UNIT 3-Reflections

Unit 3 has been the most challenging unit so far.  I personally found that creating the formal report draft was very involved.  The employee application package was more straight forward although I debated a long time over what style of resume would be the most suitable to use. The most enjoyable assignment of this unit was  performing a peer-review of my partners draft of his formal report.  I received huge benefits from reading and assessing my partners formal report since it provided insight into how I can improve the layout of my formal report.    I really enjoyed learning how to write with YOU attitude by helping Evan Crisp write his request as well as writing with YOU attitude in the peer-review of my partners formal report draft.

Research

The research process for my formal report included obtaining primary data and researching for secondary data.  For the primary data, I developed an online survey using a 5 point scale.  This survey was then emailed to each of the dental hygienists working at Laurelwood Family Dentistry to obtain primary data about the types of prophylaxis polish currently in use for dental polishing.  The survey also attempted to identify whether clients were satisfied with the degree of stain removal after rubber cup polishing, the self-reported incidence of the development of dentinal hypersensitivity after dental polishing and finally the polishing technique employed for implants.  The secondary research was limited to peer-reviewed studies that were published in the last 10 years.

Organizing

The organization of my report has been more challenging than I had anticipated,  I am often referring back to the textbook and searching through the course blogs looking for more examples and information to support the organization of my formal report. I am also having some technical challenges with the draft including the creation of a table of contents that links to the content in the document.  I may have to remove this feature if I am unable to have the table of contents link to the headings consistently.  I am also struggling with some formatting issue of the graphs in addition to deciphering where to place them in the report.

Writing

Throughout the process of writing my formal report, I made a conscious effort to try to remain impartial about the strengths and limitations of implementing an air-polishing system for the removal of dental stain. I found it challenging to present the reader with a balanced analysis of my findings using a professional tone that included YOU attitude.  While trying to adhere to the instructions for writing this formal report, I was constantly reminding myself to structure the sentences for my specific audience. As a result, I have discovered that I still need to modify the wording to tailor it more precisely to my audience.

Peer Review

Performing a peer-review for the purpose of providing critical feedback for my partner to be able to improve his writing has been very rewarding.  My partner has done an outstanding job writing his formal report draft and with practice, performing the peer review has become somewhat easier. I found it especially helpful following the ideas presented in the “writing with a YOU attitude” blog.  Conversely, receiving a peer-review of my work has prompted me to be more critical of my writing. I am spending more time and effort re-examining my composition to identify areas needing improvement.  Sometimes the improvements are merely semantics while other times a more serious overhaul of the writing is required.  For me personally, the final outcome of this bidirectional process, is a wonderful blend of benefits to support my writing.

Link to word doc: ENGL301-Draft-formalreport-BJD with tables

LinkedIn

The process of developing my LinkedIn profile was a bit stressful as well as very exciting.  Completing the research assignment on the top ten best practices for developing a LinkedIn profile was very informative. I have discovered that I am not completely comfortable with having a profile on social media including a professional social media profile.  I do recognize that LinkedIn is a useful marketing tool in other industries but I am not convinced of the benefits for dental hygiene.  Additionally, I feel somewhat vulnerable with having my profile on the internet.  However, as a Registered Dental Hygienist, I recognize the fact that I am required to practice with a certain degree of transparency including displaying my full legal name in my practice.  As a result of completing the LinkedIn assignments, I have gained a deeper appreciation of social networking platforms and have discovered the importance of accuracy of the written word.

Progress Report

As I organized the tasks for writing my report proposal, I was able to get a realistic sense of the work load ahead of me.  I will need to spend a considerable amount time and effort completing this worthwhile project. I have chosen an issue that is a current concern in my practice that needs to be addressed.  If I am able to compile a well written report, it has the potential to benefit the practice, the dental hygienists and most importantly, the patients.

Peer Review

I had the opportunity to perform 2 LinkedIn peer reviews since we had a late addition to our writing team and 1 Research Proposal peer review.  Reading the assignments of other classmates permits me to see various writing styles  and this exposure is helping me to develop my own personal writing style.  As a result of performing these peer reviews, I have become more critical of my own writing.

I have also received valuable feedback to assist me with my LinkedIn profile and to support my research proposal.  Both of the peer reviews that I received were written with a respectful tone and offered valuable constructive criticism. I am really grateful for the feedback that I received since this will support me in becoming a more accomplished technical writer.

My Research Proposal – Peer Review

301-revised research proposal-Barbara Dobes

While working through the lessons in Unit 1 of English 301 I encountered some  technological challenges.  Consequently, I needed to consult the FAQ pages for the UBC Blogs, as well as the course outline and textbook for further instruction and guidance.  I also had to differentiate the process of placing a  link to a word document and a hyperlink to a webpage in my blog.  I did a lot of experimenting and subsequent viewing of the blog to see if I was successful.  Eventually, I was able to include the link to the word document as well as the hyperlink to the peer review I received.   I also had some practice creating a letter of application, email invitations to classmates to form a writing team and writing a memo to the professor. The final assignment included writing definitions in 3 different formats, providing a review for one of my peer’s definitions and the final edited version of the assignment.

Original writing

As I set out to choose a specialized term for my definitions assignment, I asked myself what is a term I often encounter in my dental hygiene practice?  I settled on the dental term bruxism because I educate at least one client per day about this condition.   When I completed the initial draft of the document I was sure that there was more than enough information and that the images I selected supported the definitions.  However, one of the images really didn’t help to explain the concept of clenching and grinding and the expanded definition needed more explanation.

Peer-review process

I was very happy to receive the peer review of my definitions so that I could see the weaknesses, deficiencies  or sources of confusion for the reader.  I received valuable feedback for improving my document. Writing the peer review for my classmate was somewhat stressful since I wanted to provide feedback with a balance of positive encouragement and constructive critiquing while remaining diplomatic.  I was concerned that I may inadvertently insult my team member.  So I struggled somewhat with the wording used in the peer review.  Eventually, I was able to provide the feedback on their definitions.  As I become more comfortable with this process I believe it will become easier.

Editing process

The editing process was very instructive.   I added some additional information and changed one of the images since the original image was a bit confusing for the reader.  I enjoyed the editing process especially because of the additional ideas provided through the peer review.  I believe these changes achieved the goals of improving  the readability of the definitions document.  The editing process has demonstrated the utility of  independent evaluation as well as the value of writing several drafts before arriving at the final document.

Conclusions

Throughout this unit, I have learned some valuable new skills.  The initial hurdle was creating my blog, then adding pages, posts, widgets, and hyperlinks.  Through my persistence, I achieved all of these.  Additionally, I was able to work through the challenges of the original writing assignment, participate in the peer review process, incorporate my peer’s suggestions in the edited version of the definitions and learn to give and receive constructive feedback in a professional manner.  It has been a great experience so far!!

301 definition assignment instruction

My edited defintions

My peer review