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Reflection on Web Folio

Creating a web folio had been an interesting and fascinating process. I must admit it felt overwhelming in the beginning when I looked at the assignment. I do not consider myself tech friendly individual, hence it naturally made me apprehensive. I decided to tackle this project as I had tackled my last project of the formal report. I divided the web folio into different units on Microsoft word. This helped me organize my thoughts so my folio can have a smooth and transient flow as readers browse through it. Google and YouTube channels on different types of portfolios have been helpful resources throughout. In the end, I did have some fun with this project. Once all the data was gathered and headings made, I was excited to place it on the web and to my surprise, it came together nicely. I relied on my team here to give me feedback as well which was another helpful resource.

Final self-assessment 

Designing a web folio had been a creative process. My design included a short bio accompanied by my educational and professional achievements thus far. It presents my work in the best light with easy navigation to various tabs where detailed information is provided. I experimented with various themes and eventually settled with the Coraline theme but I ended up choosing my own pictures to make them more relevant to my profession as a dental hygienist. I individualized the web folio to market my skills as a dental hygienist and added additional tabs such as professional membership and LinkedIn. Overall, my design is creative and relevant to my profession. The web folio is easy to navigate and the opportunity to connect is highlighted on the home page.

Some strengths I can identify in the learning process are curiosity and willingness to learn about technical writing. I can see now why this course is a mandatory elective in my degree program. Self-reflecting in the end has helped me become a better writer where I specifically pay attention to certain aspects of technical writing. YOU attitude and reader-centered writing are of particular interest to me. I struggled with time management as oftentimes there will be a couple of assignments going on in the week. Being and staying organized was a difficult task but I did try my best.

As for the assignments, the strength is the amount of learning that took place. Every assignment was aimed at a different type of learning. For example, a technical definition aimed to describe a complex term by breaking it down to simple sentence but a formal report focused on being concise but comprehensive at the same time to provide enough information to the reader. I cannot think of any drawbacks to the assignments. Peer review is often provided for revisions and examples in the instructor blog were another resource which made assignments straightforward.

I gained so many important skills during this course.  I would like to start with peer review. Being a dental hygienist, I often come across dozens of peer reviews. This helped me understand the ins and out of peer review process. I am positive as I enter my fourth year in my degree program, I would be asked to facilitate peer review at some point. Another strength I gained is recognizing the importance of social networking. Social networking plays an important role to make connections with people you may otherwise not be able to meet. I plan to do instructional dental hygiene in future, so starting to connect with faculty now is a great way for me to stay in the loop.

Formal Report Draft Reflection

Writing my first draft of the formal report had been a challenging and engaging experience. Initially, I focused on the outline I had prepared to start gathering all the data. Once the research process started, I realized that I am missing some important subtopics that were not included in my outline. I returned to the textbook for guidance and drew from the formal report examples. I built on my existing outline to create new sub-topics to give the reader adequate information. The most difficult part of the draft was gathering the primary data. I sent 30 emails for the survey and by the time I was ready to analyze the results only 13 dental professionals had replied. The shortage of time was the biggest hurdle in the process. Further, I also found interviewing staff members for the report a tedious project. It was difficult to coordinate a time for interviews and being a high-volume practice often the staff was shuffled to other locations last minute. On the other hand, conducting secondary research was easier and more interesting for me. In the entire process of drafting a report, I found creating an outline initially was helpful and kept the research on track. I have advocated for my formal report topic personally over the years. Hence, trying to be neutral to prevent the researcher’s bias during the interpretation of findings and interviews was an eye-opening experience. I appreciated the significance of double-blind controlled studies throughout this process. The learning in this unit was focused on gathering research data, interpreting and organizing effectively so all pertinent information is available for the reader. The biggest lesson I learned is to be concise and comprehensive at the same time.

Peer review of Formal Report Draft

I enjoyed the peer review process thoroughly in unit three. With time, certain main concepts of peer review posted on the instructor’s blog have become easier to incorporate into the writing. I was unfamiliar with Brianna’s topic but she presented it well and I could grasp it and give suggestions. Another helpful resource for me was the technical communication book while completing peer review. It is easy to reference the specific chapter on subtopics to draw more information and connect to the review.

Enclosure: Formal Report Draft, Lovin kahlon, English 301 student

Creating LinkedIn Profile:

I found the entire process of researching to create a LinkedIn profile exciting and engaging. I did not have a LinkedIn profile before and the assignment motivated me to create my profile. It made me realize the power of professional social networking and its importance in career development. In a few years, I envision myself in an alternate career, so being active on LinkedIn will be helpful for me to achieve this goal.

Creating Report Proposal and Outline

Preparing the research proposal was another valuable experience. In the past, I have personally advocated to the management about the integration of ultrasonic Scaling into dental hygiene practice which is my research proposal topic. As a result, choosing the topic itself was relatively easy. In order to format the proposal, a textbook example and the instructor’s blog was used. Preparing the outline for the proposal was the hardest part for me. I had to be mindful to stay within the page limit while preparing the outline and had to choose more relevant subtopics under the research plan. I was cautious in this process as I want the report to reflect objectivity rather than subjectivity.  I am not experienced in preparing formal reports so I wonder if my outline may change as I dig more deeply into my primary and secondary data. Once I have all the data collected I will consult the textbook example and the instructor’s blog to bring it all together.

Peer Review of Report Proposal

I peer reviewed Samantha’s formal proposal report. Because both of my and Samantha’s proposals come from the dental field, we have some overlapping content. I found the overlapping content to be reassuring that I am headed in the right direction in my proposal report. I learned to always check the instructor’s blog for the correct format to peer review as I missed it this time. This peer review was a good reminder to remember to follow the precise guidelines for all projects. Peer review process clarifies your ideas and brushes up your reading and writing skills. Review of my proposal showed me my mistakes and I learned from them. Review of the team writing forum made me learn from my peer’s mistakes and that enriched the learning experience. I am very impressed by my teammates writing and the way they express themselves. Peer reviewing has made me more aware of my writing and that I need to be mindful of all the feedback I have gotten when drafting any content.

Peer review: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30198a2022s12/2022/06/29/peer-review-assignment-2-1-formal-report-lovin/

Revised proposal: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl30198a2022s12/2022/06/22/research-proposal-lovin/

This Blog entry consists of a memorandum to Professor Erika on a summary of the formal report proposal. 

To: Dr. Erika Paterson, ENGL301 Professor
From: Lovin Kahlon, ENGL301 Student
Date: June 22, 2022
Subject: Summary of Formal Report Proposal for Integrating Ultrasonic scaling at Pediatric Dental Practice in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

According to the requirements of the lesson 2.1 assignment, I have posted my formal report proposal for Integrating Ultrasonic scaling at Pediatric Dental Practice in Winnipeg, Manitoba on my team forum Team Kristy. The word doc is also attached below.

My research proposal contains the following:

• Audience Description– Dentist Partners, Office Manager and Business Manager of ABC Pediatric dental practice.
  • Introduction of Topic – Integrating Ultrasonic scaling at Pediatric Dental Practice in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
  • Statement of Problem – Adverse effects of using hand scaling only for cleaning teeth.
  • Proposed Solutions – resolve time management constraints, improve patient comfort for enhanced dental hygiene therapy, efficient dental hygiene recare system, and decrease musculoskeletal injuries for dental hygienists.
  • Scope of Questions – Benefits, constraints, training, cost etc…
  • Forms of Primary and Secondary Sources – Survey of practicing dental hygienists, interviews of staff dentists, dental hygienists, patients, and literature review on the efficiency of ultrasonic.
  • My Qualifications – Practicing dental hygienist with years of dental experience, completion of various continuing education courses emphasizing different techniques of scaling, and ability to provide a comprehensive literature review.
  • Conclusion – Summarizes the positive benefits of Integrating Ultrasonic scaling at Pediatric Dental Practice in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the proposal.

Enclosure: English 301, Memorandum for Research proposal, Lovin kahlon

Introductions to Reflections

There are four reflection blogs in this web folio. Reflections are based on the learning process that happened in each unit. Reflecting was a difficult process initially as it made me focus on the learning and try to identify how the learning took place. As time went by, reflecting became easier. Creating a baseline based on feedback from the instructor helped a lot with writing the blog. 

The original draft of technical definitions

Assignment 1:3, Lovin Definitions (Revised)

Peer Review of Kristy’s Definition