Reflection
The second unit of English technical writing class focused heavily on writing technical documents which are both practical and useful for the industry. This unit consisted of; writing a draft proposal, researching best practices for creating a LinkedIn Profile, creating a LinkedIn Profile, writing an outline for a Formal Report and peer-reviewing a Linked-In Profile.
Up until this unit, I had passively read through a lot of articles on how to improve my LinkedIn Profile. However, the Memo assignment helped give me the motivation to finally summarize and synthesize my research. Leading to affirmative action on developing my profile, instead of, going into analysis-paralysis. Which often led me to procrastinate and put off improving my writing.
Writing a summary for a LinkedIn Profile gave me an excellent opportunity to self reflect. Helping to work towards recognizing and appreciating the knowledge and skills which I have gained through my time at UBC. Furthermore, through my self-reflection, I came to realize that I need to have a greater depth, rather than breadth of experience.
Whilst working on my summary I found writing about computer science is challenging due to the variety of jargon that exists in the field. This is especially true when writing about my software engineering projects which often required an understanding of technical terms and experience, to comprehend. However, through the course, I have been introduced to the process of picking out the skills I learned or demonstrated from each of my experiences then, elaborating on them simplistically. But I believe that I still have to work on this task and with time develop a more complete profile
In addition, reading through Cody’s LinkedIn profile helped me improve my own. It helped see what he did that caught my eye or worked and then apply it to my profile, in my own words and thoughts of course. Sometimes his areas of improvement also provided insight into where I could better my profile
Writing a research proposal and outline helped me describe the various issues and concerns that could potentially occur with communication channels. Helped me visualize the process that lay ahead. This gave me clarity about what I wanted to achieve with the formal report.
As with Cody’s LinkedIn profile, Mathew’s proposal was on a topic starkly different than my own. This once again lent me insights and unique perspectives on how I could improve my own proposal.
I am worried about the effectiveness of my surveys due to cultural reasons. Although I have made it clear the surveys would be anonymous, I am not sure if people will be completely honest about the effectiveness of the communication systems. I have tried not to lead the participants on for ethical reasons but also to disarm them. If asked directly about the problems in their communication system, they would be less inclined to speak honestly.
In conclusion, Unit 2 was a productive writing experience and enhanced my writing skills. Thanks for reading my Unit 2 blog reflection. I am open to any suggestions and feedback.