Unit 1 Reflection Blog

In Unit 1, I’ve learned how to write 1) An Application Letter 2) A Memo 3) Professional  Emails 4) a Definition assignment 5) Peer Review. What a productive unit!  Unit 1 gives me an idea of what a technical writing course looks like. The assignments were designed in a way that helps me familiar with the workplace setting. For example, I have never written an application letter, and this assignment makes me feel like I am applying for a job, which is exciting!

Definition Assignment Reflection :

Writing the definition assignment was both fun and educative. In this assignment, I and my team members have to choose one technical term, and then explain it in a professional manner. I find it hard at first even with the textbook instructions, however, I’ve managed to complete this assignment with my team members’ help.

Peer Review of Definitions:

I’ve written peer reviews before, but it is the first time that I write peer reviews in a such professional way. I consider the process of peer review as a process of reflecting on my own work. Once I have done reviewing others, I went back to my assignment and made changes based on my suggestions to others. For instance, I did not include an introduction and a conclusion in my assignment, so I added them in my revised definition assignment. I also learned that my format needs to be improved after I saw other members’ assignments. Therefore, I organize my revised definition assignment using bolded subheadings, listing the parenthesis definition, sentence definition and expanded definition more clearly. I also learned the MLA citation format in this unit, in my other classes, we mainly use the APA citation format.

However, my assignment didn’t receive any peer review but that’s fine. There are five team members when we first started, and we can’t manage to review everyone’s work. Nevertheless, I’ve also learned a great deal about how to improve my own work when I was writing peer reviews for others.

Overall, it was a productive unit.

Unit 2 Reflection Blog

In Unit Two, I learned how to 1) set up LinkedIn profiles 2) write a proposal for the formal report 3) progress report.4) peer review

LinkedIn Profiles

The 1o best practices for LinkedIn was an excellent instruction on how to set up a professional profile and connect people on social media. I noticed that one strategy my peer mentioned is the profile photo—it must be professional. I think from an employer’s perspective, the candidates’ pictures can tell a lot about this person. Whether he or she is quiet, energetic, confident, can all reveal from a single profile photo. Setting up a LinkedIn profile is a new experience for me, I think I might continue to use this profile in the future when I am actually working. I am surprised that I have already received emails about offering me a job.

Proposal Writing & Formal Report

Writing the reported proposal was both challenging and fun. It was challenging because I was not familiar with the proposal templates. So I went to the textbook for help. It was fun because rarely do I get the opportunity to select a topic I am interested in. My selected topic is “  Purchase wheelchair attachable shopping carts in DaRunFa supermarket”. As I was choosing a topic for this proposal, I saw that the International Day of Disabled Persons was approaching. So I decided to write something that will benefit disabled persons. I once worked in a grocery store in China, and I noticed that there aren’t many challenged shoppers in the grocery store. I wonder if this is because the grocery store is not giving them enough support, then my friends reminded me that there are no suitable shopping carts for challenged shoppers, which is why we don’t see them often. This is how I got my topic.

After deciding my topic, I find it easier to write out the proposal, because I was genuinely interested in my topic, and I have the confidence to write it well.

Peer Review

I  would like to thank my groupmate for reviewing my proposal. I think peer review is very useful because my group member’s suggestions allow me to see my work more objectively, they are able to see mistakes that I cannot see. And when I am peer-reviewing, I am also learning new things such as style (organization), grammar, structure, and how to address the intended audience.

Unit 3 Reflection Blog

In the third unit of the ENGL 301 course, we were tasked to write 1) “ Writing with You Attitude Memo to Evan Crisp”, 2) “ Business Letters: Complaint & Bad Newsletter”,  3) a formal report draft, as well as 4) two peer reviews. I learned much in this unit, and I am confident that these strategies are useful in the workplace.

“Writing with You Attitude Memo to Evan Crisp” Reflection

This assignment is by far the most challenging one because it was difficult to not use personal pronouns when I am writing a Memo to someone. However, this exercise made me understand that using personal pronouns too often, can make my message sound informal.

I learned that effective writer avoids using pronouns because they want to be respectful. Pronouns should be omitted or carefully used when we are providing suggestions, writing emails, or doing peer reviews.  Our message can sound condescending if we don’t know how to use a positive tone.

“ Business Letters: Complaint & Bad Newsletter” Reflection

This assignment helps me to place myself in the shoes of the manager -the person who receives my complain. In this exercise, I understand the importance of respecting readers even though they might make a mistake. The best way to file a complaint is not to just express our anger, but to communicate the problem effectively and in a respectful tone so that the person that receives our complaint will be more likely to help us.

“Formal Report Draft” Reflection

I enjoyed the process of writing a draft because I was able to learn about business writing. This is my first time taking a technical writing class, I was ignorant about the format of business writing and everything, but luckily the instructor blog provided me a lot of suggestions, and I use textbook’s examples to organize my draft.

I also encountered some problems when I was writing, the first problem I had is that, I can find little research on the subject I am writing about. My group member (Annie) also writes about this in her peer review of my draft. Annie said that my literacy review does not fit into the paper, which I agree with, and I will try my best to make parts fit these days.

“Peer Review Reflection”

In this stage of the assignment, I was able to see writing techniques that worked well in Annie’s assignment, and mirror that in my own writing. I like the way how Annie organizes her survey results, and I will probably do a similar organization these days. I was able to find parts of my writing that don’t fit and some parts that were written ungrammatically. Because I am not a native speaker, I appreciate other’s suggestions because I might not able to see the problems in my own writing.

Webfolio Reflection

The final assignment of ENGL 301 is the Web Folio. Initially, I thought this assignment is simply collecting all the past assignments, and sort them in an orderly way. Now I realized I was wrong. At first, I faced some difficulties. I encountered problems when choosing a template. I couldn’t find a way to attach my pictures. I wanted them to display on the pages, instead of just showing the links.

For the content part, I had trouble choosing what assignments I will be revising. I first revised my three reflections, and during the process, I start to know what assignments I enjoyed the most. And during my revision process, I see the progress I made throughout the semester. I see that my peer reviews are getting more formalized, and I avoid using “You” in peer reviews. I also see that my unit reflection is getting more standardized. I think perhaps this is the true meaning of creating a web folio. It is not just to publish my assignments again, but to see how I grow this semester.

Final Self-Assessment Reflection 

When I reflected on my expectations for the course earlier in the semester, I initially thought this course is going to help me write business reports only. Although we did practice how to write a business report, I learned more than that. Now I know how to write a Memo, how to draft a professional email, and how to file a complaint and reply to a complaint.

Strengths and weakness 

I think my biggest strength in this course( the team I am in) is that I often submit my peer reviews earlier. I think if I submit them early, my group member can work on revising them sooner. From my group member’s peer reviews, I learned that I am very good at laying out my document.  I have received compliments for my good organization.

My biggest weakness is my grammar. I appreciate my peer–Annie, who always point out my grammar mistakes when she was peer-reviewing my assignments. It is hard for me to spot these errors because I am not a native English speaker. Not only did she point out these errors, but she also told me how to revise it. I am grateful to have a group member like her.

My other weakness is that I paid little attention to details. This is something I need to continue to work on in the future. For example, when I submit my application package, Annie pointed out that my resume (PDF）was inserted in the cover letter,  I did not take a second look before I submit it. I shouldn’t be this sloppy.

My Gain From This Course 

What I take away from this course are editing skills and self-assessment skills. I learned that all writings should be revised again and again so that it would look more professional. My first formal report draft is terrible, but after revising it three times, it looks much better than before. The point of peer review assignments and drafts assignments is to assess our own work, and I think I will take these skills into my future.