Reflection Blog Unit 2

Based on the outline for this course, Unit 2 has proved to be very involved for me. It has also initiated rather challenging work that will be carried on for the rest of the program. Setting up the LinkedIn Profile page was one of the challenges and the other, a main one for me, was the Formal Report Proposal. In addition, we have continued with the peer-reviewing of our work.

The LinkedIn Profile Page (LIPP) has been a part of the application package which forms one of the major assignments for this program. I did not have the LIPP set up prior to this course so I had to start right from the beginning. I found this to be an interesting and very engaging experience. Based on a peer-review provided by my team member, Daniel Huettner, I did quite a good job. I had to provide more information in the “Volunteering Section” (which I had missed initially) and add a Profile picture. I am still working on this part and hopefully will be able to complete it by next week. I definitely understand the advantages of having a “complete” Profile displayed versus one that lacks information, is incomplete or misses the visual of an applicant. I greatly appreciated the feedback and I plan to make future adjustments to my LinkedIn Profile.

For the Formal Report Proposal, I have decided to work with a topic closely related to my profession. Many of the adolescent patients from the dental practice where I work have been challenged by inadequate home care while undergoing orthodontic treatment. Since wearing braces on average takes about a couple of years, this has been a major problem for some of them. To help them with the challenge, I have proposed to organize a workshop for those who are interested to help them learn different way of cleaning their teeth with braces. If interested, parents can attend along with the patients.

My dentist is the facilitator of the workshop which is very advantageous for my proposal since we already collaborate on many dental projects in the practice.

Completing different parts of the report proposal, the progress report and the survey proved to be a brain storming experience for me though a very informative at the same time, considering that so many details can be overwhelming at times, as well.

I have found the method of peer-reviewing different assignments enormously helpful in this program. Having a different perspective from a colleague not necessarily from the same field or background seems to work really well and, in my opinion, it is a method worth recommending for other courses in the future. Besides, this gives another opportunity to look back at one’s own project with a more critical eye.

Before starting this course, I did not think that I could write so many memos in such a short period of time. With all the constructive feedback provided, it seems to work quite well so far.

With that in mind, I am looking forward to the next Unit to apply my newly learned skills and work on the new ones. I am sure there will be plenty of these to learn for me.

Please view my Peer Reviewed Proposal

Please view my ENGL301ReportProposal Revised

Reflection Blog Unit 1

As learned in Unit 1 there are three categories of definitions: parenthetical, sentence and extended definition and depending on how much detail the audience requires, the category can be properly decided on to provide enough information on the subject.

The notion of having definitions being interpreted in a few different ways is not a new concept for me as this is exactly the way the information is conveyed to the patients in the dental office. Depending on the patients and their background level, to avoid any confusion and misinterpretation of the data, the choice of words and the amount of material presented at any given visit is custom guided to the level of patients’ understanding. The assessment of the audience (which in my case as a Dental Hygienist, my audience is formed by the dental patients attending the clinic) takes place during the initial visit and at every subsequent visit to the office. Technically, it is the same approach used, which the project has asked for with regard to the choice of the audience. The key is to recognize who the audience is and how much background knowledge they have on the subject matter. For a non-technical audience, the explanation is given at the lowest level of technicality and the visuals can play a central role to stimulate the interest and illustrate the topic in a much simpler way.

Regardless of the level of confidence the writer presents there is nothing more educating than having peers reviewing the project/document before its final submission/evaluation. This process allows for stepping back and looking from a distance at one’s own work and evaluating it. It allows to reflect and correct potential errors that were either overlooked or simply not that obvious to the writer before the review.

In the case of my paper, the peer evaluation was very helpful and educating. As it turned out, for whatever reason I did not label and explain the visuals included in my paper even though I knew how important it was to do so for the audience to understand and make use of the visuals for their learning. Also, despite the fact that I tried to choose the words carefully while explaining my term and topic, some of them still proved to be too technical for a non-technical reader and needed simplification or clarification. All the suggestion provided by my colleague, Amy Young who peer-reviewed my work, is what I agreed with and followed in hopes of not only making my paper stronger but first and foremost to properly explain the meaning of the term “maxilla” and provide enough information to my audience which was the objective to begin with.

The process of peer reviewing provided me with an opportunity to critique my colleague’s work while at the same time learn a different perspective in writing style, techniques and strategies and in addition, to having another viewpoint presented with regard to my own style, format, clarity and all aspects of presenting a written correspondence in a clear and effective manner.

Taking everything into account, my experience has been a very positive one so far. In this relatively short period of time, I have learned/relearned a strong basis on the importance of defining the audience and presenting the information according to their level of knowledge and technicality on the given subject as well as peer review the work. I am really looking forward to the next part of the program during the upcoming weeks and continue my learning process of technical communication.

To access rewritten Definitions Assignment please click here ENGL301Assignment12016