UNIT 4:
Self-Assessment
11th August, 2022
I was not sure what to expect when I started this course. I was very apprehensive as while I was confident in my writing skills as a historian, I was anxious about my technical writing ability. The course seemed so foreign compared to the history or Scandinavian studies courses I usually take. Learning to write in a more business-appropriate style and using “you-attitude” was undoubtedly challenging, but I found myself very motivated for each assignment as it meant learning something new and I enjoy being challenged.
I think a weakness I had was learning to write in a new way with a “you-attitude”. I am very stubborn in my ways, and over the years, I have developed a particular writing style that I am comfortable with. I found it difficult to adjust to a different writing style and found it took a lot more careful thought. I often had to go and change my work when proofreading as I found myself reverting to my usual writing style. At times during the course, I found myself getting overwhelmed. For instance, when learning to write with “you-attitude”, there were so many elements I had to bear in mind to ensure the tone was right, and I often got flustered and confused. Another thing that was pointed out to me was that I usually have issues trying to find a happy medium of being direct but polite. I was either polite but wrote too much or too brief and sounded blunt. I found myself improving on the issue, but I think it is something that still needs some work.
My strength was my ability to adapt my writing to suit a non-technical reader. I used to tutor my dyslexic brother and grew up abroad, where many of my friends did not speak English as a first language. I think both of these factors have taught me to adapt my communication style to be better able to connect and convey information. My greatest strength was my perfectionism and willingness to learn, which helped me stay motivated throughout the course and encouraged me to put maximum effort into every piece of work I did. I also discovered during the course that I have reasonably good organisational and time management skills, which I am sure future employers will appreciate. I could complete all my assignments on time or early while travelling and participating in another distance education course.
I am pleased I took this course as I felt as if I learnt a lot, and I expanded my writing skills, going from just writing research papers to also being able to write professionally. I am sure that whatever the future holds for me career-wise, I will be asked to write a memo, report or conduct a peer review, and I feel safe knowing that I can perfectly perform these tasks. The course has helped strengthen my communication and editing skills, and I believe I am at an advantage having these skills in my repertoire. I have three more classes to complete before I finish my degree, and I hope that I get the chance to peer review a classmate’s work so I can once again demonstrate my abilities.
Web Folio Reflection
10th August, 2022
Creating a web folio was more challenging than I initially expected. I found I really struggled with the technological aspect of the assignment. I found it difficult to create a blog and post all the pages in the correct order. I can manage basic technology, but something more advanced like creating a website certainly tested my skills. Editing my work was not as bad as forming a website, and I found most of what needed tweaking in my work was the format, which was quite simple to change. I spent a fair bit of time editing my definitions assignment peer review. It was my first peer review, and I did not know how to format it correctly. It was also very wordy as I had not yet learnt how to write a brief but polite review. I learnt about writing with “you-attitude” midway through the course, so I had to go back and edit earlier works so they avoided using impressive verbs and pronouns. I’m so used to using imperatives and pronouns when giving advice that not using them was incredibly challenging, especially when having to reword old work without changing it too much.
I choose to include some of my history essays in my web folio as this is an opportunity to showcase who I am and my skills. So I wanted to demonstrate my passion for history and historical writing ability, not just my technical writing skills. I am also quite proud of featuring my technical writing work. Going through my assignments for my web folio allowed me to see how far I have come. I felt a great sense of achievement going through the assignments I completed for the course. There is a vast difference in my writing ability in earlier works compared to more recent writing, and it is great to see such a massive improvement in just a few short months.
UNIT 3:
By Unit 3, blog posts felt like second nature to me. I knew what I would write about as I made mental notes throughout the unit, remembering what I struggled with and what I found easy. It is interesting to see the difference in my confidence and ability to write peer reviews when you compare my unit 3 reflection to earlier posts.
Reflection
29th July, 2022
Researching for my report was a little bit of a struggle. Some of my research was new but relatively simple, like conducting interviews. Finding and analysing secondary sources was also something I was comfortable with, as I have a lot of practice. However, conducting the surveys was quite foreign to me and more difficult than I expected. It was quite daunting asking people if they wanted to take a survey, many were too busy enjoying their night and did not want to be bothered, which I completely understand. It was also difficult finding people sober enough to give accurate answers, which was something I forgot to account for when organising my research. Still, despite my troubles I was pleasantly surprised by my sample sizes and think I collected enough data to show accurate trends. Organising my report had to be the most challenging part of the report writing process. I really struggled to find the best way to structure my data so that it flowed well and I could easily link my findings. However, in the end I was quite happy with my structure and my Peer review came back with no mention of any issues. I felt reasonably comfortable writing my report as my major gives me a lot of experiences in analysing research. One thing I did find challenging was writing with a You Attitude. The guidelines given certainly helped me, but there are so many elements to remember it definitely have me pause for thought. I think business writing is often quite direct and balancing this with a You Attitude is some what of an art that requires a fair bit of practice.
I was a little disappointed with the peer review I received I think I would have preferred a little more explanation and examples. I felt as if some of the suggestions were very difficult to understand, particularly the one about my scope section. Despite this there were still some excellent suggestions that I will certainly apply to my finished work. I find myself getting more conformable with every peer review I write. I definitely see a huge improvement in. my ability since starting the course. The main issue I identified in Juanita’s work was some issues with word choice. I provided multiple examples and suggestions, I was little worried with how many I provided as I did not want to overwhelm or upset her. However, in the peer review I received in Unit 1, I was told some of my word choice made sentences seem awkward, however, little examples were given as to what was wrong and I was unable to identify what my peer reviewer was suggesting I alter. I think everyone has a unique style of writing and it can often be difficult to spot awkward phrasing in your own work, so I chose to be thorough to avoid any confusion and ensure that Juanita’s final report is polished as possible.
UNIT 2:
I started feeling more comfortable writing blog posts my second time. Unit 2 had a lot of different assignments that allowed me to practice various writing skills. It was probably my favourite unit as I learnt many new things and felt like I was coming into my own. I was very pleased with the outcome of my second reflection.
Reflection
11th July, 2022
LinkedIn has always intimidated me due to being marketed toward professionals. However, my research into the social media site has eased my anxiety as I now fully understand how the site works. I feel more confident in making a profile now as I know how to make a standout profile and realise the importance of LinkedIn. I realise the site can help me find like-minded professionals who can guide me and help me find a job. My research into LinkedIn has made me realise that it is not an uninteresting social media site for mature business professionals, but a tremendous and resourceful tool.
I have been excited about my report on attracting customers to The Kings Arms. While working at The Kings Arms, my manager has often asked me if I have any ideas on how to attract more customers. I have witnessed the destruction of the COVID-19 pandemic and have often pondered upon what could be done to help The Kings Arms, so getting to write about how I can help the pub is a great opportunity. While the idea for my report came almost instantly, having to look at all the little details of my research was a struggle for me. So many elements go into this report; it can be a little overwhelming and make writing a proposal a little daunting. However, I found the advice from the Instructor’s blog and the textbook very helpful, and it truly helped guide me through the proposal writing process. I also found writing an outline beneficial as it laid out exactly what I had to research and do for my report. Writing the progress report made me realise how much research will have to go into my report, which is a little intimidating because I have never had to conduct interviews or surveys before. I am confident in being able to analyse my research findings because, as a history major, I am often required to analyse research and compile an argument. Thus, I feel that my skills as a historian will aid me in writing my report.
Peer reviewing Danae’s work was an excellent exercise for me. Practising reviewing other people’s work allows me to develop critical skills in editing and reviewing that I can apply to my own work. Peer reviewing is making me look at my work more critically, and I have found myself better able to recognise mistakes. I found it very interesting reading Danae’s work as she is also writing about the struggles of the hospitality industry. It is interesting to see how the pandemic affects hospitality globally, impacting customers and staff. I felt more confident writing my second peer review. Last time I was worried about hurting someone’s feelings; however, this time, I used the tip of avoiding making the review personal, and I found I was much more comfortable writing this review. Overall, I think my proposal was quite good with only a handful of mistakes in need of correcting. Juanita thankful identified my mistakes for me. Juanita pointed out that I fell into an old habit I thought I had broken: using multiple tenses. I have since corrected my work. The peer review of my work has made me realise that when faced with a big challenge with lots of elements, I am more likely to get overwhelmed and slip up. I re-read my work before submitting it, but if I had taken a break and returned to re-read it with fresh eyes, I would have caught more of my mistakes.
Unit 2 has allowed me to practice and learn many skills, such as report writing and creating a LinkedIn profile. I feel as if I have walked away from Unit 2 with lots of new skills that will help me in the professional world, which is precisely why I took this course.
UNIT 1:
This was my first blog post reflecting on the course’s first unit. I felt quite nervous writing this post as I was unsure what to write, and I did not have much experience writing in the first person as it is typically frowned upon in academic writing. I felt like I was dipping my toes into the water and was not yet confident in my writing. Overall, I was reasonably happy with my first blog post but wish I could rewrite it now that I have more practice.
Reflection
11th June, 2022
I struggled more than I thought I would with definitions assignment. It seemed like a relatively straightforward task. However, I was challenged by thinking about historiography in multiple ways and then writing about it in a non-technical format. Having to think about the intricacies of a term that I had never really considered before actually confused my understanding, and I started to overthink. I realised that I had to take a step back and come back to my writing with a clear mind; luckily, this did the trick. One part of my assignment that I am rather proud of is my visual aid. I could not find a visual about historiography that I thought was appropriate, so I created my own. I used the website Canva and was able to quickly make a visual that I think helped readers better understand. I found the process quite interesting as I was challenged to make a concept into a visual aid.
I have always found peer reviews a little daunting but years of practice must have paid off as I felt relatively comfortable reviewing Peter’s work. I think Peter did an excellent job defining the Medulla Oblongata, as I could easily understand what it was and its function. Going over Peter’s work helped me further understand the assignment and where I went wrong myself, which helped me when editing my work. Correcting my classmate’s grammar was a good exercise for me, allowing me to work on my own grammatical skills. I was a little worried about giving criticism as I did not want to upset anyone. But, I think the textbook gave some excellent guidance on balancing the constrictive criticism by reiterating the positive.
Ethan offered me some great advice in his peer review. A significant issue for me was my grammar and sentence structure. I was not surprised by this as I have always struggled with grammar. Ethan pointed out that I had a run-on sentence that needed correcting. I have often struggled with run-on sentences. I moved schools a lot, so there are gaps in my knowledge, one of them being run-on sentences. I did not even know what a run-on sentence was until someone pointed it out last year. Since then, I have been trying to avoid them, but I am still learning. Another suggestion of Ethan’s was to add another example, preferably one more recent. I decided to write about the current situation between Russia and Ukraine, my thought process being that seeing as people are witnessing the event unfold, they might better be able to understand how historiography works.