As we are now in week 10 of the semester, and as it has been more than a month since I posted my last reflection, I would like to share a few thoughts about my experience in ENGL 301 Technical Writing. In week eight, I had the opportunity to review and update my LinkedIn profile. My LinkedIn profile was already mostly complete, but I updated my headline to include my current role and I added an About section. For several years, I avoided writing an About section, because I made a major career change at the end of 2016. Until now, it has been difficult to summarize my education and work experience in a coherent and positive manner. I am happy that four years after leaving a career in teaching to pursue a career in software development, my past and present experience finally seem to make sense. I am also happy to report that, according to LinkedIn, I have now completed enough profile sections to be considered an “all star.” I think that the changes and additions that I made to my LinkedIn profile could help me to find my first job as a graduate, which now seems tantalizingly close.
In week six, I submitted my formal report proposal. For my subject, I chose to investigate how UBC’s Learning Management System could be improved to create a better user experience for remote teaching and learning. I am glad that the progress report assignment prompted me to create a writing schedule. I am now keenly aware that the next few weeks will be extraordinarily busy. I am a little concerned about my primary and secondary research plan. My survey may not draw many respondents and I may not be able to find many scholarly journal articles on the subject of remote teaching and learning. Following my writing schedule, I should have an answer to the latter concern by the end of the coming weekend. I hope that my research is successful.
In my review of Geneviève Bolduc’s formal report proposal, which I submitted in week seven, I offered suggestions regarding audience considerations, metaphorical or figurative language, formatting, consistency, commas, word choice, and content. I know that good grammar, sentence structure, and precise expression of meaning are not valued by all people equally, but I believe that these are important considerations, and I hope that Geneviève found my suggestions helpful.
Geneviève’s review of my formal report proposal was brief, but offered a couple helpful suggestions and reemphasized areas for improvement that Professor Paterson had identified. You can download my revised formal report proposal here.
I think that the peer review process is very valuable. An author’s peers are often able to notice small errors or other considerations that the author may have overlooked, despite repeated proofreading. I am looking forward to receiving more feedback on my writing from my peers. And I am looking forward to unit three! You can look for my next reflection blog post here on Monday, August 10.