Technical Writing

With the course coming to a close, it is a great opportunity to provide some self-reflection on the work I have done this term and everything that I have learned. This course was appealing to me right away, as I wanted to develop my technical writing skills to help prepare me for the professional world. I believed that I had already gained some experience in technical writing, but during English 301 I felt was able to learn how to write in a truly professional manner. I was able to practice these skills through a variety of methods; including memos, formal reports, peer reviews, etc.

In order to do a proper reflection, it is important to acknowledge the areas where I found that I struggled. One of my greatest weaknesses during this course was the proper utilization of the textbook, Technical Communications 13Ed. I did not always follow the instructions and guidelines as accurately as it should be. The second flaw was my organization for the course, the structure of the course and very frequent due dates required a large amount of organization and discipline that was not always present.

The peer review aspect of this course was a very rewarding and effective aspect of this class. I believe I was able to excel in this portion of the course as I was able to provide my group members with comments and suggestions for their works, helping them to submit the best possible work. This process was also very helpful for myself, although reviewing other people’s work it helped me to realize similar mistakes that I had made, but also to be able to look at the project from a different perspective. This change of perspective allowed for me to then take a more critical look at my own writing and ways to best improve it.

Already I am putting my skills to use whenever writing in a setting that required a high degree of professionalism. It does not matter the ideas that you have unless they can be properly communicated, I believe that the skills I have gained from this class will help me to do so. The work that this course took by my group members, Jasmine and Dr. Patterson cannot be understated, and it is greatly appreciated.

I believed that putting together the Web Folio was an easy last assignment to pull together for the class, a thought I was quickly corrected on. This forced me to learn new skills on the WordPress platform and also to self reflect on my work. Picking the appropriate works to represent the writing where I felt that I had excelled allowed for an effective review of all the work that I had submitted this term. In order to make sure that the best possible writing samples were presented.

It is also important to note the other resources that I utilized, primarily the use of the Web Folio samples from past students and the class’s textbook, Technical Communications 13 Ed.

The creation of this Web Folio was very important and I am glad that I was able to gather the writing that I had worked on throughout the term. It also provided me with the opportunity to gather all of the work and provide a concrete example of the skills and work that I have accumulated throughout this course. It is the type of tool that I would keep using, in particular during my upcoming search for full time employment.

There were two major assignments for this unit, the first draft of the proposal along with a peer review of that proposal. The majority of this unit was dedicated to the first draft of the formal report, a process that turned out be more intensive than I had originally anticipated. The topic for my proposal is one that I have both a personal connection to and a strong academic and professional interest in.

The challenge arose from the data required for this report, both in the collection and the proper distribution of this data. The difficulty of data collection was more difficult than anticipated, as the majority of the research that I have done to date has not required primary research and data collection to be performed. I decided that the best way to gather information was by performing voluntary questionnaires outside of a local grocery story. The issue with this method was that when I approached people the most frequent response was a polite decline to participate. This meant that I was unable to get as many responses as I would have liked and required much more time to get the data that I was looking for. This was a very eye opening experience for me to the labor-intensive nature work that is required for data collection.

Due to the high volume of assignments and questions, I had not received approval and comments on my proposal until a later date and therefore received an extension for the draft of my report. Other members in my group were in a similar situation and therefore the peer review has also been extended and I have not done or received my review before this reflection was done. I am looking forward to this review, as every time that we have had a peer review I have been able to improve on two important skills. The first is improving in my abilities as a reviewer and providing constructive and concrete comments to help their writing and with this has come a greater ability to receive comments and edits suggested by reviewers in order to improve my own work.

Unit two was a very busy one, covering the creation of LinkedIn account and using it effectively and also creating a proposal and subsequent progress report for our Formal Report.

LinkedIn is a social media website, with the emphasis being placed on professional development and networking rather than social. I had waited far too long to take advantage of this powerful networking tool and therefore it was very beneficial for me to finally create a profile. Even more helpful was learning new and best practices for a professional and effective profile. Having the opportunity to view other people’s profiles and provide feedback allowed for me to take a more critical view of my own profile and see ways that I could improve my own while also helping others improve their own. The peer review of my LinkedIn profile allowed for me to get recommendations from a peer and to further improve my presence. At the end of this process I believe I was able to complete an effective and professional LinkedIn profile that will help me with future networking.

Developing a professional and interesting report concerning a particular issue at a specific company provided me with a challenge, but allowed for me to reflect on my work experience and allow me to apply theory I have gained from my degree. I was excited to focus on my most recent employer, PepsiCo, more specifically methods to increase sales. Now that I had the idea, I needed to develop a method for testing this hypothesis and to find evidence to support my theory. To further complicate issues this information, both the problem and the proposed solution needed to be effectively communicated in the proposal. The outline was helpful as it allowed for a full schedule to be created so that the report could be completed on schedule with the necessary work completed when they needed to be. This was also an opportunity to receive feedback on the questionnaire before having individuals respond to it.

The peer review process was very helpful, both in terms of the feedback that I was given and the perspective that can be gained by reviewing the work of others. When writing your own proposal you are very close to the subject matter and therefore it becomes difficult to determine the true clarity of the work because it is a subject that the writer is so familiar with. A review from a peer allowed for this clarity to be tested, to ensure that all those reading are able to understand the message that the report is trying to get across. My reviewer was able to provide me with suggestions that improved the technical aspects of the writing along with more content specific issues.

Attached below are a link to the peer review of my proposal and an updated proposal.

Peer Review of Formal Report Proposal

301MichaelWebbUpdatedFormalReportProposal

The definition assignment provided a number of challenges; the first was to choose an appropriate term to define and the second was to accurately define this term using the three forms of definitions that I had just learned. The term needed to be complex enough that those reading it would require an expanded definition, however simple enough that it can also be explained by a parenthetical definition. The Gini Coefficient was my first choice as it was able to meet these demands by being a statistical tool that defines inequality, which in its most basic form is the difference between two points. Inequality is a popular and important topic in the news and therefore I thought that a tool used to measure this inequality would be important to define. Crafting three definitions presented a separate challenge, most importantly managing to define the term without presenting new terms that would only serve to further confuse the reader. When tackling the expanded definitions, it was important to choose the correct areas that would allow for a more thorough understanding of the term.

The peer review process was an important step and allowed for me to improve my definitions. The reviewer made two suggestions for improvement; the first was corrections based on two small grammatical errors and the second was concerning the graphic choice for the definition and issues with clarity and quality of the image itself. Both of these suggested edits were easily accommodated and allowed for improvement on the definitions. The review also reinforced that I had accurately defined the term and that it provided the reader with a compete understanding of the term.

When editing the definitions again myself, it was helpful to have read a review from someone else. Having received positive reinforcement on the content on the definitions I was able to focus specifically on the writing. This was helpful as the first version I was concerned about accurately and effectively defining the term and neglected other important aspects of the writing.

Here is a copy of the edited second version of the definitions: 301MichaelWebbDefintions-Second Version

Here is a link to the peer review of my definitions: http://engl301.arts.ubc.ca/2017/02/01/peer-review-of-engl301-definitions-of-gini-coefficient/

From: Michael Webb webbmichael9@gmail.com                                                     To: Celine Liu siliang625@gmail.com                                                                          Cc: Dr. Erika Paterson Erika.paterson@ubc.ca                                                 Subject: Team Membership Invitation                                                                     Date: January 23, 2017

Dear Celine,

Thank you for your generous offer to have me become a member of your English 301 Group. After reviewing your offer and your own letter of application I believe that we can make a strong group.

The experience that you have gained, in your career and from your education provide a strong foundation and your background in Human Geography is a great benefit. I believe that this similar starting point with different variations in the application of our education will lead to a successful partnership. These skills that you have been gained are very complimentary to the skills and experience that I have been able to gain through my own academic and professional interests. This combination is very important and will lead to a fruitful partnership.

I am looking forward beginning to work with both you and the rest of the group.

Sincerely,

Michael Webb

From: Michael Webb webbmichael9@gmail.com                                                     To: Edwin Chen Edwin.wchen@gmail.com                                                                 Cc: Dr. Erika Paterson Erika.paterson@ubc.ca                                                 Subject: Team Membership Invitation                                                                     Date: January 23, 2017

Dear Edwin,

Thank you for your generous offer to have me become a member of your English 301 Group. After reviewing your offer and your own letter of application I believe that we can make a strong group.

The experience that you have gained, in your career and from your education provide a strong foundation and your ability to make career changes and learn new skills make you an ideal teammate. These skills that you have been gained are very complimentary to the skills and experience that I have been able to gain through my own academic and professional interests. This combination is very important and will lead to a fruitful partnership.

I am looking forward beginning to work with both you and the rest of the group.

Sincerely,

Michael Webb

From: Michael Webb webbmichael9@gmail.com                                                     To: Pouria Lotfi lotfiporia@yahoo.ca                                                                            Cc: Dr. Erika Paterson Erika.paterson@ubc.ca                                                 Subject: Team Membership Invitation                                                                     Date: January 23, 2017

Dear Pouria,

Thank you for your generous offer to have me become a member of your English 301 Group. After reviewing your offer and your own letter of application I believe that we can make a strong group.

The experience that you have gained, both in your first degree in civil engineering and now your studies of computer sciences are very impressive. The skills that you have been gained are very complimentary to the skills and experience that I have been able to gain through my own academic and professional interests. This combination is very important and will lead to a fruitful partnership.

I am looking forward beginning to work with both you and the rest of the group.

Sincerely,

Michael Webb

To:                   Dr. Erika Paterson erika.paterson@ubc.ca                                    From:              Michael Webb, English 301 student webbmichael9@gmail.com Date:               January 19, 2017                                                                              Subject:          Letter of Application

Dr. Paterson,

As per your request, I have posted my application letter applying for the position of group member in English 301. A copy of this letter has been attached for your convenience.

The letter contains the following information:

• Area of study and educational background
• Summary of skills and application to the position
• Previous work experience and goals for this position
• Contact information

Enc.

301MichaelWebbApplicationLetter

111 University Ave                                                                                               Vancouver, BC V1V 1V                                                                                             January 16, 2017

ENGL 301, Department of English                                                                   University of British Columbia                                                                                      397 – 1873 East Mall                                                                                          Vancouver, BC V6T1Z1

Dear English 301 Class,

I am writing to you to today concerning the possibility of becoming group members. I am now completing my final year at the University of British Columbia, completing with a major in Geography, a minor in Commerce and a selection of Economics and quantitative methods courses. I am drawn to these areas as they require logic and attention to detail along with a need for teamwork. I believe that my academic pursuits and the experience gained from summer work opportunities make me an ideal candidate for this position.

During the summer of 2014, I worked for a financial planning firm and thoroughly enjoyed my introduction to mutual funds and tax-sheltered saving. In the summer of 2015, I worked for an appraisal management company, as a bilingual member of the client relations team. Both jobs required accuracy, attention to detail and significant organizational skills. They also offered me the opportunity to do background reading and research to better understand each industry. This last summer I had the opportunity to expand my experience in sales, with a Sales Representative position with PepsiCo in their Frito Lay division. This allowed me to see a new side of business that I had yet to be exposed to, learning about sales and customer relationships. I have strong computer skills and experience with both PC and Apple operating systems.   Although I have learned a great deal for these experiences, I look forward to becoming a more skilled writer, particularly in formal business settings.

I am a hard worker, willing to learn and love working with a team towards a common goal. Outside of these academic and professional pursuits I enjoy music and sports, since moving out to the west coast my interests have shifted from hockey and rugby to biking and snowboarding. I look forward to hearing back from you and getting started on our project, please feel free to contact me at webbmichael9@gmail.com or through the group Facebook page.

Sincerely,

Michael Webb

301MichaelWebbApplicationLetter