At the start of this class I didn’t think a lot about the writing process or how different types of writing can work for different scenarios. However throughout the course, I learned that using technical communication has a lot more factors to it than just writing on a page. You need a lot of research, collaboration and revision. After looking at the work I compete in this course, I can see a clear shift for the better in my writing and thinking.

One of the biggest learning experiences I encountered finishing the Engineering Proposal and Technical Description. I decided to look into expanding cellular and Wifi service through the whole New York City subway system because it was an issue that I experienced every time I rode underground. Instead of just having to explain the problem, I had to look into finding existing technology and learning how fiber-optic cables, antennas, wireless access points, and small-cell radios work together. After finding the components to make the idea work I then had  to present my ideas in a way that could be understood by all audiences. This project showed me  that technical writing should explain complex ideas in a concise manner. It also taught me how to portray these ideas to readers who don’t have the knowledge of these subjects. Through this assignment I was able to explore different genres of writing and the use of rhetorical strategies to persuade readers that my proposal is a beneficial idea.

The ability to research was also another important part of my development in this course. Before I attended this class, I used Google for all my information in my assigned things without thinking if the information or sources were reliable. So now I learned how to use scholarly journal articles as my main sources and base them on their credibility and accuracy. I was able to learn this in my Lab Report Assignment as I had to look for these articles to best support my writing. For my research question I device to dive into whether or not classical music can improve brain development in infants. Reading different articles and comparing their viewpoints helped me understand that research is not just about finding information that agrees with my argument. Instead I found out it is about analyzing evidence and being to convey well balanced conclusions supported by reliable sources. This experience reinforced my ability to summarize and analyze information from multiple sources.

Another skill I improved majorly in this class was revising my work. Earlier in the course I would always leave my work as it was once I completed it. Though, after receiving feedback from my professor and revising my major assignments I realized that revision is so much more important to your writing than I ever would have thought. Each time I revise my work I notice a huge improvement in my writing’s effectiveness. I learned that editing is much more work than correcting simple spelling mistakes. You have to make sure that  your ideas flow together in a logical way and ensure that every paragraph supports the main purpose of the document.

Collaboration was a very important part of this class for me. The discussion with the other students helped me many pieces of my work such as finding ideas or inspirations for my assignments, getting feedback, and making revisions. During the memo assignment I worked with classmates to organize information for a certain problem in NYC and complete a professional document. Collaborating with other people required communication, responsibility, and flexibility because everyone has a different part of the project to contribute and each had different ideas to bring forward to the final work. I learned that successful collaboration heavily depends on trust with one another and having clear communication. These skills are very valuable in the future of my college career and future work career as a civil engineer.

After finishing this course I can say that I have learned and significantly improved on many skills that will help me in future courses. This class taught me how to research efficiently and how to collaborate with my fellow peers using clear communication. With the help of the assignments given, I was able to portray technical information to readers with little knowledge clearly and use the feedback I got for my own benefit. Most importantly, I learned that writing is a process that improves with feedback, revising work ,and trial and error. As I continue my college, these skills I learned or improved on will be continued to be applied to all future writing assignments and professional communication. Looking back at my work in this portfolio will allow me to recognize how much I have grown as a writer and how much more I can improve on.

AI TRANSPARENCY:

I did not use AI a lot on this because it was pretty straight-forward except for a sentence starter to get into talking about my experience in this course because I had trouble starting this assignment.