ENGL301

In Unit Two of the ENGL 301 technical writing course,  a memorandum on LinkedIn best practices and several documents for a formal research proposal were completed. Although these were intensive assignments, I was able to challenge myself to complete them.

Researching LinkedIn Best Practices

Although the objective of this assignment was to inform my colleagues about LinkedIn and the best practices to optimize its uses, I found myself taking much of these useful techniques to my advantage as well. In this digital era, social media is a valuable tool to build a professional network and expand one’s reach, and LinkedIn is a testament to that. Through the execution of this project, I understood the power social media holds, and how to leverage the platform to form interactions to stay connected with my network. What I found most informative from this project is the importance of expanding and optimizing my network and connections. In forming meaningful conversations with other professionals, by simply commenting, sharing, and digitally connecting with other profiles, I am simultaneously promoting your profile as it will appear on a wide range of searches and feeds.

Writing the Research Proposal and Outline

This assignment made me realize that the first step of any task is always the hardest. On a personal level, I realized that I need to uphold a high level of interest in my research topic to fully commit to a such a rigorous and comprehensive project. While many topics sparked my interest, I chose one that pertained to my undergraduate degree, Political Science.

By choosing a research topic that I was particularly interested in, while also advancing my learning in my field, I was able to remain motivated. Many articles aligned with my hypothesis that most first-year university students who are newly eligible to vote in a General Election or by-election are too overwhelmed to practice this civic duty. The process of practicing this civic duty can certainly be time-consuming, confusing, and difficult, which discourages many first-year university students to vote. My natural curiosity to the topic made it easy to generate questions and prompts for the research proposal.

Reviewing a Partner’s Proposal

Partnering with Junelie Guevarra put me in the position of a reader to a research proposal. Junelie demonstrated a work that is both meaningful and well-structured. The benefits of peer review is clear as it allowed me to notice some minor mistakes in her writing, which reminded me to avoid similar mistakes in my own writing. On the other had, her work provided suggestions to improve my work.

Revising My Proposal

Revising my research proposal after reading my peer review from Junelie allowed me to read my work through another lens. The suggestions from the peer review pointed out several errors that I am certain I would not have noticed without guidance. In fact, both Junelie and Prof. Pateron provided the same feedback, which I promptly revised.

To conclude this unit, I can attest that the process was highly rewarding. I have built a foundation of thoughtful planning, optimizing my work, and accepting critiques, which I intend on applying to my upcoming assignments.