Writing for Engineering was an engaging and challenging course. Before the course began I thought it was going to be somewhat easy but I was wrong. This course was made to make sure that I grow as a writer. Every assignment had a writing process that needed to be followed and completed to get as many points as possible. This process consisted of drafting, revising, and peer editing. Participating in all this made me realize that there was a lot of room for improvement in my writing. In addition, it allowed me to complete the course learning outcomes. The assignments that helped me grow as a writer were the formal letter of introduction, product review essay, leadership presentation on outlining, lab report analysis, technical description, the three self reflection memos, and the group proposal/presentation. Apart from these assignments there were three artifacts that helped me further grow as a writer in the class. This was the leadership presentation on APA citation by my classmate Aliaksei Bogdanets, “Bullet” by Kim Church, and the “self reflection; Best practices” discussion on blackboard.
When writing the formal letter of introduction assignment it was my first time writing a formal letter. It was quite simple but I did not include all parts of the task because I did not revise my paper. Writing this letter gave me an introduction on how to write formally. The course learning outcome that supports my growth is the enhancement of revising by re-reading the task. In future assignments I have to make sure that I read every part of the task and make sure that it is answered in my assignment.
The product review essay was focused on writing formally with relation to the audience. When writing this I made sure that I took into consideration my audience by writing more descriptive. The course learning outcome that helped my growth was choosing a stance in my writing. In this assignment I learned that I have to make sure that I have to choose a clear stance when writing. I had to be more of a technical writer when writing about something that requires an insightful description.
The leadership presentation on outlining helped me make sure I know how to create outlines before writing a draft. This strengthens my drafting skills. In future writing assignments, outlining created an organized plan of what I was going to write. When writing my lab report analysis I didn’t make an outline and that impacted the organization of my final piece negatively. I did not properly support my claims and did not use efficient quotes when doing this. On future outlines I will make sure I look for strong quotes related to my claim(s).
When writing the lab report analysis, it enabled me to improve my research skills. I had to use multiple sources to analyze the quality and format of three different lab reports of my choosing. The course learning outcome that showed my growth was that I practiced using online databases and online sources to support my claims. In addition, I was able to practice my sourcing strategies. The assignment required APA citation and I was able to practice doing so.
The technical description required a technical description by using formal language. I grew as a writer since I was able to write formally by not using personal pronouns and more descriptive language. The course learning outcome that relates to this is writing formally and using a stance in my writing. I was able to use formal writing by writing without using personal pronouns. Not using personal pronouns focused my writing towards the audience which were potential buyers of my item. It also allowed me to implement subtle persuasion by writing technically about my item.
The group proposal and presentation helped me grow as a writer as I was able to practice working together in a group. I further developed and participated in the collaborative and social aspects of the writing process. In this group project I was able to practice working together as a group in an efficient manner. When completing our parts we made sure that we revised each other’s work. This group project will help me make sure that when working together in a group a good strategy to use is peer editing.
The three self- reflection memos that we had to do for the technical description, product review, and lab report analysis helped me further understand the genre in my writing. This was because in each memo I had to write professionally and not be vague. I clearly had to describe the course learning outcomes and their connection to my strengths/weaknesses in my assignment. The course learning outcomes that relate to this is the enhancement for self assessment and engaging in genre analysis. When writing these memos I was able to look at my mistakes on a deeper level. For future purposes I will have to explain those flaws in a way that matches my genre.
The APA citation presentation by my peer Aliaksei Bogdanets helped me understand how to use APA citation the correct way. Before this presentation I was not sure how to cite in APA style. After this presentation I was able to improve my citation skills in every assignment.
The self-reflection best practices discussion on blackboard initiated by my peer Michael Bermejo helped me learn strategies such as audience analysis. In each discussion response there were some strategies mentioned to write a better self reflection. These included choosing a thesis statement based on the course learning outcomes. In addition, when doing so there had to be a connection to it while writing how it helped. Retelling of what I did in the writing process is not acceptable.
The text “Bullet” by Kim Church helped me understand how to describe an object technically. Before writing the technical description I read this excerpt. It helped me when writing the technical description since I was able to follow conventions of genre and medium. The author described the bullet in which I was able to create an image in my head. I used this kind of descriptive writing in my technical description.
In the long run all these course learning outcomes and new writing strategies learned will help me in future writing assignments. This course taught me that there is always room for improvement in my writing and the learning never stops.
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