This page includes the nine best works from ENGL 301. Each work contains a summary of the work and hyperlinks to the page of the revised post based on the instructor’s (Dr. Paterson) feedback.
Three Definition Assignment
This assignment involved writing three different types of definitions for a term. The three different types were a parenthetical definition, sentence definition, and an expanded definition. The objects of the assignment are as follows:
- Appreciate the importance and role of definition in technical writing
- Understand how audience and purpose indicate the need for definition
- Differentiate between the levels of details in the definition
- Select the right level of detail according to the situation
I chose the term Object-Oriented Programming because I really enjoyed learning about the topic while taking a computer science course at UBC and I have extensive knowledge of the topic. The definition was targeted at a non-technical audience but as a 4th-year computer science student, I mistakenly assumed readers will have some knowledge about coding. However, from the feedback, I realized this was not an assumption I should take and tried to make the definition more friendly for non-technical readers.
Link: ENGL 301 – Jake Moh – Three Definitions
Peer Review of the Definition Assignment
Peer review is a great learning experience for both the reviewer and the author. The reviewer can learn about different styles of writing and learn from the strength of the author. Likewise, the author can improve the weakness and learn from a different perspective. I peer-reviewed Ben’s term ‘Binary Search Tree”, which is a data structure commonly used in computer science. As a 4th-year computer science student, I had an extensive understanding of the term but the term is a complicated term for non-technical readers. I struggled to find a solution to convert the term to be more friendly for non-technical readers since the term is itself a complicated term that builds from an already complicated term. However, looking back, I believe I can give better feedback by suggesting analogies to explain the topic.
Link: ENGL 301 – Jake Moh – Peer Review of Ben’s Three Definitions
Formal Report Proposal and Progress Report with Surveys
The formal report proposal required braining-storming about the kinds of volunteer, community, or workplace experience that I am interested in. The report is intended to investigate, analyze, and recommend action on a problem, an inefficiency, or a deficiency in a public setting that I am part of. This assignment provided a learning opportunity to carefully plan a big project by considering the audience, scale of the project, feasibility, impact, finance, and ethics. For the formal report, I decided to work on the topic of ‘Improving the Recruitment of Volunteers at Visual Cognition Lab’. The proposal provided background information of the lab and the lab members, and explained the current existing problem. Then a solution is proposed along with the scope of the report and the methods of data collection using survey through UBC Qualtrics and interviews. I learned that I should have invested more time and effort in the planning phase because I consistently found inconsistencies and issues due to poor planning when writing the final formal report.
Link: ENGL 301 – Jake Moh – Research Proposal for Formal Report
Link: ENGL 301 – Jake Moh – Memorandum of Progress Report for Formal Report
Proposal Memo
This memorandum is addressed to Dr. Erika Paterson, ENGL 301 instructor, regarding summary of research proposal for a formal report. This memo contains the intention of the memo, the summary of the report, and six topics of the report.
Link: ENGL 301 – Jake Moh – Memorandum of Research Proposal for Formal Report
LinkedIn Best practices Memo
LinkedIn is a social media platform mainly used for professional networking and career development, and allows job seekers to post their profile and employers to post jobs. It is common to utilize LinkedIn for job search during a job search but recent graduates usually have limited knowledge to fully take benefit from LinkedIn. In this assignment, ten best practices are listed to create a successful LinkedIn profile.
Link: ENGL 301 – Jake Moh- LinkedIn Best Practices
Memo to Evan Crisp
This assignment provided an opportunity to learn about “YOU” attitude. The assignment involved sending a memo to Evan Crisp, a UBC student, regarding best practices for writing with the “YOU” attitude when writing an email a university professor. Thinking about the reader’s point of view is critical when writing with “YOU” attitude. Writing with “YOU” attitude will increase the chance to fulfil your needs and maintain a good relationship with the person.
Link: ENGL 301 – Jake Moh – Memo to Evan Crisp
Complaint letter and Response letter
It was a valuable learning experience writing both a complain letter and a response letter using the “YOU” attitude. It was surprising to learn how more professional the writing looked after incorporating the “YOU” attitude. However, as “YOU” attitude was a novel writing strategy, I had difficult incorporating into my writing . I especially found hard to avoid imperative verbs as it seemed to be a little inexplicit. I plan to continue keeping the “YOU” attitude in mind for future writings and practice for perfection.
Link: ENGL 301 – Jake Moh – Complain and Response Letter
Peer Review of a Formal Report
This assignment involved reviewing Kelly’s draft of the formal report. It was helpful to learn how she used data to support her arguments and the problems. The organization of her paper was structured and easy to follow. Also, I noticed areas that may require “YOU” attitude and avoiding negative attitude. Kelly pointed out missing sections of my formal report and advised on fixing sections that are unclear.
Link: ENGL 301 – Jake Moh – Peer Review of Kelly’s Formal Report Draft
Formal Report
The formal report focuses on improving the recruitment of programmer at the Visual Cognition at UBC. The report is intended for Dr. Ronald Rensink, the principal investigator and professor at the Visual Cognition Lab to propose the need to hire new programmers, best method of recruitment, a solution to retain existing programmers. The data gathering was conducted over several weeks by requesting survey to lab members and interviewing lab managers. Due to insufficient planning, the scope of the report became too big and had to be modified during the process of writing the formal report. In the future, more time and effort is required for thorough planning. Also, the figures are incorrectly positioned and caused major inconvenience to the readers. The figures were edited based on Dr. Paterson’s suggestions.