Composition of the First Draft for the Technical Definition:
For unit 1.3, students were to complete an assignment that focuses on the importance of definitions. The assignment involved the usage of various definitions to describe a technical term to a non-technical audience. This assignment proved to be interesting yet challenging. I have not consciously utilized different methods previously and it was very informative to learn about the different ways of conveying information. My term, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, is mainly utilized in the medical field. Due to the complexity of the term, it was difficult to eliminate the jargon and communicate the definition to a non-technical audience. However, the parenthetical, sentence, and expanded definition made it easier to break down the information and explain the term in a coherent manner. Through this assignment, I have learned to utilize the different definitions and their roles. For example, while the parenthetical definition serves to provide clarity of a term in parentheses, the sentence definition describes the term along with its unique features. Finally, the expanded definition provides more details through various methods such as explaining its history, operation principle, and analysis of its components (if applicable). Through completion of the assignment, I have learned different methods to defining a term and tailoring it to a specific audience.
Peer Review Process
For the peer review process, I had the opportunity to review my teammate Riya Kathuria’s draft on the term “demand generation”. As I found myself reading over the draft multiple times, I realized that I have made mistakes that I needed to improve upon in my own work. It was an enlightening experience to see how my teammate utilized the same writing techniques in a different manner. For example, while I chose to use analysis of components as one of my expanded definitions, my teammate chose to use examples and current usage to define their term. After reading over the draft, I found myself being able to spot areas that needed improvement and I was able to provide constructive criticism that hopefully will benefit my teammate. I also received great feedback from another teammate and I was excited to implement their suggestions into my work.
Revision Process
Once the peer review stage was complete, students were to incorporate the feedback given from their teammates and revise the draft to improve the overall quality of writing. While some mistakes I caught upon re-reading my assignment, my teammates pointed out areas where slight changes would lead to significant improvement in clarity and in understanding. For example, because the MRI contained components that were quite complex, my teammate suggested that I include parenthetical definitions of the components as well to make the term easier to comprehend. Furthermore, my teammate pointed out sentences that were too wordy and could be phrased better. The criticism provided by my teammate allow me to strengthen areas that I need to work not only for this assignment, but in the future as well. The overall process of writing a draft, reviewing a peer’s work, and revising my own work based on my peer’s criticism allowed me to further refine my writing skills. I am grateful for the feedback given by my team and I look forward to future opportunities of growth.
Link to Revised Definition: Click Here
Link to Peer’s Review: Click Here
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