Category Archives: Blog

Throughout this long journey of learning and practicing technical writing, I have improved my writing skills tremendously. Just to name a few, I have learned techniques for critiquing my peers’ work, preparing professional documents, and networking to build connections.

One of the most important skills I learned was the art of peer reviewing. Previously, I had very little opportunities for critiquing my peers’ work and I wasn’t very comfortable with it either. As the course progressed, I began to understand the components that make an effective peer review, and was able to create templates for writing peer reviews. I also realized that the advice and suggestions I was giving to my peers directly applied to my own work.

Networking is extremely important for building relationships and opening up opportunities. Creating a LinkedIn profile and web folio will definitely aid in showcasing my skills and experience to potential employers, while also expanding my network by building new connections. Since then, I have grown my network by connecting frequently with individuals and professionals in my field and staying updated with employers.

Preparing professional documents were the most applicable assignments that I had the pleasure of completing. Throughout the process of creating an application package, I learned effective techniques for writing professional documents such as resumes, cover letters, and requests for references. The skills I have learned will give me a competitive edge as I begin my co-op job search.

Overall, this course has taught me invaluable skills in written communication and presentation skills. My expectations enrolling in this course have been met. Although there is plenty of room for improvement, such as being more concise and creative with my sentences, I have definitely become a more effective technical writer.

I would like to thank Dr. Erika Paterson and Jasmine Spencer for their guidance and support throughout the course. I learned a tremendous amount of new skills, improved on existing ones, and had an enjoyable experience while doing so.

Web folios are becoming an increasingly popular method to professionally present oneself. It allows individuals to promote oneself more effectively compared to a conventional resume. Web folios enable the user to show off their content and creativity. As a bonus, it is online making it easily accessible by potential employers.

Throughout the process of creating this web folio, I have learned the importance of showcasing my professional skills, projects, and best works. I followed the ENGL301 instructions by including a home page, blog page, resume, LinkedIn profile, application package, and best works. I have also inserted images throughout my web folio, and added hyperlinks to assist navigation.

Overall, I enjoyed the process of creating my web folio and I am satisfied with how it turned out. As I continue to gain more skills, experience, and projects under my belt, I will definitely be updating my web folio to reflect them. I am confident that my web folio will effectively showcase my skills and present myself professionally to future employers.

In this unit, we were required to have a formal report draft completed for peer review. The process of researching was very interesting and insightful. Since my report is about upgrading a data storage system, I spent a lot of time researching on effective techniques and ways improve productivity. While researching, I came across an article stating that the problem of information overload (too much accumulated documents) is costing US companies approximately $650 billion a year in lost productivity. This ties into my report nicely and emphasizes the importance of effective documentation and filing.

Organizing the report was not an issue as we were required to complete an outline. I followed the outline as best I could, while also adding new sections and removing those that were no longer needed. Writing the report came naturally as this was something I experienced first-hand at my workplace. Being passionate about my work definitely motivated me to do my best to solve the issue. If I was forced to write a report about an unrelated topic, it would definitely be much more difficult and less engaging during the process.

I enjoyed peer reviewing my partner’s formal report draft about improving the undergraduate enrolment rate of the UBC chemistry program. As an undergraduate student who has gone through those exact first and second year chemistry courses, I was able to relate my experiences to the recommendations my partner gave. I completely agree with her recommendations, and am extremely excited to read her final formal report.

During this unit, I learned that the process of writing an effective formal report takes a lot of time and effort. Creating a survey took majority of the time because extra care was needed to make sure the results were interpretable from the given questions. Summarizing my findings and proposing recommendations were the parts I enjoyed the most. I got to review the opinions of the undergraduate research assistants I work with, and suggesting recommendations to improve the workflow of the lab was incredibly rewarding. Overall, writing the report has been a great experience.

In this unit, we were asked to study techniques for professional networking and to build an online profile on LinkedIn. I have never used LinkedIn before so I set up an account following the techniques I have researched. I was able to make many connections right from the beginning and quickly realized the importance of professional networking. It is a place to advertise your experience and skills to potential recruiters while also growing your online connections. Connections are important and can lead to opportunities that may never have opened up if you hadn’t taken the time to expand your network.

For my report proposal, I chose to investigate the documentation practices of undergraduate research assistants at the UBC Visual Cognition Lab because we recently discovered a major problem with a particular experiment due to poor documentation practices. This led to the experimental data being unusable, which was painful to hear about. As the technical manager, I believed that I could improve the documentation and archiving protocols to minimize such problems from arising in the future.

I felt that preparing my report proposal and outline was very straight forward because it involved a situation that I experienced first-hand. It got me thinking about why it happened and how it can be prevented, which motivated me to write this proposal. The most difficult part of this formal report has been constructing the survey while also being unbiased. For example, I would catch myself formulating questions that would potentially verify what I believe the problem to be. Instead, I should be formulating unbiased questions that would allow me to determine the exact problem.

During the peer review, I learned that I should constantly be mindful of the reader and to define terms that may be considered jargon. In my revised version, I added the definition of “visual intelligence.” When reading my colleague’s work, I was very intrigued by the topic of improving enrolment in the UBC chemistry program. It was something I could relate to as I was required to take five chemistry courses in first and second year. I believe that the seven questions she plans to address are very strong and will lead her to finding a potential solution to the problem. I am very curious about the data acquired from the survey.

301 Daniel Chen Revised Report Proposal

Link to Peer Review of Proposal

In this unit, we were required to define a complex term, used in our field of study, to an audience of non-technical readers. I chose to define the scrum methodology frequently used in the field of computer science. I had previous knowledge of the term and worked in an environment where it was utilized. Thus, I felt confident in my ability to define this term to a typical layperson. As a bonus, I learned a few knew things about the scrum methodology while completing this assignment.

During the writing process, I felt that the parenthetical and sentence definition was much harder to write, as opposed to the expanded definition, because they are meant to clarify a term without going into detail. It was difficult to summarize a type of methodology into a single sentence without including other complex words that also required further clarification. Writing the expanded definition was slightly tricky, as I did not want to offend the reader by over-defining the term, while also including enough detail to convey the concept.

I learned a lot about my own writing during the peer-review process. From reviewing my partner’s work, I realized some of the changes I suggested could also be applied to my own work. For example, a word that is intuitive to you may not be to others. Since I was somewhat familiar with my partner’s term, it made it slightly difficult to identify possible areas of confusion. I was able to point out the strengths that made my partner’s definition excel.

In my revised definition, I added a section on the history of scrum, suggested by my reviewer. While writing this section, I realized the significance of the history of the word and how it could help the reader solidify their understanding of the term. Another great suggestion was to number each role and ceremony as I was describing it to re-establish an earlier statement I made. I would not have realized that these minor changes could help provide a better overall conceptual explanation for the reader if not for the peer review process.

Overall, this lesson helped me understand the importance of knowing your audience and writing from your reader’s perspective. It has taught me the various levels of detail between a parenthetical, sentence, and expanded definition, including when to use one over the other. The peer-review process was a useful learning tool for identifying my strengths and weakness, and the ways in which I could improve my writing skills.

Word document: 301 Daniel Chen Revised Definition

Peer-review by Alexis Jensen

123 Main Street

Vancouver, BC V5B 2X5

January 14, 2016

English 301 Technical Writing

University of British Columbia

2329 West Mall

Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4

Dear Classmates of ENGL301,

I would like to express my sincere interest in joining a writing group this semester for ENGL301. As a student looking to improve my writing skills, I am looking forward to collaborating and learning new writing techniques with fellow students.

I am currently a third year student in the Bachelor’s of Computer Science program, and hope to pursue a career in Software Engineering in the future. I have previously completed a Bachelor’s of Science majoring in Microbiology and Immunology at UBC.

During my time at UBC, I have been involved in many team-based environments. I had the opportunity to be apart of a group of four students where we designed and performed experiments to test a hypothesis we formulated. Throughout this experience, I have gained scientific writing experience involving a formal scientific journal article, which included an abstract, introduction, and conclusion. It has also taught me how to effectively communicate in a team to maximize efficiency. Communication is key to conveying your thoughts, ideas, and accomplishments.

I have improved my ability to write in a clear and concise manner, critically assess literature, and work effectively in a team. However with any skill, there is always room for improvement. I hope to improve my writing style, such as creativity and sentence structure, and expand my vocabulary.

As a team member, I am organized and reliable. I take initiative on assignments and put my best effort into my work. As a student with experience in many team-based environments, I strongly believe in the value of collaborative learning. I am confident that my work ethic and teamwork skills will be an asset to your team.

Thank you for taking the time to consider my application. If you would like to discuss the possibility of including me to your writing group, please contact me at dchen121@gmail.com.

Sincerely,

Daniel Chen

Word Document: 301 Daniel Chen Application Letter