Unit 3 was another interesting section to work on for ENGL 301, and I finally felt like I was getting the hang of technical writing. Although I’m sure there are still many areas that I can improve upon, I did feel significantly more comfortable and confident in my writing ability.

Researching, Organizing and Writing Formal Report Draft

This assignment was no small task, but I was looking forward to diving into researching material for my formal report on Implementing Pedestrian Safety on the Arbutus Greenway.  I read some really interesting articles, blogs and websites highlighting the increase in e-bike and e-scooter use in Vancouver, and world-wide. While this didn’t surprise me, it provided me with the reassurance that I had chosen an important subject.

Along the way, my research produced some interesting sources. One that I found interesting was the design plan of the Arbutus Greenway provided by the City of Vancouver. It included renderings of what the City envisions the final greenway to be. To my surprise, they address one of recommendations that I have in my report – separate pathways for pedestrians and cyclists! While seeing this was in the future plans was great, it did make me realize that my report needed to reiterate the importance of safety measures being implemented now, versus waiting for the final phases to be completed in the next few years.

While writing my draft, I faced a couple of setbacks. One was securing a specific contact at the City of Vancouver who oversees the development of the Arbutus Greenway. However, just yesterday I was finally contacted by the Engineering lead. He provided me with some great information that I can now use in the final version of my report. This was a potential limitation that I had highlighted in my draft, so I am relieved. Another hurdle was developing the survey. Having not used Qualtrics before, I had a tough time with the program. However, just like struggling with the set up of my blog at the beginning of this course, it all takes practice…and patience! Moreover, I was really surprised by how hard it was to develop survey questions, specifically trying to avoid writing leading questions. I have learned about these types of questions being problematic in my Psych courses before, however, having to develop them myself made me understand the issues surrounding them. In the end, I was really excited to see the results of my survey. Unfortunately, I was only able to get responses from twenty-nine people, and I didn’t get respondents within a demographic that I assume are the most likely to use the greenway. However, the results I did collect provided me enough data for a solid argument.

Organizing my report draft was relatively easy because of the outline we were assigned to do beforehand. This was such a great reference to have on hand. I now have a whole new appreciation for headings and subheadings. Using this method made it so much easier for laying out my writing sections. In addition, I now understand how important they are for keeping the reader organized while reviewing the content. If they are confused by the layout and content, this would take away from the message the report is trying to convey.

Peer Review of Formal Report Draft

I reviewed Karolina’s final report draft and was looking forward to doing so because I loved the idea of implementing a navigation app for Metrotown Mall. My review took me significantly longer than I had anticipated, in part because this course has taught me how important my feedback is to the success of her final piece of work, but also because I felt a lot of pressure to provide her with relevant and useful notes. In my previous evaluations, I have been instructed to provide more detail, so I made a conscious effort to do this. However, my worry is that I ended up giving too much. As I have experienced with previous reviews of team members’ work, the reviewing process benefited me as much as Karolina. I was constantly reminded of all the tools I have learned, especially avoiding the pronouns ‘I/you’ and imperatives. I also really appreciate the use of visuals as they provide a deeper understanding of data, therefore, I did recommend she use a few more visual references as they also convey material is a more appealing way. I have seen such an improvement in Karolina’s writing, especially with her grammar and spelling. It’s great to see!

Karolina’s review of my formal report draft was very helpful in highlighting the areas that need strengthening. I wasn’t surprised with her comments about wordiness as this is something I am still struggling with. I also appreciated her note about using transitional sentences more effectively, as well as organizing my visuals differently so that the overall design of the report is more appealing. Her review was written in a very professional yet supportive way, and I look forward to implementing her feedback for my final report.

Overall, Unit 3 was an intense section, however, it was also hugely beneficial as a writer and a reviewer. I’m looking forward to tackling Unit 4 and producing my final report, application package and webfolio.