Unit One was an informative introduction to English 301- Technical Writing. I learned to professionally interact with other writers through the development of my application letter, emails, and memos. It is very beneficial to have group members to collaborate with, both to receive and give helpful feedback. Writing is a learning process that always supports room to grow.
The main assignment for this unit allowed us to explore how important definitions are to a reader. I realized that defining a term I am so familiar with in my field of study is a challenging ordeal. Describing a term to a non-technical audience forced me to step back and evaluate which terms may be unknown to an average person without a dental background. It was very helpful to have a classmate edit my assignment as they were able to bring forth additional terms that a broad audience may struggle with such as ‘microorganism’ and ‘calcify’. My editing partner was also able to identify which areas of my piece were unnecessary and which sections I should elaborate on. For example, the section pertaining to the origin of the word needed more detail to make it relevant for the audience. Also, periodontal disease was an area I could have included more education on as it is a complex process.
When editing my partner’s assignment, I became familiar with a new term, selected words in her definitions that may require further defining, and gave suggestions on how to improve the expanded definition. I believe it is always valuable to read another’s work in order to witness different writing styles and techniques.
Overall, the first section of this course has provided the students with ways to professionally communicate, peer review, and self-edit. It has also proven to be a sufficient way to learn about our classmates and their selected fields of study.