I have the habit of using secondary research, instead of primary research when writing academic papers. This has been a hard habit to break. While I was writing my first draft of the formal report, I tried to be very conscious that I didn’t start writing a research paper instead. Creating primary research is much harder than finding relevant secondary research. Getting enough BCS students to fill out my surveys was challenging, but it was a good learning experience on reaching out to others.<\/p>\n
My formal report outline was a good starting point for organizing my report, but as I started writing I realized I had to make changes to the outline. This is the first academic report I’ve written since I graduated from my first degree, so it took a little bit to get the hang of organizing a report again. I was happy to find that Hannah, my peer reviewer, was able to understand the flow of the report.<\/p>\n
Peer reviewing Hannah’s report was interesting because we have similar writing style problems. Like Hannah, I often forget to use more of a “you” attitude. Reviewing Hannah’s report has reminded me to be more conscious and careful about my writing style. I was impressed with Hannah’s well thought out recommendations for change, and I hope to use her format to revise my own formal report.<\/p>\n