Three Definitions
After setting up a technical writing blog and forming professional writing teams with our peers, Unit 1 introduced our first major assignment, “Three Definitions,” which was designed to enhance our technical writing skills. This assignment required us to write three definitions for a complex technical term related to our field, including a parenthetical definition, a sentence definition, and an expanded definition. The goal was to present these definitions in a way that was easy for a non-technical audience to understand. After completing the assignment, we had the chance to review our peers’ work and receive feedback on our own writing. This peer review process helped us to look at our own writing from a different perspective and use constructive feedback to improve our writing skills.
Peer Review of Definition
Defining “Illumina sequencing” clearly and concisely for a non-technical audience was challenging. I attempted to minimize the use of technical jargon but Jade was still able to point out that terms like “reversible terminators” might be confusing to readers without a scientific background. Jade suggested that I replace or expand on some of these complex terms with simpler descriptions. As a science student, these terms were second nature to me. Through the peer review process, I learned that I should take more into consideration the audience’s limited understanding of the topic. Thanks to Jade’s feedback, I was able to improve my writing to better communicate with a non-technical audience.
Reviewing Jade’s definition of ‘Hydropneumatic suspension’ was a highly informative process. I thoroughly enjoyed Jade’s definition and the high level of detail provided in her work. However, it required several reads to critically analyze each component of the definition and identify specific strengths and weaknesses. One of the challenges I faced was that Jade’s target audience was mechanical engineering students. Therefore, although I was unfamiliar with the term “multiplication effect” and suggested Jade to include a parenthetical definition of this term, it’s possible that her intended audience would be familiar with this term. Additionally, it was challenging reviewing Jade’s citations since I was unfamiliar with MLA and typically use APA. This pushed me to learn a new referencing style, which may be useful in the future.
Overall, this assignment proved to be a valuable experience for learning how to write for non-technical audiences. The peer review process was very helpful in identifying weaknesses in our writing and emphasized the significance of word choice and visual components for effective technical communication.