Unit 2 was an important unit because it involved the brainstorming and planning of a major component of the course ( formal report) and learning how to network using LinkedIn. I found the LinkedIn section of the unit extremely useful. This past summer, before the course began, I set up a LinkedIn profile. I found the summary section the most difficult to write, as it is important to keep it succinct while including enough important professional and personal information to entice the reader to view the rest of your profile. At the time, I thought my profile was sufficient. But through the peer review and best practices exercises in this course, I learned many ways to improve my profile. Essentially, a LinkedIn profile should contain the same amount of information as a resume, except you have the opportunity to make it more powerful than a resume (for example, being endorsed or adding media). I am now confident in my ability to effectively network using LinkedIn.
Brainstorming a topic and creating an outline for my formal report was a lengthy process. I found it difficult to meet the criteria of finding a topic that applied to my recent experience while not being too large or too small to be covered in a 12-15 page report. Eventually, I arrived at the topic of reducing unnecessary wait times at UBC’s Birdcoop Fitness Center. In writing my proposal, I found it helpful to make sure that everything I included was appropriate for the audience and that it related to the problem. I am confident that if I stick to my writing schedule my investigation will develop into a report that outlines the causes of the long wait times and proposes solutions on how to reduce them.
I learned a lot through the formal report peer review process. Carefully evaluating another persons work with the intention of providing useful suggestions for improvement is an important skill, and something that I have not done much of in the past. I was impressed with my partner Nicolas’s proposal. In particular, I was impressed with how intimately his scope was related to his proposed solution. This made me realize that I needed to improve my scope, and in fact Nicolas pointed this out in his review of my proposal.
Reading my teams forum allows me to study the specifics of other people’s writing. I find the quality of writing impressive, however this does not surprise me for an upper level technical writing class. The concise language my teammates use to deliver their point impresses me, and I am working on improving this is my own writing. In addition, I have discovered that I sometimes incorrectly use nouns and verbs, so studying my teammates use of these has helped me be more conscious of getting nouns and verbs correct.
Enclosure:
301 Ian Betts Report Proposal-October 28,2016
Ian Betts Report Review for Nicolas Peressin- October 28,2016
Nicolas Peressin Report Review for Ian Betts- October 28,2016