In Unit One of ENGL 301, the main assignment was to write a definition of a technical term for an audience with no prior knowledge of the subject matter. The term I chose to define is Abstraction and this term is an important concept in computer science and software engineering. The term can be difficult to describe without the use of technical jargon and complex examples. Three different types of definitions were written: parenthetical, sentence, and expanded definition. Each definition has varying amounts of details where parenthetical definitions have a small amount of details, sentence definitions have a larger amount of detail, and expanded definitions have the most amount of detail. This assignment was a great way to practice clear and concise writing because the definitions needed to be free from jargon and understandable to a non-technical audience. The writing process involved choosing phrases carefully and thinking about how to explain certain concepts with enough detail for the intended audience.   

In the peer review process, I read a team member’s (Dennis Tianxiang Deng) definition and give feedback on their work. Reading my team member’s definitions gave me ideas on how to improve my own definition. I was able to see how they organized the definitions by bolding and underlining subheadings and positioned visuals close to explanation paragraphs to create a good reading experience. I provided constructive feedback on how to improve on my team member’s definitions. The peer review process was helpful to receive feedback on my work so that my areas of improvement could be identified. Reading another team member’s work allowed me to critique another definition through critical lens and learn about areas of improvement that I could incorporate in my own work.

I was given feedback on my work to revise and improve my definitions. My team member pointed out missing citations for visuals and gave me suggestions on the placement of visuals to improve readability. I received feedback about my parenthetical definition which required correction. I reread the textbook to clarify the structure and purpose of a parenthetical definition to make the correction. This assignment taught me how to write a clear and concise definition that was free from technical jargon for a non-technical audience. It also taught me how to peer review and provide constructive feedback on someone else’s work. I believe that this assignment has improved my technical writing and editing skills and I look forward to future assignments with my writing team.     

Link to edited definition:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30198a2022s12/2022/06/13/revised-definition-abstraction/

Hyperlink to peer review by Chris Jung:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30198a2022s12/2022/06/10/peer-review-of-bensons-definition/