The University of British Columbia’s (UBC) English 301 course aims to instruct students in a core business skill – Technical writing. This skill encompasses the principles of written and online communications in business and professional contexts. Students will be trained in the preparation of abstracts, proposals, applications, reports, correspondence and online communications, such as emails, texts, Web Folio, and networking. The intended audience for this course is the student body whose majors are in commerce, the sciences, and education. However, I feel that this course will be useful for all students who aspire to join the workforce with a solid understanding of this core business skill.

The course has a number of objectives and is taught in units, which comprise of lessons and assignments. The key objectives, to my mind, are to provide an introduction to business writing; enable the perfection of writing strategies; build teamwork skills; and develop the online, work-related, presence of students through the generation of personalized Web Folios that illustrates their skills and attributes. The course is divided and taught in four units. Each unit contains three lessons and each unit introduces a component of technical writing. Finally, there are three major writing assignments: the Formal Report, the Application Package on Linked-in and the Web Folio. These assignments are supplemented with smaller pieces, such as a definitions assignment. Students are encouraged to practice the skills, which are taught in this course, so as to build a strong understanding of business writing.

My expectations for this course are straightforward. I hope to gain a solid grasp of business and professional writing to support my path towards a career. While I am pleased that this course offers tuition in writing skills, I am also very happy to see that the online component of professional writing and presentation is addressed.