Coming into this Technical Writing 301 course was honestly not something I looked forward to and will be happy to have achieved completion.
Expectations:
Hard
Lots of writing
Won’t be useful
No guidance
Reality:
Easy guidelines
Challenging but educational
Many “real world” applications
Lots of writing projects
There were many assignments where I was thankful for the opportunity to correct flaws in my work, some small and some larger. Through the peer-review process we were able to gain valuable feedback from our classmates that guided us in individual improvement in a constructive method.
I found when reviewing my peers work I would realize things within my own work that needed to be addressed. I enjoyed the learning through reviewing methodology.
One of the strengths that I realized through completion of this technical writing course is I am great at taking and applying creative feedback.
The learning obtained through this course is something that can guide me in my future educational initiatives by having an in-depth understanding of what goes into an application package for graduate school.
Within the workplace I write more professional emails to my colleagues now. I also have capability of creating blogs or feasibility reports for a workplace or volunteering initiative.
Reflecting on the creation of my web folio incorporates tumultuous feelings.
This project was the second largest project this semester alongside the creation of a formal report. I expected the web folio to be the refinement of all the previous work completed during the course time period.
The big feelings come from the cumulation of the summer semester and a finale for Technical Writing 301, as well as the desire to go beyond expectations and produce a phenomenal interactive web folio.
The content of a web folio and blog is important but the theme of the website, blog, or web folio changes the entire mood of readers. Having the technical aspects of photos in the position you want with centred descriptions and links working properly or stopping working all together was challenging.
I feel that guidance throughout the course in the form of constructive feedback was helpful in producing refined content within the web folio.
Another summer program had a final project as a teaching web folio the course was called Teaching Adults. Using this web folio as my first trial I learned techniques to help go beyond basics to compel my readers to interact with and easily navigate my web folio this time.
I appreciate the amount of time and effort that each person takes in producing content that represents a big piece of who they are.
The formal report is one of the most significant tasks to complete in the Technical Writing 301 class. This extensive report was laid out in small sections completed over the class term to the cumulation of the report in its entirety.
I feel that each component is an essential and buildable piece that paves the way to the next segment. The building blocks of a formal technical report include:
Proposal-includes topic and secondary data sources
Outline-headings and subheadings to guide report writing
Primary data creation and collection-surveys or questionnaires
Progress report-update on the progress of the formal report
Formal report draft-as close as possible to final
Final formal report-edited and perfected
The formal report writing process is similar in the amount of work to research and organize a research report. I am very accustomed to research reports and feel comfortable in the tasks of preparation and formatting. Assignment 3 included preparing a formal report draft, which initially seemed like an audacious task.
I was happy with selecting a topic to research that was of personal interest, and having small components introduced at a time made the formal report writing process manageable. Once I could draw similarities and vast differences between a formal report versus a research paper, I found the task of completing my draft easier.
I found through peer reviewing my classmate’s paper areas that I needed to change in my formal report and ended up referring to the textbook to ensure proper procedures were followed by us both. Reviewing my peer’s work, I realized key components I missed and wanted to provide text pages as references to my peer. In pursuing text references for my peer, I would pick up on things I didn’t see or didn’t place importance on previously.
Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication
Overall, I learned that any report is a sizable time commitment in preparation and completion. I am happy to have expanded my learning to include a formal report as this is a very technical document required in most workplace situations.
As a UBC student there is support offered through the centre for writing and scholarly communication with writing consultations and workshops. By clicking the UBC link to the left side you will be directed to their homepage.
Job opportunities and career searching best practices have always included networking as an ideal way to explore new positions. In the past, networking on a larger scale would consist of events for job seekers to meet with workplaces or people from similar fields of work. On a smaller scale, networking encouraged chatting with people and having business meetings.
LinkedIn is a professional online digital e-networking platform that connects people in various fields to one another to engage, collaborate and expand options for work, volunteering and more. Click the logo for linkedIn to see thee memo I wrote on the 10 best practices for LinkedIn.
10 Best Practices for LinkedIn
In our digital and global age, having the ability to connect with individuals in areas around the world ensures networking with the ideal people for the position, collaboration and community engagement. If you would like to join LinkedIn and start your online professional network click the LinkedIn banner on the right.
Researching LinkedIn and creating an online profile illuminated the benefits of a social media platform as a means of job recruitment and proliferation of opportunities as opposed to traditional means. This is not something I have ever considered being a dental hygienist where hiring practices are very straightforward; however, with the completion of my degree, a more extensive network could increase my opportunities outside of the clinical role.
Formal Report Process
Creating a formal report can be viewed in my previous post by clicking the report photo below, which discusses the elements of the report creation process and offers a link to a UBC writing help page for students.
A writing proposal identifies:
Investigation of research topic, establishing the purpose of the report
Legitimacy and significance of the report based on available secondary data
Selecting questions the report aims to answer
Research potential solutions to the topic being researched
Identify the audience of the report
A writing outline depicts:
1.) Introduction
I. Your main headings to introduce the purpose, audience and topics of the report.
2.) Body
I. Each heading on the main topics of the report.
a) Sub-headings included expanding on major report topics.
b) Qualitative analysis and unbiased presentation of data.
3.) Conclusion
I. Summery of collected data.
II. Recommendations based on data sources and feasibility.
Preparing my formal report proposal and outline seemed daunting despite excellent instruction. I was happy that everything was broken down into manageable segments, which made the overall process straightforward.
Brainstorming ideas for the report was the most challenging part and required me to think of everyday problems to address for necessary change. I feel more comfortable now with my progress report and enjoy the systematic approach to its creation.
I am now seeing how everything within the formal report, the outline and progress report, will come together with our created primary data sources to make a report. After reading my partner’s feedback for my progress report, I feel that if I paid closer attention to the directions, I wouldn’t forget to include individual headlines and think I incorporated things within the document.
Peer Review Process Reflection
Through completing and reviewing my team’s work, I have learned that my grammar skills are decent and that some of my wording could be more professional in tone. I am so impressed with my teammate’s writing and professional style that it pushes me to expand my writing style and aim for the same calibre of work they produce. I love that I have the opportunity to learn from amazing teammates!
Below you will find two links, link 1, my example of a formal report proposal and link 2, the peer review I completed of my classmates proposal.
In learning about three different types of technical writing of definitions required in a variety of settings to facilitate the understanding of the non-technical in a technical circumstance. I was unaware of what a parenthetical definition is but enjoyed the ease of using parenthesis to simply describe a technical word and its effectiveness. A sentence definition was exactly as I thought it would be by using more words but still concisely summarizing a word/term. The expanded definition was clearly described in the textbook, technical Communication, 15th Edition by John M. Lannon; Laura J. Gurak. I thought the textbook describing how to lay out each expansion technique and bring them together harmoniously made this portion of the assignment manageable.
The peer-review process layout was easy to follow with a guide but was a new process of formatting for me. I figure now that I have laid out my format loosely from an example or additional required suggestions it will make this process easier in the future and more consistent. I know giving my classmates proper feedback is necessary to advance their writing and learning but I feel bad for pointing things out to fix.
The self-editing process based on my classmate’s feedback was beneficial to advance my definition writing, mainly my expansion. I am happy that the feedback I received from my classmate was in line with what I anticipated after reading my team’s definitions.
This is a compilation of three email messages I wrote to potential writing team members followed by a link to view in a webpage or download my application letter to their team.
Potential Member One
Subject: Group Formation
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steeple@student.ubc.ca May 29, 2022 6:34PM
To: kristy@student.ubc.ca
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Dear Kristy:
After reading your biography on the webpage you created for 301 Technical Writing, I feel that our backgrounds align and would like to invite you to join my professional writing team to learn from each other throughout our shared technical writing course.
Please let me know if you also agree that our similar backgrounds could help us understand each other and we can push our professional writing by learning from each other.
This is an example of an email memo note the differences between a memo and a message click the link below to see an example of a email message for comparison.
As indicated on your blog, you wished to view my letter of application for the professional technical writing team position advertised by the 301 Technical Writing class. My application letter highlights the variety of my writing experiences that would be a unique asset to the writing team.
The following educational and volunteer experiences from working in the profession of dental hygiene for a decade and my involvement with the Rotaract club displays my writing capacity:
Completing chart note
Memos to dentists and colleagues
External letters to collaborate with other health disciplines
Program creation for individuals or groups
Letters of donation to companies
Facilitating meetings by writing minutes
These skills coalesce to bring a unique writing perspective to engage an array of diverse audiences. Although I have not written formally, I learn through doing and love to take on new challenges working comfortably individually and within a group.
Look at my application letter and consider how my unique background can add to your available technical writing team position.
I appreciate your consideration of my application, and feel free to contact me with any questions.
This letter is a sample of an application letter for a position on the 301 Technical Writing Class team. Following this application letter is a relevant links section to quickly download my letter of application and guide you to individualized email message samples for potential team members.
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May 29, 2022
301 Technical Writing Class
Dear 301 Technical Writing Class:
Please consider my application for the position as a professional member of the 301 Technical Writing team, as advertised in September 2020 on the UBC 301 Technical Writing Blog. At the end of this summer, I will complete my technical writing program at the University of British Colombia. I have already graduated from Canadore college’s dental hygiene program with a decade of dedication.
As a dental hygienist, technical writing is part of my daily practice by completing chart notes, impromptu memos to dentists and colleagues, letter’s to interprofessional teams on the collaboration of clients, and creating programs for individual and group learning. These varieties of professional writing styles accompany my volunteer experience as a member of the Rotaract club. At Rotaract, writing technical letters to companies for donations and taking minutes in meetings was standard and will facilitate my flexibility in various technical writing formats that your team may require.
I am a hard worker who continually strives to learn new things by taking action, working either independently or cohesively alongside others, as I have done professionally and through volunteering. Although I have not officially worked as a technical writer, I believe my unique experiences will allow me to engage audiences and illuminate them with my writing perspective. My work ethic and professional training propel me to strive for the highest standards.
If you feel my unique writing perspective and ability to work well independently and in groups would be an asset to your technical writing team, please feel free to contact me on weekdays after 4:00 pm at (606) 705-2022.
Sincerely,
Samantha Teeple
Email: steeple@student.ubc.ca for group member inquiries.
Following the application letter are my three email messages to perspective writing teammates. Click the link below to view the personalized professional email messages.
