This page features a collection of my best technical writing pieces over this term of ENGL 301. I have revised them based on the valuable feedback of peers and the instructor.
This assignment contains three definitions of a technical term of our choice. Writing clearly and concisely, as well as having a target audience in mind was very important to succeed in this assignment.
Peer Review of the Definitions Assignment
As the very first peer review assignment, this exercise allowed students to carefully review our teammate’s writing strategies and offer constructive feedback, whilst receiving our own feedback and reflecting on our personal assignments. Through this process, I was able to learn from my peers and implement writing techniques that improved my own writing abilities.
The process of brainstorming an interesting and feasible research topic was challenging but very rewarding in that I learned a lot about the research process. The Three Definitions assignments was very helpful for this assignment as well in regards to writing for the appropriate audience.
Formal Report Progress Report with Survey
Drafting the formal report outline and progress report was very helpful as it provided a solid sense of direction on which components needed to be completed and how to organize the report. The process of designing survey questions was a new experience for me, and I learned valuable lessons on composing questions that were positive, non-leading, and that would provoke thoughtful insights from survey-takers.
LinkedIn Best Practices Memorandum
Although I have been using LinkedIn since the start of university, doing research on best practices taught me lots of new tips about networking on the platform and gave me the opportunity to improve the readability and professionalism of my page.
The process of providing writing suggestions to a student who used an inappropriate tone to address his professor in an email exchange was very helpful in improving the professionalism of my own writing. The importance of maintaining a YOU-attitude was a very useful lesson that I will take away from this course and incorporate whenever possible in technical writing.
Complaint and Adjustment Letters
Composing complaint and adjustment letters used to express disappointment towards services and respond to such complaints was a fun assignment as it mimicked technical writing that may be commonplace in our daily lives. These letters should be clear and concise, and maintain a professional tone throughout.
Peer Review of Formal Report Draft
Having the opportunity to read the formal reports of my peers was a pleasure. Through both reading my teammates’ work and receiving their feedback on mine, I was able to gather valuable insight from their comments and be exposed to different writing styles which contributed greatly to the self-reflection and further refinement of my writing.