Amongst many other assignments for the second unit of ENGL 301, these last couple weeks students were required to make a professional LinkedIn profile, construct a formal report proposal and outline of their chosen topic, as well as peer review a writing team member’s formal report proposal. Below are my initial goals and thoughts on: the process of creating a LinkedIn profile, constructing the formal report proposal and outline, and the peer review process.
LinkedIn Profile:
Initial goals: create a professional online representation of my resumé that highlights my skills in a personal, yet professional way that attracts employers.
Creating a LinkedIn profile was a major challenge for me. Whenever I used to think of social media, I never thought about presenting myself in a professional way. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and the many other social networking platforms that exist today do not serve a similar purpose as LinkedIn does. As I started making my LinkedIn profile, I had to change my perspective. I had to tell myself multiple times that I was creating a “professional” social media network. I tried very hard to present myself as both personable and professional. Through the process, I have learned a lot about the best practices for LinkedIn, ranging from simply selecting an appropriate profile picture to including various keyword skills throughout my profile in order to attract professional recruiters. One of my favorite parts about this assignment was when I noticed that I have fifteen courses in common with one of my writing team members when I was reviewing his LinkedIn profile. This is just one instance that opened my eyes on the significance of including various sections on my LinkedIn profile such as courses taken in the past. Additionally it is very rewarding to see that I am already getting some connections with other people just a few days after creating my account. Having finally created my account, I feel very confident in my ability to continue working on my profile using the best practices I have learned. I am well on my way in strengthening my professional social media communication with potential recruiters.
The Formal Report Proposal and Outline:
Initial goals: select an appropriate topic that I am interested in, improve my techniques for writing formal report proposals and outlines, and get a better understanding of what my final formal report will look like.
One of the hardest parts of the formal report proposal was selecting a topic. Brainstorming about my volunteering, community and workplace activities brought up many potential topics. There were definitely a lot of topics I was interested to pursue, however, after some time, I decided to select my topic with the focus on one of my volunteering experiences that has a significant link to some of my courses at UBC. Being somewhat of an expert on the topic increased my chances of creating a strong formal report proposal. The template we were provided for the formal report proposal on page 561 of the textbook made it really easy to construct my own formal report proposal. I realized that going through the proposal step-by-step gave me a better understanding of the entire assignment and exactly what was expected of us. By the end of the report proposal, some of the original thoughts I had were completely revised, which highlights the significance of the assignment.
After finishing the formal report proposal, I was still not fully certain about my topic and what my formal report was going to look like. However, once I started creating a formal report outline, things really fell into place. I spent a lot of time thinking about the different parts of my outline because it was providing more structure to some of the ideas I had. Having organizing my thoughts in a clear manner will be very beneficial moving forward in the next steps of the formal report process. I am now fully prepared and aware of the next steps I need to take in my investigation. One of the biggest driving factors for me in the formal report was the focus on audience. In the instructions for the creating a formal report, it was mentioned that audience is the first and foremost consideration, which means that the reader is someone who should be taken into consideration in every step of the report. This instruction guided me in the right direction as I am now fully aware that my report is intended for review and consideration by Jody Wilson-Raybould, who is a powerful politician in the Canadian government with the interest to seriously consider my formal report. Moving forward, Jody Wilson-Raybould will continue to be my first and foremost consideration.
Before completing the formal report proposal and outline, I had a lot of questions about the formal report and what it should look like. I was very close to posting a list of my questions on the class Facebook page to make sure I was on the right track, but I think the structured approach we were assigned for the formal report made each step of the process clear. Furthermore, after completing the proposal and outline, I definitely have a better idea of what my final formal report is going to look like and exactly what it will be composed of. This definitely reminds me of one of my computer science courses on systematic design which required us to follow a specific recipe or set of steps in order to arrive at the final solution of problems. This systemic approach to the formal reports, which includes creating a proposal, providing constructive feedback to each other, and constructing an outline, is certainly making it simpler to develop an effective formal report. I have learned that in order to effectively complete technical writing assignments, it will take time and patience.
The Peer Review Process:
Initial goals: improve in providing constructive feedback to my writing team partners about their writing techniques and strategies, provide clear reasons for each piece of feedback, and offer suggestions to help improve another classmate’s assignment.
Through the peer review process these last couple weeks, I have noticed that as I do more peer reviews, I am developing more confidence in my abilities to provide helpful feedback to my writing team partners. At the start of ENGL 301, I was reluctant at times about some of the suggestions I had in mind, however, now that I have completed several peer reviews, I feel more comfortable in helping my team members with different writing styles. I know that providing and receiving constructive feedback is very helpful in technical writing, which is one of the main reasons I have really enjoyed the peer review assignments we have completed so far in this course. Furthermore, I noticed that as I was peer reviewing my partner’s assignment, I started to analyze my own work from another perspective. I am not quite sure if this is common for people who complete peer reviews, but as I was going through the various section’s of my partner’s research proposal, I noticed some things that led me to revisit my own assignment and reflect on my own technical writing and how I can improve it.
By reviewing my team’s writing forum, I have learned that although every student in the class uses a professional writing style and format, surprisingly, everyone has a different approach to the various assignments. Through peer reviews, I have noticed that my group members have been able to provide constructive feedback to each other in hopes of strengthening each other’s writing, while also receiving feedback that will help improve their own writing. Furthermore, peer reviews have helped us analyze and reflect on our own pieces of writing. The writing teams for this course are very beneficial because it is a safe space for us students to communicate with each other on the best practices for technical writing while keeping in mind that we are all here to learn and improve ourselves.
This unit has been another great one, which I have really enjoyed. I am very excited for the second half of the course.
Revised Research Proposal: english301-2-1-arash-farhadian-formal-report-proposal-revised
Manraj’s Review of my Research Proposal: http://engl301.arts.ubc.ca/2016/10/11/peer-review-of-arash-farhadians-formal-report-proposal/
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