In Unit 2, we wrote a best practice memo for LinkedIn networking practices, the start, an outline, and a peer review of the formal proposal.
I found creating a list of top practices for creating a LinkedIn profile relatively easy. There was a superfluity of blogs and information on the internet advising how to optimize LinkedIn profiles, and many echoed each other. I feel less daunted at updating my LinkedIn profile after conducting the research. I also learned that LinkedIn has abundant resources for networking, professional development, and educational content. I now believe it to be a valuable tool for networking before I felt a little blasé toward it.
Formal Report
On the topic of my formal report, brainstorming and preparing were overwhelming and a bit scary. I was unsure if I could propose a problem to solve that would be long enough for the assignment. Interviewing people also created some anxiety as I’m not exceedingly outgoing or physically on campus regularly. However, once I found an issue I related to and was passionate about, designing an outline became easy. The data to support my proposal will be assembled from an online Qualtrics survey. Using an online survey decreases my anxiety. I also hope to interview a couple of professors once my questions get approved. I feel confident that I will be able to keep up with the progress of my proposal. The writing schedule component of the memorandum assigned this week was a great idea and will help me keep on track.
Peer Review Process & Writing
Regarding this week’s peer review, I found it much more challenging than the first peer review. I reviewed Jade Duan’s proposal. In all honesty, I am not entirely sure why I struggled. I didn’t grapple with the content of my peer’s proposal, but more with the how-to structure of the feedback. I forgot to leave out the “person” tense and had to go back and make some corrections. Jade gave me feedback to add citations to my proposal which would strengthen my argument. My professor also evaluated my writing and provided some examples of how I could enhance my peer review. In the process, I learned to avoid imperative verbs by writing my correcting the peer review and the memo assignment.
I can see that my writing is improving through these exercises, and I am confident I will do much better on my third peer review. I often enjoy reading my team’s proposals, peer reviews, and the other teams’ writing. I appreciate that we all have very different writing styles. Sometimes I find myself drawing on their writing style or revising my content as I see a better example of conciseness. A couple of my team members have formal proposals that I can directly relate to. I am excited to read all their formal proposals as their topics are diverse and unique. Overall, I am enjoying this course and look forward to these coming weeks.
Link to my Formal Proposal
Link to Jade’s Peer Review of my Proposal