This term has flown by! I’m continuously shocked by how fast time passes. As my time at university comes to an end and graduation approaches, I am even more surprised at how quickly life moves past us. In this course, it was an awesome experience to look back and reflect on all the assignments I had completed in a few short months. From the Three Definitions assignment to compiling the Web Folio, I’ve gained experience in composing a variety of technical writing assignments and have added many skills to my writing arsenal. This blog post reflects on my strengths and weaknesses in this learning process and in my assignments as well as insight on how the skills I’ve acquired throughout my undergraduate degree could translate into my future career and educational goals.

Strengths in my learning and assignments

I believe that one of my strengths in learning is my strong work ethic. Even as a child, I have always been driven by an internal motivation to succeed and put out the best work possible. This skill helped me be successful in this course by allowing me to consistently practice the writing strategies learned in this course and self-edit to produce the best work that I can. The peer reviews were incredibly helpful for me to learn from my teammates and receive constructive comments to continue to refine my writing. Their writing abilities and thoughtful insights propelled the success of our writing team and for that, I am grateful for their help.

Weaknesses in my learning and assignments

One of my weaknesses would be that I can overlook minor details when completing projects and assignments. I have an innate desire to jump directly into action and often go straight into completing the bulk of the assignment before taking the time to read over all the instructions. As a result, I might miss small details in tasks and assignments such as using APA citation instead of MLA citation. In this course, I made a conscious effort to read over the instructions more than once as each assignment had different criteria. Although I was largely successful this term, this is something that I am continuously working on and I hope to improve my attention for detail in the future.

Translating my Skills and Strengths into Support for Future Career and Educational Goals

My skills and strengths as a student will support my future career and educational goals because I will demonstrate a strong work ethic and continue to put my best foot forward in whichever graduate degree program or career I end up working in. From this course, I have gained a variety of technical writing skills that will be directly applicable to my future career development. In job searching, I learned several tips on building a professional LinkedIn profile, resume, and cover letter that will highlight my academic and professional experiences and help my application stand out. Regardless of industry, having clear and concise written and technical communication is a valuable asset that is highly valued by employers.

Finally, I would like to thank my writing teammates and Dr. Paterson for an excellent term and all their help throughout the course. I wish you all the best!

The process of creating a Web Folio was a nice way to wrap up the term. This was the last big project before the end of term and although I truly enjoyed this writing class, I was excited to finally submit this assignment. To complete the Web Folio, I repurposed my original ENGL 301 blog which was not too challenging. Since I was quite satisfied with most of my assignments, the majority of my efforts went towards editing page titles and contents and choosing a well-suited template. I had initially put a lot of effort in each assignment so I found that only minor revisions were necessary and I was quite happy with most of my work. Prior to this course, I had never used WordPress and was very unfamiliar with blog posting and webpage design. When compiling this Web Folio, I was reminded once again of the beginning of term and the challenges that came with editing the site identity and page layout. After much internal debate about the look and feel of my blog, I finally decided on one and continued with the rest of the assignment.

In this assignment, I had the opportunity to reflect on all the assignments I have completed this term and recognize the hard work that my peers and I have put in this course throughout the term. Going back to read and edit all my assignments was very enjoyable and provided a strong sense of accomplishment. I can definitely tell that my technical writing abilities have improved throughout the duration of this class and I am very glad to be taking away useful writing strategies for future use.

In general, re-purposing the blog site into a Web Folio was a very rewarding experience. Although it was almost embarrassing in moments to reflect on my previous writing, re-reading and re-writing was enjoyable. Seeing the comparison between my original and updated assignments made it clear that I had grown as a writer in these few short months.

In summary, I believe that my Web Folio does a great job of summing up my academic and professional achievements in an organized fashion and I am proud of all the work that I have accomplished this term.

Formal Report Draft

In Unit 3, we conducted research to organize and write out formal report draft based on the proposal and outline written in Unit 2.

Conducting the research was quite enjoyable as it consisted of sending out surveys to fellow UBC students. It was very interesting to learn about the view points and perspectives of my peers regarding a topic I am passionate about. In my personal experience, including a short blurb mentioning the survey will only take a few minutes greatly helps with turnaround time. This proved to be true as most surveys were returned within a day of the survey being sent out. Upon reviewing the survey results, I learned that multiple choice questions were more effective at generating interesting data than custom user input questions. While each participant answered every multiple choice question, two-thirds of participants opted to not answer the one custom user input question regarding why they did not always participate in student evaluations. This made it more difficult to collect comprehensive data and apply the findings to a broader population of students. In the future, I would compose this question in a multiple choice style and have respondents choose the best answer for them. Although this style of question may limit the range of responses, most respondents will be more likely to answer the question in the first place.

The process of composing the first draft of the formal report was mostly straightforward. Having done the previous work from the outline, progress report, and the proposal, I had a solid sense of direction on what tasks needed to be completed and how to organize the report. However, the secondary research section took much longer to draft than expected. This was mainly because in Unit 2 I had planned on exploring more topics than I could reasonably discuss in the literature section of the formal report. Additionally, since I had proposed literature review topics before deeply investigating the range of papers in this field, it was difficult to find reliable, peer-reviewed sources regarding some of my initial topics such as determining the style of evaluation at each Canadian university. As a result, I had to deviate from the planned outline and focus the scope of my research to generate a simpler structure that would better support the survey results and interpretation.

Peer Review

In the peer review, I organized my review by going through the formal report draft section-by-section and providing feedback on specific sections. As my team member’s report was missing a few essential components such as the title and conclusion, I was able to provide some suggestions that would hopefully remind him to include these sections in his final formal report.

The peer review process was once again very helpful to identifying areas of improvement in my own report. During this review, I found myself referring to the peer review criteria to edit my formal draft, ensuring I had each component of the report and that it was readable and well-organized.

The peer review of the formal report was also very helpful for cementing the concept of maintaining a YOU attitude in professional writing. As I was able to quickly identify potential areas for correction for my team member, I will be sure to use this skill to aid me in revising my own work for the final formal report.

ENGL 301 Catherine Yu Formal Report Draft

Unit 2 consisted of a variety of assignments that allowed students to expand on existing technical writing abilities and gain new skills in other forms of professional communication such as networking and report-writing. This unit also marked the beginning of creating our formal report. 

LinkedIn

To begin, part of Unit 2 was researching techniques for professional networking and building a professional LinkedIn profile. In this age of social media, creating a public LinkedIn profile is almost essential for building a professional social network and connecting with recruiters and like-minded peers. Although I had previously created a LinkedIn profile, I was not consistently updating my experiences and had not used it as a tool to network and seek job opportunities. After researching and reading tips from other students, I realized the importance of keeping an up-to-date profile and identified several components of my profile that I could improve on. Some of the improvements I made were to use the STAR (situation, task, action, result) method when sharing work experience and to add an engaging ‘About’ section that introduced our professional interests.

The first step to completing the formal report included brainstorming and identifying an inefficiency in a public setting, such as a workplace, volunteer, or community organization. As a 4th year Microbiology & Immunology student, I am very familiar with current student perceptions of the teaching evaluation process and the limitations of term-end surveys. I have consistently heard from peers, as well as personally felt, that term-end evaluations did not benefit student learning and have witnessed a decline in interest in participating in term-end evaluations. Initially, I had some hesitation selecting this topic because I was aware that low completion rates for term-end evaluations have become a university-wide issue but I was not sure if adjusting the timing of  evaluations would be sufficient to address such a significant problem. 

After generating a formal report proposal, we were tasked to produce a formal report outline and a progress report memo. Designing survey questions for the formal report was quite a challenging process. It was surprisingly difficult to compose engaging survey questions without unintentionally inserting personal biases. The Instructor’s Blog was a very informative resource for learning how to compose positive, non-leading questions that would still provoke thoughtful insights from survey-takers. Overall, I am very pleased with the progress of the formal report as I am able to adhere to deadlines and apply feedback from Dr. Paterson and my writing team to consistently refine my writing. After receiving approval from Dr. Paterson, I immediately sent out the survey to study participants and am on track to complete primary data analysis by the date outlined in my progress report.

Peer Review

The peer review process has been very beneficial due to the insight gathered from peers and the exposure to different writing styles. Having another set of eyes has been incredibly helpful in identifying errors and refining our writing. For example, Jenny’s review of my research proposal highlighted several grammatical improvements that would increase the readability and professionalism of my report. Working in a writing team has also allowed me to become a better self-editor. After reading Jenny’s research proposal, I was impressed by the amount of detail she provided and went back to my own proposal to further elaborate on my ideas. By reading other students’ submissions, I was able to learn from my peers and adopt effective writing tips and tricks that I could use to improve my own assignments. I have been most surprised by the diversity of experiences that my peers were able to gain during their time at UBC, and how the differences in everyone’s background could impact our writing styles. Collectively, I believe that the peer review process has made me a more knowledgeable and detail-oriented writer. 

With this said, Unit 2 was incredibly informative and I look forward to the final two units of this course.

301 Catherine Yu Revised Report Proposal 

Jenny Li’s Peer Review

Three Definitions

After creating a technical writing blog, practicing techniques for writing professional documents, and forming writing teams with our peers, Unit 1 introduced our first major assignment- Three Definitions. The objective of this assignment was to write three definitions, a parenthetical definition, a sentence definition, and an expanded definition on a particular technical term related to our discipline and crafting the definition for a non-technical audience. The assignment was followed by an opportunity for team members to peer-review each others’ assignments, allowing students to gather direct feedback on their writing skills and to practice giving constructive feedback. The peer review process was beneficial for students to examine their work from a different perspective and utilize the constructive feedback to hone their writing abilities.

Peer Review

The process of defining ‘Immune Imprinting’ clearly and concisely for a non-technical audience was more challenging than I initially expected. I tried to limit my use of technical jargon but Dave brought to my attention that certain terms such as ‘antigenically-similar’ and ‘hemagglutination’ may confuse readers without an immunology background and suggested including a short description of the terms. As an immunology student, these terms were second nature to me. Through the peer review process, I learned that I should be more conscientious of the audience’s unfamiliarity with the subject. Thanks to Dave’s feedback I was able to revise my work and edit my situation and my definitions to communicate more clearly to a non-technical audience.

Writing a peer review for Dave’s definition of ‘Machine Learning’ was a highly informative process. Upon initial read, I truly enjoyed Dave’s definition and had trouble identifying any glaring errors in his assignment. It took several reads to critically analyze each component of the definition and note specific highlights and weaknesses and find areas of improvement. It was also challenging as critiquing the work of others is never easy to do. Similar to myself, I noticed that Dave also used technical jargon that would be familiar to readers in a different discipline. I realized that many of us faced similar challenges as the terms we’ve selected are likely commonly used in our respective fields. As both Dave and I appreciated the others’ visual components, I realized that visuals are an incredibly useful vessel of communication. This makes sense as it is commonly known that pictures are worth a thousand words.

Overall, this assignment was very helpful for learning how to write for non-technical audiences. The peer review process was very helpful to identify weaknesses in our writing and highlighted the importance of word choice and visual components when it comes to effective technical communication.

Revised Definition of Immune Imprinting

Dave Borrel’s Peer Review on Machine Learning

Hi Jenny,

I read through your application letter and I think we would work very well together in a writing team that I am forming with Dave Borrel and Darius Zhang.

With your academic experiences in professional and creative writing, I believe that you would be a great asset to our writing group. I noticed that we have similar interests as digital marketing and content creation is also one of my personal interests. Additionally, it is clear that you have excellent teamwork and leadership skills, and I am confident that you will help us succeed in a group setting.

Please let me know if you are interested in joining our writing team. My letter of application is attached to this email and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards,

Catherine

301 Catherine Yu Application Letter

Hi Dave,

I am Catherine Yu, your classmate from ENGL 301. I have read your application letter and think that you would be a great fit for the writing team that I am forming with Darius Zhang.

After looking through several applications, I noticed that we have similar research backgrounds that will complement each other quite well. Your diverse academic experiences in computer science and healthcare also show that you have a broad range of expertise and are capable of working effectively in various professional settings.

Please let me know if you are also interested in joining our writing team. For your reference, I have attached my letter of application below. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Regards,

Catherine

301 Catherine Yu Application Letter

Hi Darius,

Thank you for reaching out to me. I read through your application carefully and I would love to join your writing team. I believe your Business background and experience in preparing technical reports and proposals would make you a great fit for this position as well. It is evident that you have a strong work ethic and dedication to succeeding in academic settings. With our different academic background and combined communication skills, I think that we would complement each other well in a writing team.

I have also attached my letter of application to this email and would love to hear from you soon.

Regards,

Catherine

301 Catherine Yu Application Letter

Memorandum

To: Dr. Paterson, Instructor, University of British Columbia

From: Catherine Yu, Student <catherineyu5466@gmail.com>

Date: September 16th, 2020

Subject: Letter of Application

As requested in lesson 1:2, I have posted my Letter of Application on my blog. Please find my Letter of Application attached below to this memo.

The attached Letter of Application includes:

• overview of my professional and academic background
• description of my strengths and communication skills
• personal learning philosophy, work habits that will contribute to the writing team, and an invitation to connect

Please let me know if you require any additional information.

Encl. Letter of Application

301 Catherine Yu Application Letter

5023 Payne Street

Vancouver, BC V5R 4J5

Sept 20th, 2021

University of British Columbia

2329 West Mall

Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Attention: ENGL 301 Classmates

Subject: Recruiting teammates for a writing team

I am writing to find three classmates to form a writing team for ENGL 301 this semester. I am a 4^th year Microbiology & Immunology undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia with professional interests in the field of viral pathology and public health. I believe that my background in research environments and previous professional experiences would make me an excellent candidate to join your writing team.

I recently finished an internship at Vancouver Prostate Centre where I worked both independently and collaboratively on several exciting developments in the field of oncology. By working closely with other lab members and actively participating in several projects, I was able to strengthen my teamwork skills and develop excellent time management and organizational abilities. I am well-versed in preparing scientific reports and proposals and have gained lots of writing experience through English courses and electives. Throughout my degree, I’ve worked in several professional settings, including as a private tutor and receptionist. These experiences have allowed me to develop strong verbal and written communication skills and familiarity with workplace communication. Furthermore, I am always dependable in terms of meeting deadlines, easy to reach online, and available for meetings any day of the week.

I am an enthusiastic and hard-working individual, and I am excited to collaborate with my classmates and learn from one another. My learning philosophy is that learning occurs through experience and it is important to be an active participant in your own learning. In this class, that likely means lots of writing and engaging with your peers, which I am excited to do. If you are interested in forming a team, please contact me at catherineyu5466@gmail.com or through the Canvas chat. Thank you for your consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Catherine Yu

Encl. 301 Catherine Yu Application Letter