Writing the definitions assignment was both fun and instructive. The freedom we had in choosing our own term meant we could focus on the technical aspect of the writing instead of struggling with the concepts and ideas. However, this was only partly true as the task of simply explaining complex concepts was more challenging than I had thought. Even though I was writing about a concept I knew well, in trying to explain it simply, I ended up needing to resolve some of the cob-webs in my own understanding.
As expected, the peer-review process was very helpful to me in revising my work. As a bonus, my peer reviewer was a Biology graduate and was able to give me domain-specific feedback on my topic which was very helpful. They made very helpful suggestions about the choice of my illustration, specifically the need to add a more relevant diagram. They even made a rough illustration of what would be appropriate to add which was very generous of them. The peer-review provided was balanced. It helped me get a sense of the ‘big ideas’ that relate to overall structure and accessibility of the document as well as provided fine-scale feedback that is easier to incorporate like identify problem sentences, suggest new ideas etc. One last thing to note was that it was written in a very positive and constructive tone. I appreciated the encouragement very much. It encouraged me to work harder to improve my final draft.
I incorporated many of the revisions that were suggested to me in the peer-review of my work. It was another reminder to me of the great usefulness of peer-review. Despite choosing to write about a term that I very knowledgeable in, there were many useful suggestions provided to me. It is a reminder that no matter how proficient we are at doing something, others can always help us identify our blind-spots. Another thing I noted during the revision process was how there is a limit to how simple an explanation can be made before it starts to become “wrong” in many ways. I had not fully appreciated this fact before.
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