Category Archives: Blog

First of all, I want to thank ENGL301 Instructor, Dr. Erika Paterson, and my Professional Writing group teammates, Colby Song, Jongrin Kim, and Vincent Chan, for their support throughout ENGL301.  With all their help, I was able to have a very enjoyable and successful term learning Technical Writing.  Not only did they provide comments and suggestions for ENGL301 assignments, but also they helped me develop my skills to become a lifelong learner of Technical Writing.  Specifically, throughout the course of ENGL301, I developed my ability to write with the you-attitude, my peer review skills, and my ability to generate various technical documents, such as memos and reports.

With all the practice I got writing peer review reports, I became a lot more confident in my ability to review and report on a colleague’s work.  In particular, believe that gaining knowledge of the you-attitude, was most beneficial in my growth as a peer reviewer.  By the end of ENGL301, I believe my ability to write with a you-attitude has been developed the most.

In order to significantly improve my technical writing, I should continue to focus on writing more concisely.  I still struggle with writing concise, yet informative documents.  For example, I believe most of my peer reviews were quite lengthy and that I could have conveyed the same information with less words.  In the future, I will consciously try to write more concisely and maintain the you-attitude, while being informative.

Also, in order to continue my development as a technical writer, I will appreciate technical documents other people generate, just as I did when reviewing my peers’ work in ENGL301.  I will take note of ways others express the you-attitude in their work and how they are able to create aesthetically pleasing and concise technical documents.  I realize that there is a lot more opportunity for me to grow as a technical writer.

As a student, it is often hard to realize how far you have come with regards to your learning.  Reflections, such as this one, gave me the opportunity to take a step back and appreciate the work I accomplished in ENGL301.

I took ENGL301, not because it was a requirement, but because I knew it would allow me to gain some very important skills.  After taking ENGL301, I feel so much more confident entering the workforce right after graduation.  Specifically, getting a lot of feedback on my writing from Dr. Paterson and my profession writing group teammates has made me become more confident in my ability as a technical writer.

In any position in my future career, I know the general learning skills I developed throughout my undergraduate degree will be very useful.  My abilities to think critically and creatively, and to efficiently learn new techniques and procedures have been developed in my undergraduate courses like ENGL301.

Overall, ENGL301 has met my expectations with regards to developing my skills as a technical writer.  Through lots of practice generating peer review reports, memos, the formal report, application package, and web folio, I became a much stronger technical writer.  I would definitely recommend my fellow Biochemistry classmates to take ENGL301.  In fact, I think a course on technical writing should be mandatory for us, since it helped developed skills and gave me knowledge that is very important to have when entering the workforce.

In Unit Three, we were encouraged to begin our  job research for the Application Package major assignment.  Also, we practiced writing strategies and conducted research that would be used in our Formal Report.  We created our Formal Report draft and submitted it for peer review.

From my previous academic experience, I realized the importance of good data when preparing a research report.  So, during interviews of my fellow BC Cancer Agency volunteers, I made a strong effect to collect as much information as possible.  As a result, by the time I finished conducting all the interviews, my thoughts on how to improve the patient experience at the Vancouver Cancer Centre changed quite a bit.  In fact, I had to include extra questions in my later interviews so I could gauge volunteers’ thoughts on new ideas that were brought up earlier.  After all the data collection, I believe I have come to some very important conclusions.  I will therefore be able to make simple and effective recommendations in my report.  In general, I know that simple recommendations are most likely to be accepted and implemented.  As a result, I believe I will make a real, positive change for the patient experience at the Cancer Centre.

I did face some challenges when writing the formal report draft since I did not complete all my interviews before the assignment was due.  However, I tried my best to create a logically organized document so that when I do have all the data, I will be able to easily insert information into the report.  In order to create a well-organized draft, I started by making an outline for the report with the major ideas I wanted to include in each section.  Although my written content seemed to flow naturally, I was unable to naturally integrate my figures into the document.  As my peer reviewer, Colby, suggested, I should place these figures with the suggestions I have written in the body of the report.  Colby provided a good example of figure integration in his formal draft report, which was very well organized with the use of effective headers throughout.

Before reading Colby’s formal report draft for the first time, I carefully read through the Checklist for Peer Review of a Report Draft posted on the ENGL 301 course website.  By keeping these questions in mind while reading his report, I felt I was able to provide useful feedback for my technical writing teammate.  One of my main focuses was to give Colby some questions to consider that his intended audience may ask while reading his report.  Also, I was carefully analyzing his use of the you-attitude throughout his report and provided some specific suggestions for him to consider when he writes the final draft.

I found the assignments in Unit Three to require significantly more creative thinking than other assignments in previous Units.  This shows that technical writing is more than just following a formula or set of rules.  In fact, technical writing, just like most other writing, requires a lot of creative thinking, especially when you want to write with the you-attitude.  I look forward to the final Unit of ENGL 301 and the opportunity to bring everything I learned so far together.

In Unit Two, we started the process of creating the Formal Report and the Application Package.  First, we made a Proposal for our Formal Report, which required us to do a brainstorming exercise and practice writing in a research proposal format.  Then, we were asked to peer review a partner’s research proposal.  Our next assignment was to set up a LinkedIn Profile for the Application Package.  Also, we reviewed a partner’s profile using a LinkedIn Peer Review Form we were asked to generate.  Following, we prepared a memo for our fellow professional writing team members regarding LinkedIn Best Practices.  Finally, we produced a Formal Report Outline in the form of an email memo for Dr. Paterson detailing the progress on our Formal Report.

The most challenging aspect of preparing the Proposal for the Formal Report was the brainstorming activity for thinking of an investigational topic.  Thinking of an interesting investigational topic that would lend itself well to the Formal Report is really important.  I found that writing the Proposal was relatively simple once I selected my topic (Improving Patient Experience at BCCA-VCC).  In generating the Formal Report Proposal, I found learning how to properly format a research proposal most helpful.  From the review I received from Vincent, I realized it would be more effective if I focus most of my energy on interviewing volunteers, rather than observing patient behaviour myself.

I had the opportunity to review Vincent’s Formal Report Proposal.  I learned from my Unit One experience that having a peer review outline prior to reviewing makes the process more productive and efficient.  So, I made a peer review outline for research proposals prior to reading Vincent’s Proposal.  During the review, I was very keen on making sure his investigational topic is going to lend itself well to the Formal Report.  Also, I paid extra attention to the tone used throughout the document, keeping in mind the intended audience.  I learned that a research proposal intended to make recommendations to solve a problem should have a tone that remains respectful, but imperative.

Setting up a LinkedIn Profile was the first task in making the Application Package.  I constructed most of my LinkedIn Profile as I would my CV.  However, I took advantage of the Summary section to try to convey some of my personality and professional interests.  I really want my personality to come through, because I realize my experience may still be lacking.  Colby reviewed my Profile and indicated that I should provide more detail on some of my work experiences.  Also, he suggest taking advantage of the multimedia options on LinkedIn.

I had the opportunity to review Colby’s LinkedIn Profile.  Prior to reviewing his Profile, we were asked to make a LinkedIn Peer Review Form.  I found this task to be the most time consuming, because it required me to conduct research on the components of an outstanding LinkedIn Profile.  However, with the Peer Review Form I prepared, the actual review process was much more efficient. I found Colby’s profile to be very well developed and it included a lot of information regarding his various experiences.  In particular, I was impressed with his use of multimedia in his Work Experience section.  I eventually hope to make my Profile appear as professional and complete as Colby’s.

In this Unit, we were required to prepare several memos, including one concerning the Best LinkedIn Practices.  This assignment required us to conduct our own research and make a list of the ten best practices for using LinkedIn as a networking tool.  I found this activity most helpful as I learned a lot about LinkedIn when I conducted my research.  In particular, I learned that taking advantage of groups could be very helpful to make new professional connections.

Finally, we were asked to make a Formal Report Outline in the form of a memo.  Just like with every other technical writing activity, it is very important to keep the audience in mind during the writing process.  So, we were asked to describe the intended audiences of our Formal Reports in our outlines.   Also, for this assignment, we had to think more carefully on how exactly we will be collecting the data used in our Formal Report.  I made a list of questions I will use during interviews with my fellow Volunteers.  Each of these questions were carefully considered because the answers will greatly affect any recommendations I may make in the Formal Report.  Furthermore, I am finding that all the practice generating memos is turning out to be very useful.  I would feel comfortable preparing memos with proper tone and format in the workplace already.

I am finding that generating and receiving Peer Reviews to be most beneficial in my development as a technical writer.  By conducting reviews, we are required to be considerate of audience, conduct adequate background research, and write in a clear and concise manner.  These are all skills that must be practiced when generating any technical document.  Overall, I found Unit Two a lot more challenging than Unit One.  It contributed even more to my development as a technical writer.  I look forward to continue my learning in Unit Three.

In Unit One, we produced three types of definitions (parenthetical, sentence, and expanded) for a term that is used in our area of study for a non-technical audience.  Subsequently, technical writing group partners peer reviewed each other’s documents.  We edited our own definitions taking into consideration comments and suggestions brought up in our peer’s review.

Selecting an appropriate term to define for a non-technical audience was challenging.  I wanted to pick a term that would not require other relatively complex words in its definition.  I ended up defining active transport, because I thought it was complex enough to allow me to easily provide interesting information in the expanded definition without using other complex terms.  While working on the expanded definition, however, I realized that terms such as diffusion and concentration gradient might be too complex for my non-technical audience.  To limit any confusion caused by introducing these terms, I included a visual depicting simple diffusion and a concentration gradient.  From our recommended textbook readings and from my experience, I realize visuals are often the best method to introduce new information without overwhelming someone.

Receiving peer review feedback from my technical writing group partner, Jongrin, was very helpful in preparing my final expanded definition of active transport.  He provided great constructive criticism regarding my work.  Taking into consideration his comments and advice, I was able to edit my definition and produce a document that I am truly proud of.

Jongrin mentioned the term solute might be confusing for a non-technical audience.  Also, he suggested to go into further detail regarding the importance of active transport and to provide a summary section.  Taking this feedback into consideration, I added a parenthetical definition of solute in the expanded definition of active transport.  Moreover, to further emphasize the importance of active transport, I added another sentence to that section.  Finally, I added a Summary section that listed in point-form key information I want to convey to my audience.

From peer reviewing my partner’s work, I realized different ways to effectively convey new information to a non-technical audience.  Jongrin provided a brief definition of video card in his expanded definition of driver, just in case his audience was unfamiliar with the term.  Also, he used a list while informing his audience of types of external devices that require a driver to connect to a computer, which added to his document’s aesthetics.

Using the peer review form that was provided to us for this assignment was very helpful while reviewing our peer’s work.  I realized that having a good idea of what to look for while reviewing a peer’s work is very important in order to provide good constructive criticism.  Furthermore, I took from our readings that it is very important to have a friendly, positive, and professional tone when writing a peer review.  In the past I have always struggled to work efficiently while writing a peer review.  However, because we were provided with peer review form, I was able to review much more efficiently.  In the future, when I am asked to review another person’s work, I will be sure to make my own peer review form, which should help me write more efficiently and focus the review on important details.

Overall, I think that Unit One was very positive for my development as a technical writer.

Hyperlinks to Definition Assignment and Peer’s Review of Definition Assignment:

• Rewritten Definition Assignment
• Peer’s Review of Definition Assignment