Unit one has been a wonderful introduction to ENGL 301 98A. Over the past few weeks, I can confidently say that I am seeing an improvement in my writing, communication, and peer-reviewing techniques. I am looking forward to continuing to improve my skills throughout the term alongside my classmates and Dr. Paterson.
Assignment 1:3 was composed of three parts. Part one consisted of having each student choose a technical term preferably within their field of study and writing three definitions of that term: a parenthetical definition, a sentence definition, and an expanded definition. Part two involved a peer-review of the definitions, team members partnered up to review each other’s work providing feedback and recommendations. I was lucky enough to partner up with Alison Ma from our ENGL 301 class. Part three comprised of editing the original definition according to your peer-reviews suggestions.
I chose to define the term Hydrocephalus. Previously glancing at the word Hydrocephalus in a medical terminology book, I struck an interest to learn more about it. When writing the expanded definition, I chose to use the following strategies: Operating principle, etymology, history, and visual representation. During the peer-review process, Alison suggested I expand on the definition, diagnosis, and cure of Hydrocephalus to meet the operating principle. I would like to thank Alison for making this suggestion as I believe my revised definition now appropriately fits the four expansion strategies that are required for this assignment. When writing about the operating principle, I learned how to articulate medical terms into a non-technical way to allow readers who may not study medical terminology to understand the procedure and diagnostic criteria. The strategy of etymology allowed me to translate Latin and Greek medical terms into English terms.
After reading the peer-reviewed definition provided by Alison, I learned how to critique jargon words used such as cerebrospinal fluid, ventricles, and ventriculojugular shunt with a spring into terms that readers with a non-technical background could understand. Before peer-reviewing Alison’s work, I examined the definition template as a flexible guideline provided by Dr. Paterson. While peer-reviewing my partner’s work, I learned the definition of Purchasing Power Parity. I learned the difference between Purchasing Power Parity and currency exchange which I found fascinating, as I love to travel and often deal a lot with different currencies. During my peer review process, I was able to provide concise, appropriate feedback regarding grammar, citation, and organization. I hope Alison has found my feedback to be beneficial, as I certainly have found hers to be.
Link to the original definition of Hydrocephalus:
Hydrocephalus definition ENGL 301
Link to peer-reviewed definition of Hydrocephalus: