Throughout English 301 I have performed well. Assignments were completed on time and I put in my best effort. The course has showed me the strengths and weaknesses of my technical writing skills. Some lessons came easily, others were more challenging.

I provided thoughtful peer reviews where I tried to give helpful feedback to the best of my abilities and knowledge. I found peer reviews to be quite challenging, and was often concerned that I was giving the wrong advice. As peer reviews progressed I worked on using a more “You Attitude” approach. I feel that my final peer review has demonstrated this writing technique well.

Memo writing was challenging, and I often did not grasp this approach accurately. I realize now that memos are to be short and to the point, and that you can easily have your memo turn into an email if you add too much information. Memos also require strict formatting that must be followed.

Another writing technique that I struggled with was writing positively. I did not realize that I had been writing negatively until it was demonstrated to me with a correction of my work. Writing in the positive is a technique that I believe will be incredibly useful in my professional life. It is easy to write in the negative when you are upset or in disagreement with something, but with some effort, writing in the positive can better state your concerns and give you a better chance of achieving the outcome you desire.

Overall, I feel that I have progressed well in English 301. I have taken reviews and feedback seriously and have put in effort to making my writing better. I will use my newly acquired skills throughout the rest of my studies with the University of British Columbia, as well as in my professional and personal life.

              Early sunset in Clyde River, NU.

Creating a web folio presented more challenges than I had anticipated. I found that the process of creating a website was difficult and frustrating at times. Online tutorials were often outdated. Youtube had some helpful video guides, but were often showing much older versions of WordPress.

After hours of attempting to create pages with linked posts and the formatting I was trying to achieve, I eventually decided to try using another site to build my web folio. Unfortunately, I did not find them much more user friendly. It appears that if you want to create a stunning website you have to pay for upgrades, which I was not willing to do at this time.

Ultimately, I decided to continue with WordPress as this is the website I have been using throughout English 301 and, therefore, have the most experience with. I still have not achieved the desired “look” that I was hoping for, but I am happy to have a web folio that showcases my professional and academic achievements.

In the future, if I were to create another web folio, I would either purchase a site upgrade or consult a website design specialist. I feel that my professional and educational portfolio could be presented in a more appealing way with better graphics, backgrounds, menus and overall professional appearance.

The process of editing my previous works was enlightening. It demonstrated that I have learned a great deal throughout the course, and that my writing style and technique has changed for the better. I am thrilled to have a strong online portfolio that I can use to further my career and present my professional objectives.

Formal Report Draft

Researching, writing and organizing the formal report draft was a process that required a lot of time and effort, but will hopefully have rewards when the final report is presented to the intended audience.

When researching I hoped to include information that was informative and helped to identify and analyze the problem in a constructive way that will eventually lead to the desired change. I chose to send surveys to those who would be effected by the implementation of new dental hygiene instruments. Unfortunately, this leads to a weakness in my report with few people being surveyed. I chose to proceed despite this weakness, as those surveyed are the ones who will be using the new instruments, and instrument use is a personal and subjective preference. I also used interviews with company representatives in order to attain objective data that could be used to compare different supplies. This allowed me to compare instrument types and costs that could easily be analyzed in order to determine an appropriate workable and affordable solution for the practice.

Writing required thoughtful consideration of how to best present my report to the intended audience and ensure that the information was relevant and in an appropriate professional language and tone. I found that this came with relative ease as it is something that I maintain with the practice owner on a daily basis. I ensured that my writing reflected the professional and respectful tone that we use within the workplace.

While organizing my report, I found it helpful to review other examples of formal reports, both in the textbook and on those posted on the instructor’s blog. Although my report required its own unique organization in order to present the information in a clear and effective way, it was incredibly useful to see examples from other formal reports. This allowed me to see what could work, and what would not work well for my own report. I chose to present the objective data first, followed by the subjective data. My intention was to present the strongest information in the beginning in order to capture my audience’s attention. If I am able to achieve this, I feel that my formal report will be able to successfully achieve the desired practice change that I believe is required.

Peer Review

The peer review process was, again, insightful and allowed me to consider my own formal report draft in the process. During the peer review I was able to objectively see some mistakes that I also made, which allowed me to help correct my peer, as well as my own report. I had to review the use of correct MLA citations in order to give feedback to my peer, and in the process discovered that I had also incorrectly used the format. I also found strengths when reviewing my peer, such as a strong “You Attitude” being used. This made me realize that I had not always used this writing technique throughout my paper and needed to make corrections. The peer review process allowed me to assist in the writing of my peer’s report, hopefully making it stronger and more effective when it is presented to the intended audience. I hope that my feedback was useful to my peer, as it was useful for me when considering my own report.

Please find my draft formal report here.

I was hesitant to create a LinkedIn profile. Social media is a platform that I typically avoid – I did not even have a Facebook account until I started this class! I feel that social media should be used wisely and with certain precautions. However, I do see the benefits of having a social media presence. Instead of networking with professionals within my geographical area, I can connect with others from across the country, and even around the world. I enjoyed putting together my profile and highlighting my professional, educational and volunteer experience. The profile you are able to create is even better than a resume. I like how I was able to add all of my professional goals and objectives and really sell myself as a professional. I hope to be able to connect with other like-minded professionals through this social media account.

Although my formal report is something that I have been wanting to do within my workplace for a long time, I did find it difficult to brainstorm a professional proposal and outline. It is one thing to want change to happen, and another to make it happen. I want my report to reflect the needs of the dental hygienists; and to help them work more effectively and easily. This will lead to practice benefits and increased production for the owner, as well. I feel that I have laid out appropriate questions that will help me to accomplish change within my dental practice in a professional and evidence-based manner. The formal report still seems a bit overwhelming, however, once the interviews and surveys are completed I should have enough information to create an informative and enlightening report that can be presented to the practice owner and influence change.

The peer review process continues to assist me in building better writing skills. By reviewing others’ work I am able to focus on the writing, formatting and tone of the paper, instead of being principally focused on the facts and information that I am trying to convey. The information is obviously extremely important, but the manner in which the information is presented so that your audience understands is of vital importance.

I appreciate all of the feedback from my reviewer. She sees my writing from another perspective that I do not have and is able to give valuable suggestions to improve my work.

Revised Report proposal Rebecca Coleman June 25

http://engl301.arts.ubc.ca/2017/06/09/peer-review-of-research-proposal-3/

Definitions Assignment

When writing the definition assignment, I chose a technical word that I use in daily practice with both colleagues and patients – “periodontitis”. This condition is something that I explain to patients on a daily basis. However, I find it helpful when having a verbal conversation, that the person with whom I am speaking to can ask for clarification if I am not being clear in my description.

Writing without immediate feedback is difficult because you have to put yourself in the general populations’ point of view and level of understanding.  I wanted my definitions to be clear and concise, but not to have a patronizing tone. It is challenging when you are unaware of the readers’ background knowledge on a topic and their level of education. I hoped to give my definitions balance in order to be understandable to the average adult reader.

Peer Review

I found the peer review process to be difficult. I re-read my peers’ assignment over and over again trying to think of critical and constructive comments that would be of benefit to her writing. I am not used to reading someone else’s writing with a critical eye. Most of my experience has been in adjusting grammar or small writing mistakes. Having guidelines from the text, as well as the course handout were helpful when reviewing my peers’ assignment, as I was not sure what I should be giving feedback on.

Knowing to review initial comprehension, audience, organization, use of jargon, and effective or ineffective elements of the writing, allowed me to help my peer by giving feedback of the necessary elements in writing the definition assignment. Any other peer reviews will benefit from having a template to help guide me (the reviewer) as to what is important in the editing process, and what comments would be most beneficial to the writer and future readers of the piece.

Receiving Peer Review

I greatly appreciated the critical feedback from my peer evaluation. Having both positive and negative feedback allowed me to not think too negatively that I had been completely wrong in my writing, but that I had completed some portions correctly while other portions required modification. I found my peers suggestions to be very helpful, including how I can make my visual appear better to my reader with a larger size and by having a small description to further explain it. She also pointed out that I had used jargon in my writing, which I had not realized. When you are used to speaking in technical terms, sometimes you forget that the terms you use within your profession are not the terms that are used with the general population. I did not recognize that I had used incorrect citations within my writing, I had combined two different formats without realizing it – this would look extremely poor if it had been published in its incorrect state. It was very helpful to have a critical eye point out the corrections that needed to be made.

Please find a copy of my corrected definitions assignment below.

Rebecca Coleman ENG 1.3 Corrected