The first unit of this course was a learning experience for me. It introduced me to what technical and professional writing is and what I should expect from an intensive English course. The application letter assignment was a good awakening for myself. I had to figure out my qualities and strengths to put myself out there as a potential group member. I found writing emails to prospective group members to be a helpful assignment. I learned to be able to write professionally while maintaining a friendly tone. In addition, I realized the importance of checking your emails frequently and replying to them as soon as possible!
As for the recent assignment, I found the definitions to be the most helpful in my grammar and essay organization. This assignment expanded my knowledge in the different types of definitions as well as being able to write something that can be understood by non-technical readers. I found that portion a little difficult because I had to put myself in the reader’s perspective and use less-difficult phrases/examples (as the readers should have little to no knowledge about the subject I was defining). As a result, I was more careful in choosing my expansion strategies and visuals that was able to show the readers what democracy actually is. In the end, I believe that I was able to successfully conveyed my definition to the audience.
Lastly, I found the peer review process very helpful to me and my writing. I was able to read my other group members’ work and how they it differently than mine (content, formatting… etc.). My partner was Konstantin Mestnikov and he effectively defined what high-density lipoproteins were. I found his definitions to be well-thought out and he wrote it in a way for me to easily understand a scientific term. His writing was efficient but he still had room for improvements. Before this assignment, I don’t often peer-review my peers’ work so this was a learning experience.
Receiving feedback from Konstantin greatly improved my writing. Thanks to Konstantin, I realized that I was missing a portion of the assignment and I was able to fix it. I know grammar isn’t my strongest suit so Konstantin’s suggestions were super helpful. For example, removing unnecessary sentences, adding articles, and organizing my sub headings were all proposals made by Konstantin. After re-editing my definition, I believe that non-technical readers will have a better understanding of what democracy is.
Revised Defintion: REVISED Assignment 1.3 — Piper Kim
Konstantin’s Peer Review: Konstantin Peer Review of Piper Kim’s Definition