Author Archives: mengying hsieh

I have learned a lot throughout the process of completing English 301 course. I have improved my writing skills after reading the feedbacks from the instructor. I learned how to edit my works so they look professional and organized.

Throughout the course, I have utilize my strengths well, I put each assignment’s deadline on my calendar so I was able to finish each assignment on time. I also adapted well in this course. I found myself learning new things quite fast and I was able to understand the requirements of each assignment quickly so I could finish it early. On the other hand, I have shown that my weaknesses were improved throughout the course. Because this was an online course, I had to talk to my teammates on Facebook. I am not as shy when I talk to people online. I found myself communicating well with my teammates and I did speak up when I have questions or concerns. I also read feedbacks from the evaluation form, so I was able to improve on my writing skills and did better on similar assignments later on.

Throughout the course, I was able to highlight some of the skills and strengths that support my future career goal. I am currently a computer science student, and I will be entering co-op this coming September. My current career goal is finding a position in the software developing field, and I can use the skills and strengths highlighted in this course to show my qualifications. I was able to list out my skills on the LinkedIn profile so my connections could endorse me. I found creating a LinkedIn page important because LinkedIn serves as an online resume. Potential employers may check out my LinkedIn page before interviewing me. The most important strength I developed in this course was time management. As software field is a fast-paced environment, it is important to finish work before the deadline so the work can be published on time.

In conclusion, I have learnt how to highlight my skills in this course and I really appreciate that I have the opportunities to optimize my social media pages, as well as my job search skills. I really enjoyed this course and I would definitely recommend it to my friends! Thank you!

The process of developing this web folio was interesting and meaningful in the aspect of learning. I learned a lot in this process and I would like to share the details of the knowledges I gained, the challenges I faced, as well as the interesting things I experienced.

First of all, I decided to use the English 301 Blog as my web folio platform because I had most of the pages written and organized. I felt like the Blog would be a waste if I created a new web folio page. I also changed the theme of the web folio because the old one was too dark and lack of energy.

Secondly, I created a home page to introduce the audience to my web folio. I added a visual aid so the page looks colourful and attractive. I also added two hyperlink to my LinkedIn and my personal website, so the audience can have a quick access to my social media sites. At the end of the page, I provided some navigational advices to the audience. I found that a home page is really important because it attracts the audience and gives the audience some insights of the web folio. The process of creating the home page was fairly smooth.

Next, I created a page to connect to my LinkedIn profile, and a page to connect to my personal website. The LinkedIn profile was included because it was in the requirements. I added a brief description prior to the hyperlink so the audience knows what are on my LinkedIn profile. I included my personal website because I created it using some skills I learned from my current degree. I wanted to show the website I made to the public. I also edited my online resume page and application package page so they are organized in a professional manner. I added brief introductions to each of the pdf link on the application package page so that the audience are able to have a quick look before stepping into the details.

Furthermore, I put my best works from English 301 in the best work page. The works I included were the three definitions, the formal report proposal, a complaint letter, and a peer review. I added brief summaries of what I have done well for each work. I chose these not only because they were the best, but also because they were meaningful. It was my first time doing the definitions and the complaint letter. I found it interesting but challenging somehow because I had to do some research before I started writing. I have done some formal reports and peer reviews before, but I have not received feedbacks to allow me to improve my writing skills. I have received a lot of feedbacks in English 301, and the feedbacks allow me to do better on the final assignments.

Finally, I was asked to write two more reflection blogs on top of the three blogs I wrote throughout the term. The first one was a reflection to creating my web folio. I found this part the most challenging in the process of developing a web folio. I had to recall what I have done for each page and why I have done a particular step. However, recalling what I have done actually made myself feel proud because I have done so much in this course and I have a web folio to show it to someone! The second reflection blog was about my strengths and weaknesses in the process of learning. I believe that I have improved my writing skills in the process of completing this course. This blog allowed me to think about what I have learned in this course and what I should continue to work on in the future. It was a great blog!

In conclusion, it took me sometime to finalize my web folio but it was an interesting process. I really enjoyed developing my own web folio. The most exciting thing about this web folio is that I have something to show to my friends after completing this course!

I learned quite a lot in this unit. First of all, we were asked to write letters with You-Attitude. The process of writing the letters gave me some ideas of how to write letters that sound polite but offer solutions at the same time. It was interesting to have the opportunity to play two roles when writing letters. I could look at the complaints and solutions in different perspectives, as an unhappy customer and as a customer service representative. I was able to understand why a customer would be unsatisfied and wanted to write a complaint letter. I was also able to understand how to reject compensation without making the customer feel disrespected. I found the tips given for writing letters with You-Attitude really useful in terms of drawing attentions and finding better alternative solutions. I really enjoyed writing those letters and they certainly improved my writing with You-Attitude skills. I hope to apply the skills when I face similar situations in the future.

Secondly, I did research for my formal report. It was a challenging but rewarding task. It was challenging because it was hard to follow my schedule. Gathering data took time, and organizing data took time as well. I had to collect all my data in order to proceed to investigating those data. Luckily, I was able to collect data within time because the participants are UBCTA student club executive members (which are around 30 people only). After collecting all data and organizing them, I started finding trends and interesting results. The results were like what were expected and I was happy that I could get the results on the first try. After analyzing data, I started doing research on team-work efficiency. I found that clear job descriptions are associated with better work performance. I also found that better communications between team members increase work efficiency. The researches were interesting and also were supporting my theory. Therefore, I incorporate them into my formal report and put them as my secondary research that supports my theory. The process of generating formal report draft was fun, I was able to stick with my schedule and have a draft for peer reviewing.

Finally, we were asked to peer review one teammate’s formal report draft. My peer has done a great job in writing her formal report draft. She gave clear table of contents, as well as headings and subheadings. She also wrote an informative introduction, which gave me a good idea of the background of the company, that she wanted to investigate in. She analyzed her data well, which was beneficial in helping me understanding her results. After reading her comments on my formal report draft and reading her draft, I learned that I could organize my contents better and make my writing flow. I should also improve my writing for my formal report by editing several times. I found little grammar errors in her writing, which is surprising. I want to reduce my grammar errors as well so I can become a better writer in the future.

Formal Report Draft: Formal Report Draft

Peer Review for Helen Seto: Helen Seto Formal Report Draft Peer Review

English 301 students are asked to create a LinkedIn account in Unit Two. I already have a LinkedIn account, so I updated it with the suggestions from peers and researches. What I had on my profile were past work and volunteer experience, as well as awards and skills. I added summary to make my profile look more clean and easy to understand. I also added some descriptions to my past experience. I feel that having a LinkedIn account is a good way to express myself without a formal interview or a paper resume. Employers are able to understand my personalities and past experience just by reading my LinkedIn account. As a job seeker, I am able to check out companies’ LinkedIn accounts to see if the company interests me. I am also able to look at other people’s profile and find similarities or connections who have similar background as myself. I feel that the endorsement feature on LinkedIn is really useful in terms of listing out my skills. Having endorsements means that my skills are approved by other people, which further proves that I have the ability to do work related to those skills.

We are also required to create a report proposal and outline in Unit Two. It took me sometime to come up with a topic that is both objective and significant. I feel like the topic would help in improving team work efficiency. Since team work is essential in almost every work environment, it would be great to address the issue that affects efficiency. I read the textbook and outlined my proposal accordingly. I decided to use surveys and interviews to carry out my data. I also thought about possible solutions that are objective. I believe that I am qualified for this task because I used to work in that student club and I understand how the team works. I feel that my progress with the report is great and I definitely have enough time to collect enough surveys and have sufficient interviews with club directors. At first, I was worried that this topic is not significant enough in terms of influencing the community. After thinking about it, I decided that team work is important in every aspect of work, like what I said before. Therefore, I believe that it is not a problem to put everything together as a formal report.

While reading my peer’s report proposal, I learned that I can collect primary data from different sources to make my results more accurate. There are also many interesting topics that I can investigate in. I also learned that research questions should be detailed but concise at the same time to make it clear to the audience about the purpose of the investigation. The process of peer reviewing is smooth and interesting. I was able to see my weaknesses by reading my peers’ work. I improved my writing after reading peer reviews. I also improved my reading skill as I was able to quickly highlight the main point of the proposal. I was surprised that my peers’ writing skills are excellent and I hope I can learn from them. Once again, I think peer reviewing is a great way to improve my writing and reading skills. It is always easier to find errors from other people’s work than my own work, so peer reviewing definitely makes it easier for us to revise our works.

Revised Report Proposal: Formal Report Proposal by Noelle Hsieh

Peer Review for Helen Seto: Peer Review for Helen Seto’s Report Proposal

The first task of this unit was to write three different definitions of a word for non-technical readers, then we were asked to peer review one teammate’s definitions and give suggestions on what may be improved. The final task was to edit our own definitions based on one teammate’s advices.

First of all, I started my definitions by thinking about what I learned back in my first degree, and I figured that choosing a word from food-related field would be great for audience who do not have a background in food science. I read through my old assignments and picked the word “osteoporosis”. I thought it may be interesting to have clear definitions so that non-technical readers could understand the word easily. I began writing the first and second definitions by thinking about examples used in daily life. Next, I used dictionary.com to find out the meaning of each broken down pieces of the word. Then, I searched online for a suitable visual aid that would represent “osteoporosis” the best and found a simple one which compares normal and osteoporosis bones. I thought it would be the best way to see the difference between normal and damaged bones. I also searched up for the reasons of osteoporosis and the ways to reduce risk. I ended the definition with similar phenomena which compared osteoporosis with another similar word that has a slightly different meaning. I found this assignment interesting but a little challenging at the first. Without peer reviewing, it is difficult to see the problems in my own writing, such as grammar errors and wording.

Next, I worked on peer reviewing Selena Rai’s definitions. The reviewing process went smoothly. I read three definitions and gave her a few suggestions. It was clear that her writing had little grammar errors. However, I found that she used many technical words in the expanded definition. Although she explained every technical word, the audience may be confused and shift focus away from the main word. I read Selena’s suggestions on my writing as well. She definitely gave me some good advices on how I should make it more clear when specifying the audience. She also corrected my grammar errors. It was great to have a peer review on my three definitions so that I could improve my writing skills for the next assignment.

Finally, I edited my three definitions based on Selena’s suggestions and I figured that I had some spelling errors when I typed. I like how Selena pointed out my errors so that I could correct them easily. I also made my wording more specific so the readers could understand the word better. Overall, this assignment was helpful in terms of improving my writing skill and peer reviewing skill. Some errors may not be obvious to me when I write my three definitions, but the peer reviewer may catch the errors by the first read. From this assignment, I learned that peer reviewing is a process of learning how to give good suggestions. It is also a way to improve our writing skills. By comparing my work to other students’ work, I could see my weaknesses and strengths in writing and try to avoid making same mistakes next time.

Here is the rewritten definitions: Rewritten Three Definitions

Here is the peer review: Selena’s Peer Review