Daily Archives: December 17, 2018

As a required course of my curriculum,  I was not sure what to expect coming into the ENGL 301 course. I am really happy that I chose to take this course instead of substituting this course with a different course. The course has taught me all the writing tools and techniques that are relevant and important in the current job market. Specifically, students are asked to do many technical  intensive writing tasks; composing a definition of a technical term to a non-technical audience, composing a resume given a job description, composing a reference letter request and cover letter ; and composing a formal research report given an audience and topic.  These assignments have prepared me for the upcoming job search during my last academic year as well as my co-op job search next term.

This written assignments in this course have allowed me to realize my learning weaknesses as well as my strengths. The following sections will be dedicated to these two topics.

Weaknesses

Given the sheer amount of people that I have dealt with throughout my professional working time ,  I already know the importance of putting others before myself and what it can bring to the table in a business environment. However, the “Writing with You” attitude has really made me aware of the importance of thinking from the perspective of the reader. In addition, forgetting to name the documents with the appropriate name can be misleading and time-consuming for readers therefore to ensure all documents are named using the provided guideline, names of the documents are always created first now.

Writing with minimal use of pronouns such as “I” and “You” is no easy task for me as this is the first time I have encountered such practice.  Furthermore,  my previous writing style tends to express a simple idea with unnecessary words.

Strengths and Future 

Throughout the course, with the provided instructions, I have been able to quickly grasp what is needed to deliver what is expected.

I tried to organize my report and assignment with appropriate sub section titles to provide as much convenience as possible to my readers.

The application assignment and the research report have really equipped me with the relevant technical writing skills a future job-seeking candidate need to succeed during the job searching process.  Specifically, completing my most up to date resume, LinkedIn profile and cover letter really give a head start for the upcoming co-op application that I will be handling in the new year.

Two important aspects of the course will be included in all my future writings. First, I will ensure that my future writing incorporates the “Writing with you” attitude as much as possible.  Second, I will try my best to deliver a message with minimal amount of words.

In short, this course has really set me up on the right path to communicate more concise and effectively.

Thank you for reading my final assessment blog in advance and glad to be your student this semester Dr.Erika.

Creating the Web Folio is a challenging but fulfilling experience for me. Specifically, compiling my work in the specified format really made me realize the importance of formatting information in a fashion where readers can access and gather the relevant information quickly.

The process of creating the Web Folio provides another opportunity for me to review and revise the past assignments that I have finished in the past three and half months. Specifically,  during the assignment revision process,  re-reading the suggestions from my peer reviews combined with all the techniques learnt over the semester provides a different insight on how to write efficiently and effectively as a technical writer. Specifically,  each revised assignment now incorporates the “Writing with You” attitude”.

In addition, revising my work has also helped me realize how a message can be written in a compact and concise fashion. Shorter sentences can be combined with less pronouns to deliver the key message a writer trying to come across.

The Web-Folio requires the writer to present the information using hyperlink and PDF files. Initially, I did not understand why such requirement is imposed on all students until I tried to complete my work on a Linux operating system where word documents are not supported. Providing the written work in a easily accessible format is key as writers can not ensure that every reader that come across the website possesses the technology to access the posted information.

In addition, the PDF posting format really sets the web page apart because now employers who wish to only view selective documents they do not have to go through a page to identify the relevant information as the titles of each documents provides clear direction.

Thank you in advance for reading and checking my Web Folio. I would like to have your constructive feedback on how to improve my Web Folio.

Please leave a comment in the section below

Thank you all once again.

Unit Three Reflection Blog 

The “Writing with You Attitude” technique is something that I am yet to master.  Throughout my life, I have been writing to people with a thoughtful and appropriate tone, learning these new techniques allowed me to really focus on the point that I am trying to get across without providing irrelevant information.

In the following paragraphs, I will discuss the core concepts that I have learnt in section 3.2 and 3.3.

Formal Report Audience

Composing a formal report is completely different from writing an academic research paper where the focus of the paper is to convince your peer about your findings.  Audience is usually something not considered as people who reading a research paper is doing research within the same field thus defining audience and what audience needs to know is completely different in that sense.   In this unit,  I learnt how to integrate information together to persuade a target audience who has the power to take actions or make decisions based on the advice and research I have done.

Formal Report Data Collection 

I learnt about the importance of survey ethics in this unit as I have never personally collected data in the fashion I did in this unit before. I tried to collect my data using a statistically sound technique to have a sample data that is as representative of the overall population as possible however the data I collected still has its limitations.

Formal Report Draft 

Applying the “Writing with You Attitude” through the report is no easy task however the examples and instructions from instructor’s blog really helped me understand how to implement the technique under different circumstances.   In addition, the outline for the formal research report really allowed me to efficiently compose the draft.

In addition,  I realized how important it is to have a table of content because readers can now easily find out the section of the report they want to re-read if they are uncertain about part of the report.

Review Peer’s Formal Report Draft 

Reviewing my group member Lansi’s formal draft report, I noticed how I can structure my report my coherently by re-organizing my paper in a more logical sequence. In addition, I was able to provide feedback on how to improve some of the survey questions so that more insights can be derived from the surveys.

Link to my draft report:

English 301 Kyo Formal Report Draft

Unit Two Reflection

Unit 2 has focused on a few useful professional tools namely:

• Learning how to create a professional LinkedIn Profile
• Drafting a Formal Research Report Proposal
• Peer Review of Formal Research Proposal and LinkedIn Profile

I will discuss each learning object in the followings paragraphs.

learning to create a professional Linkedin profile helps me realize that having online presence is key to networking in nowadays. During the assignment, I implemented some of the tips and recommendations used to create a professional looking profile. I am slowing getting used to this social media platform as I believe it is going to be another channel for me to explore future career opportunities.  In addition, the peer review process is also very constructive because reviewing my partner’s profile allows to see the areas of the profile that I need to revise so that it would draw more attention and views from the platform.

drafting a formal research proposal is the most challenging component of this unit as it commands the writer to have an in-depth understanding of the purpose of the proposal and the target audience of the proposal. I initially did not include the required components in my report, which in turn, has caused confusion to my readers.  However, through Dr.Erika’s help, I have revised my report to include all the relevant information to progress to the next step of my formal research report.

By reviewing my partner’s proposal,  I learned how to include the most appropriate amount of information as my proposal contains too much irrelevant information. On the other hand, my review for my partner did not include as many useful tips as hers. I believe in the next unit, I will ensure that my review will be filled with details and examples on how to improve her work.

Furthermore, my project formal report outline is very helpful because it will serve as a guideline to follow until I finish my report. This is an excellent approach to see what is left to be done, acting like a todo list for me.

Overall, I have learnt a lot of tools to improve my writing in this unit and I am looking forward to learning my strategies to further better my skills.

Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my unit two reflection. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

Sincerely,

Kyo

The following link is my revised report proposal

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99a/2018/10/22/revised-proposal-2/

The following link is the peer review report proposal

https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99a/2018/10/16/peer-review-of-formal-report-proposal-kyo-tang/