Previously my writing I wasn’t a good writer and to a certain degree I still don’t have the skills to make and exceptional paper, however I feel throughout this semester and specifically this course I had grown as a writer and my process to writing has improved overall. Based on different types of writing I have done throughout this course I had learned that there is really not solid way to present writing, but there is an optimal way to do so depending what one is writing. I learned that even in the STEM field documents need to be written with care and they need to be able to convey what you need to accurately and clearly. The papers I had to write during this course provided an experience and knowledge of how certain documents should be written, these include the memo, Letter of introduction, Lab analysis, and Technical description as well as the guidance of the Course Learning Outcomes (CLO’s).
The memo helped me in my writing through the use of language. When writing a draft of my memo and have a it reviewed I saw that there were certain things that I was lack or had to much of in my memo. One of the things I was lacking was the was detail. Specifically details about how the proposed problem would be solved. I gave a vague solution/recommendation of the relocation of the high school students but no clear details about locations or accommodation. This helped improve my memo but I also write in a language that would have been viewed as imposing or complaining about the problem instead of trying to solve it. I figured out that I wasn’t addressing the fellow students, but the president so I need to have a more formal approach when writing the memo.
The letter of introduction was the first assignment given throughout this semester and unlike the rest of the assignment this semester I did not really know how to what to write and where to write it. I put something together later realizing that I for my letter of introduction to make sense I would have to format it put the my goals and information about myself in order for the letter to flow better and be less choppy.
Similarly to the other assignments this analysis helped me understand different types of writing and why people write using different formats. When analyzing the report on global warming and biodiversity followed a more traditional logical report format for the information an topic presented. However all the lab reports provided logically comprehensive format based on the experiment and topic that was performed. The report on the calcification of plankton didn’t follow a traditional format and was organized in a wired way at first, but when the report is actually read the way it is organized provides a optimal way to present the information. Some of the reports had a missing sections or sections that were merged with others which also made it confusing at first. This was technique was present in the report about oil palms which lacked a clear labeled conclusion but had a section which was divided into subsections the described results and limitations of the experiment shown. The analyzing of these reports told me that not all pieces of writing have to follow a strict format, but they must make sense and contribute to the overall purpose of the document.
One of the last assignments that had taught me something was the technical description. When writing my technical description I had trouble formulating and making a comprehensive format. I had provide in-depth descriptions of each part and sub-part of the product I had done, however I did not explain how these parts work together. I learned that I have to go even further into detail when writing a document similar to this to avoid confusion in the future.
The last assignment was the proposal and presentation which had taught me the difference between both and how I should not include everything that I put into my proposal into my presentation. I incorporated the course learning outcomes when writing the proposal and presentation, but I had trouble writing my Request for Proposal (RFP) but I was able to in the end by looking at example and looking up what one entails. Overall in this course I had learned many things but I still feel like I could improve and will work harder to push towards that.
