my Definition: James Edralin Peer Review of Bioequivalent Medication

Link to Revised Definition: Bioequivalent Medication – Revised Definition

To: Corbyn Kwan, English 301 Student <naruto01@student.ubc.ca>

From: Aman Johal, English 301 Student <ajohal21@gmail.com>

Date: January 31, 2023

Subject: English 301 Writing Team

Dear Corbyn,

I am reaching out to you to propose you join my English 301 writing team for this semester. Currently I have reached out to James Edralin and Justin Tang and I am hoping you will be the 4th and final member.

I have taken the time to read through your application letter and am impressed by your positive and goal-oriented attitude. It is clear by your past experience you are constantly working towards your goal of being a tech entrepreneur. I feel your academic achievements are reflective of the level of work you put into your assignments. I am excited at the chance to work with a hard worker such as yourself. Furthermore, your skills of being very responsive to messages and completing your takes early make you the ideal team member.

I appreciate your candid response to your weaknesses in your application letter and I am hopeful we can learn from one another. For your reference, please read through my Application Letter and consider this proposal to join my writing team. Please confirm your response by Feb 1st, 2023, I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Aman Johal

To:      Delsther James Edralin, English 301 Student

<dedralin@student.ubc.ca>

From:  Aman Johal, English 301 Student <ajohal21@gmail.com>

Date:   January 29, 2023

Subject: English 301 Writing Team

Dear James,

I would like to propose that we form an English 301 writing team for this semester. I have recently reached out to Justin Tang about forming a team together. Having reviewed your application letter I believe you possess a skillset that compliments the proposed team, and I am excited to work with you.

From reading through your application letter I was impressed by your technical writing skills in you have developed from previous studies of architecture as well as the knowledge you gained having worked for a year as an Architectural technologist. I feel your research paper abilities will serve as a valuable component in the proposed writing team as it is a skill that I am hoping to further develop. Moreover, I see that our learning philosophies align nicely, we both are open and keen to learning from one another.

Please take the time to read my Application Letter and consider my proposal for a writing team. I am looking forward to collaborating with you, please confirm your response by February 1^st, 2023, I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Aman Johal

To:      Justin Tang, English 301 Student <jtang102@student.ubc.ca>

From: Aman Johal, English 301 Student <ajohal21@gmail.com>

Date:  January 29, 2023

Subject: English 301 Writing Team

Dear Justin,

I have had the opportunity to review your letter of application for a writing team and would like to propose that we form a team together. After reading your letter I believe we would make a strong team together and I am hopeful for the opportunity to collaborate.

I feel we will work well together given your strong skills in written communication considering your past experience in various executive roles for clubs and teams coupled with my similar experience in my past career. Furthermore, I believe your technical research writing skills in conjunction with your global learning experience in Hong Kong will prove to be valuable experience which I hope to learn from.

As such, I look forward to forming a writing team with you. Please keep in mind I will be reaching out to other candidates to round out our prospective team. I am looking forward to collaborating with you, if you are interested in joining my English 301 team, please let me know before February 1st, 2023. Thank you for your consideration.

For your reference a copy of my application letter can be found here 301 Aman Johal Application Letter

Sincerely,

Aman Johal

University of British Columbia

MEMORANDUM

To:        Professor Erika Paterson
From:    Aman Johal (ENGL 301 Student)
Date:     January 26, 2023
Subject: English 301 Group Application Letter Posting

As outlined in the ENGL 301 course structure, unit 1:2 I have posted a letter of application for the formation of a writing group for the semester. My application letter is available on my student blog and for your convenience here is an attached copy 301 Aman Johal Application Letter.

My letter of application includes:

• Details from my previous academic experiences and work   experience
• My writing and group work strengths and how they relate to past experiences
• My weaknesses as a writer and how I want to address them
• My learning philosophy

Please feel free to have a read through my application letter at your earliest convenience. I am looking forward to your next blog post update.

Dear English 301 Classmates:

I am writing to highlight my previous experiences and professional interests with the hope of creating the perfect writing team for English 301 this semester. I am hoping to apply my knowledge from past work and academic experience to be an outstanding member of any writing team.

My previous academic experience includes an undergraduate degree in biology at Queen’s University followed by a professional degree at UBC Pharmacy. Throughout these schoolings I have had the opportunity to develop my technical writing skills having written many papers and reports. In addition, I have lots of practice peer reviewing and working in a group setting. Prior to coming back to UBC for computer science I worked as a pharmacist manager for three years. In this role, I was responsible for writing to the senior executive team weekly reports of the business and the projected landscape, as well as having to maintain written and verbal communication with members of my own business unit.

My strengths include having strong attention to detail and this is reflected in my technical writing. I have earned praise from my previous workplace for my detailed and well-organized reports. An area I hope to grow in my writing is to remove the excess fluff in my writing and improve my writing structure to include more variability. Additionally, I am looking forward to working with a group, being inter-dependent on each other helps me with my time management and collaboration skills.

To improve in my listed areas of weakness I hope to learn from this course content, the instructor, and my writing group. My learning philosophy is everyone can teach you something, so I am looking forward to learning from everyone involved in this course and my group.

Thank you for taking the time to read my application letter. Please find a copy of my application letter here 301 Aman Johal Application Letter

Sincerely,

Aman Johal
English 301 Student