To be honest, I was not too sure on what exactly we would learn from this Technical Writing course since I only had some general idea on what the course was about. However, by doing the assignments that were given for Unit One, I was able to quickly grasp the concept of the course material.
For the peer reflection, I reviewed Hangwei Bao’s assignment and it was interesting to know a new word that I have never seen or heard before. The term that Hangwei discussed was the word A/B Testing which is frequently used in commerce environment. I definitely enjoyed reading and learning about the new terminology. As much as I appreciated Hangwei’s effort in developing the definition, I, for sure, thought it could be better by following the instruction provided by the instructor. Categorizing the definitions could have definitely help readers figure out which definitions belong to which definition category. However, Hangwei did a fair job in explaining what A/B Testing is.
When I was developing my definition, I tried reflecting back to my practical experience when I was working at a sawmill. When I first worked at the sawmill, I did not really know what the kiln dryer was. It was just a big metal rectangular box where lumber sat in. I tried writing the definition for the past ‘me’ when I did not know anything about the kiln dryer. For the expanded definition, I did use various expansion strategies like the operating principles and the analysis of parts to describe the fundamentals of the technology of the machine to facilitate the understanding for the readers who are not mechanically inclined at all. I also included a visual schematic diagram of a kiln dryer so that the readers can visualize what the machine is after obtaining the knowledge from my written definition.
For the self-editing part of the assignment, I carefully read what Hangwei suggested to fix. Upon reading the suggestions, I read the parts of my assignment where Hangwei pointed out. I did notice that it could have been confusing for readers so I fixed those issues. According to what my peer suggested, there was not much of a fix was required, but I still looked over my assignment again from top to bottom and made sure it was free of any other errors.
Regarding the assignment, I liked the part where the students could partner up and collaborate in fixing each other’s work. This enabled me to evaluate my own work from someone else’s point of view and it gave me a chance of share thoughts on other people’s work as well.