Formal Report Proposal
Unit 2 started with writing a formal report proposal in which students would investigate a problem or inefficiency and then determine a potential solution. The problem would have to be from a public setting, like a workplace or community organization, and the topic needed to be well-planned to ensure we are asking the right questions and considering the target audience. I decided to write a proposal about creating a three-step plan to reduce screen time, an issue I am currently suffering from as I am majoring in computer science. The remainder of this proposal included outlining key areas of inquiry, designing a process to collect data, and determining a potential solution for the problem. Fortunately, these aspects were all very similar to work I have done as a Research Coordinator. Drawing from my past experiences, I drafted all the necessary components to obtain a solution and provide potential recommendations based on my findings.  When writing this proposal, I kept in mind my past experiences of writing grants and research papers and the work I have done in randomized controlled trials. I would soon come to realize that some of my thought processes here would not be correct (more on this in the next two sections).

Overall, while I did make a critical mistake with my assumptions, it was a delightful process to connect my learned work experience, such as outlining data collection methods and writing reports, with my school assignment.

 

Peer Review for Partner’s Proposal
As part of lesson 2:1, we partnered up with a writing team member to conduct a peer review on each other’s proposal. I was fortunate to work with Jordan again who I believe has very strong technical writing skills. Once again, Jordan did a fantastic job in his assignment, and I gained a lot of insight for my own formal report. One of the first things I noticed was the length and style of his proposal. It was in stark contrast to my own, which was lengthier and similar in style to an essay. Of course, this was attributed to the fact that I was writing the proposal with the style of a scientific paper in mind. This difference made me think I may have committed a mistake in my original assumptions. Additionally, while leaving a comment to Jordan about elaborating on his intended audience, I realized that my intended audience did not have the power to act on my recommendations. Giving advice on a specific aspect here helped me realize how I had forgotten about a crucial factor for my own proposal.

Soon after, I received some feedback from Dr. Erika Paterson that my proposal was too long in length. Combining what I learned from peer reviewing Jordan’s proposal with the feedback gained from my professor, I confirmed that my work needed to be more concise as it is just a proposal, and my readers are most likely very busy. Furthermore, I learned that my three-step-plan would not be appropriate for this type of report because I could not collect sufficient data for a 12-15 page report.  My research at work collects objective data to measure changes in physical activity level and also analyzes the adherence to an intervention. However, for this report, I would not be able to track how a student adheres to the plan and if there is any change in their lifestyle.

With all these lessons learned from the peer review and Professor Erika’s feedback, I realized I would have to re-write the proposal with a different topic.

 

Peer Review Process
From reviewing my peer review feedback, one thing that I can improve on is providing further clarification on certain topics. My partner has correctly pointed out instances in my work for both units where more details were needed. It makes sense when read it in my mind, but when reading from a different perspective, there are key details being left out that I need to include. I am trying to actively keep an eye out for this issue now by re-reading my assignments multiple times from the perspective of someone who has little to no knowledge on the topic.

Overall, I have really enjoyed the peer review process because I am learning from reading others’ work. For example, for the LinkedIn assignment, I took the time to read my entire team’s best practices memo because I had little knowledge of LinkedIn prior to this assignment, and I wanted to absorb all the knowledge I could to build an exemplary profile in the future. Additionally, I am also learning from editing others’ work as I begin to realize mistakes I made in my own work. As an example, in the definition assignment, I learned about mistakes I made in my citations from reviewing Jordan’s work and for the proposal, I realized I forgot a key aspect about my intended audience. While I do re-read my own work multiple times before submission, I know that having a different set of eyes reviewing makes a world of difference.

 

 LinkedIn Profile
For lesson 2:2, we conducted research on some of the best practices for using LinkedIn as a professional networking site and shared a list of ten with our writing team members.  Since I have never used LinkedIn, I found this process to be extremely informative. LinkedIn has evolved to become such a powerful networking tool and companies around the world utilize it to scout employees. I know how vital it is to have a LinkedIn profile; yet, I never had the chance to create a profile and most importantly, did not where to begin. Fortunately, this assignment gave me a great opportunity to start learning by doing background research and ultimately, map out a plan for creating a profile. From the research conducted, I learned many tips about using LinkedIn that I plan to incorporate in my future profile. For example, I learned about the importance of collecting recommendations and endorsements to stand out, engaging in industry-specific groups to network with other professionals, and consistently posting quality content to drive more traffic flow. Before this assignment, I did not know what LinkedIn aspects like “groups” and “endorsements” meant or even that they existed. I can now have a head-start in building my profile by incorporating these aspects. Without a doubt, this assignment was a great learning experience and I feel much more confident about using LinkedIn.

Please see below for the peer review of my (old) report proposal, the revised formal report proposal, and the formal report outline.

Link to Peer Reviewed Formal Report Proposal: Peer Review of Formal Report Proposal (old version)
Link to Revised Formal Report Proposal: Formal Report Proposal (revised)
Link to Formal Report Outline: Formal Report Outline