The formal report assignment has been a huge learning experience for me. Being a biology major, I have become accustomed to writing science reports with their own particular style and format. Every report I have written in the past has had many similar papers that I could use to get an understanding of my topic as well as to use to back up my report. The feasibility report I am working on currently in English 301 is much different, and unlike the science papers, there isn’t any papers I can use as a reference.
I also did not realize we had to actually conduct our proposal idea for our paper. Upon finding out that this was something I was expected to do, it made me think harder and have to go back and change many things. I also assumed that because it was an English course, it had to sound more “poetic” in a way compared to biology classes, so I initially added a lot of extra background information. Upon being evaluated by both the professor and my group member, I realized it was more similar to a science paper and that extra information had to be removed to keep it concise.
Like most other assignments, having my paper peer reviewed and being able to review my fellow team member’s assignments allows me to get a better insight of what is expected and how my own paper can be improved. This was extremely beneficial as the feedback I received on my paper allowed me to give better suggestions back as well. Dr. Paterson’s comments on both my proposal and outline also helped me understand the process and requirements of an English report.
Overall, this assignment has been a huge learning opportunity for me and I hope that I can finally grasp how to properly right an English report.
Leave a Reply