Course Portfolio
All the homework mentioned can be found at http://keyutao.tumblr.com/.
All projects are available at https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B4f89zYW7MGJYjhwNWtDdTZjOGc.
Draft is available at https://docs.google.com/a/email.arizona.edu/document/d/1DcMdmjmgdQyZ4pFDVxjkIkYnkj_rmMaIh44GaT1RzWA/edit?usp=sharing which includes images that cannot be shown in this post.
To: Instructor and Peers
From: Keyu Tao
Subject: Course Portfolio Cover Letter
Date: Jan 12, 2016
I truly enjoyed ENGL307 during these days. At first, the workload seemed so heavy that I almost wanted to give up. The course objectives also seemed unrealistic. However, I decided to take the challenge and continued taking the course. I can feel how I have improved after each due date and each major project, through the extensive reading and writing. I have grown as a writer in technical communication. In this letter I will evaluate and reflect on my progress.
The course outcomes are as follows:
Critically use key rhetorical concepts through analyzing and composing a multitude of business and professional texts and genres responding to a variety of cultural situations and global audiences. (Rhetoric)
Critique and use flexible strategies for reading, drafting, reviewing, collaborating, revising, rewriting, rereading, and editing using a variety of technologies. (Process)
Identify need for and then manage, analyze, synthesize, and implement multiple streams of simultaneous information through various technological and document design processes. (Information Literacy & Management)
Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia business and professional texts. (Multimodal)
Develop intentional cross-cultural connections and relationships with others to participate in the collaborative and social aspects of business and professional writing processes, including giving and responding to productive feedback and working in teams. (Collaborative)
Reflect on the development of composing practices and how those practices influence their work. (Reflect/Transfer)
Explain why genre conventions for structure, paragraphing, tone, and mechanics vary and extrapolate common formats and/or design features for different kinds of business and professional texts. (Genre)
Classify and attend to the ethical responsibilities required by complex business and professional contexts, genres, and communication environments. (Ethics)
When I first started the course, I felt I could not possibly achieve all the objectives listed above. So I set only 3 basic goals for the course:
Learn more about technical communication in the class.
Finish homework with the skills learnt.
Get good grades for the course, preferably A.
In the process of taking the course, I realized I have the potential to do better than the basics. Hence, I listed new goals while taking the course:
Analyze and evaluate data critically.
Identify audience, purpose and context for every rhetorical situation and write to fit the situation
Use appropriate technology in technical communication.
Collaborate with others, develop cross-cultural connections.
Attend to ethical considerations where possible.
These goals are listed based on the course outcomes. Therefore, I can confidently say that I have achieved all the goals, as I feel that I have accomplished all the course outcomes. Some are not so well done as others, which I will mention later. Next, I will evaluate my progress using the course outcomes.
Critically use key rhetorical concepts through analyzing and composing a multitude of business and professional texts and genres responding to a variety of cultural situations and global audiences. (Rhetoric)
In both project #1 and project #2, I conducted rhetorical analysis on the documents.
In my reflection on project #1, I wrote: “The audience of Career Analysis is myself, as I research to analyze the career path to make further decisions. Therefore, I wrote it in a way to convince myself that the career I choose is a good one. I listed the possible positions that an accountant can take and the advantages of being an accountant, so as to reinforce my determination in choosing this career. In Job Advertisement Analysis, I wrote a letter to a professor to ask him to write a letter of recommendation to me. The purpose of the letter is clear, that is, to get the letter of recommendation. To achieve this purpose, I talked about the experiences in his class to remind him of my performances, so that he will be more willing to write the letter for me. I also talked about my strengths and passion for the job, so as to convince him that I am suitable for the job and he will write the letter for me. In the Cover Letter to the recruiter, the audience is the recruiter and the purpose is to get the job or at least an interview. As the recruiter is a superior to me, I tried my best to show my respect. For example, I acknowledged my appreciation for him/her to take the time to read my email albeit being very busy. In my Regular Print Resume, as it is designed to be printed black and white so I did not use any colors or insert any pictures. However, in the Digital PDF Resume, it is important to embrace the digital affordances. I used a template that has bold colors, and inserted an image that I like. In the Scannable Resume, I used minimum formatting for the ease of scanning. In the Alternative Resume, I utilized a creative website for making resumes and made a very interesting resume, with animation effects and many visuals. Therefore, I designed each resume to cater to their different uses and purposes. In Digital Portfolio Outline, the purpose is to construct a clear and concise outline of my portfolio. Hence, I used arrows to connect my experiences to make it easy to read. In Global Document Revision, the letter is edited to fit the Chinese culture. The letter is written to a Chinese official, hence besides showing respect, Chinese culture must also be reflected in some way. I made the body paragraph longer to show my experiences and intentions more clearly.” This demonstrates my ability to conduct analysis on rhetorical situations.
On Due Date 6, I conducted analysis on the rhetorical situations for different documents in project #2.
This is useful skill for my future studying and even my career, because being an accounting consultant I need to critically assess the rhetorical situation and write to fit the purpose, audience and context. In the process of searching for a job this is also an important skill.
Critique and use flexible strategies for reading, drafting, reviewing, collaborating, revising, rewriting, rereading, and editing using a variety of technologies. (Process)
Throughout the course, I have completed all the readings required as listed below:
TC:
Chapter 2: Meeting the Needs of Specific Audiences
Chapter 14: Memos
Chapter 17: Résumés and Other Job-Search Materials
Chapter 16: Workplace Letters
Chapter 3: Persuading Your Audience
Chapter 6: An Overview of the Technical Writing Process
(skim) Appendix B: A Quick Guide to Documentation
Chapter 13: Designing Pages and Documents
Chapter 25: Web Pages
Chapter 11: Editing for a Professional Style and Tone
Chapter 15: Email and Text Messaging
Chapter 5: Teamwork and Global Considerations
Chapter 22: Formal and Analytical Reports
Chapter 7: Thinking Critically about the Research Process
Chapter 23: Proposals
Chapter 8: Evaluating and Interpreting Information
Chapter 9: Summarizing Research Findings and Other Information
Chapter 21: Informal Reports
Chapter 19: Technical Descriptions, Specifications, and Marketing Materials
Chapter 20: Instructions and Procedures
Chapter 4: Weighing the Ethical Issues
Chapter 10: Organizing for Readers
Chapter 26: Social Media
TCH:
Preface, pp. xi-xvi
Memos, pp. 120+
Multimedia, pp. 329+
Photographs, pp. 331+
FAQs, pp. 73+
Newsletters, pp. 125+
Job Search Documents, pp. 78+
Audience and Purpose Assessment, pp. 7+
Project Management, pp. 30+
Teamwork and Collaboration, pp. 44+
Virtual Teamwork, pp. 49+
Tools and Technologies, pp. 47+
International Communication, pp. 21+
Purpose, pp. 33+
Situation, pp. 34+
Digital Research Strategies, pp. 400+
Bibliographies, pp. 390+
Citing Sources, pp. 395+
Evaluating Sources, pp. 403+
Outlines, pp. 426+
Literature Reviews, pp. 421+
Integrating Sources, pp. 415+
Descriptive Documents, pp. 15+
Task-based Documents, pp. 41+
Brochures, pp. 59+
Ethics, pp. 17+
Ethical Issues in Research, pp. 402+
Copyright and Intellectual Property, pp. 396+
Plagiarism, pp. 429+
Stages in the Writing Process, pp. 35+
Accessibility, pp. 3+
Usability and User Testing, pp. 438+
The readings really helped me a lot. I learnt more about technical writing, and I improved my reading skills. I also expanded my vocabulary in the process of reading. This is useful for me in the future because I still need to read a lot of professional texts to grow in my profession.
I conducted peer review in both project #1 and project #2.
In the learning reflection on DD4 I wrote: “Doing the peer review of project 1 is a challenge for me, because they really did a great job and there is not much to add. I still tried to point out some weaknesses, but mainly I talked about their strength. It makes me realize my project is far from well done, compared to theirs. Firstly, my organization and format is done hastily and I have to redo them. Secondly, I am missing some sections such as the newsletter, which I did not notice when I did the draft. Lastly, my letters are not well written enough and I plan to make them longer and more informative.”
In the peer review reflection for project #2 I wrote: “As there are only two groups now, I only reviewed the other group’s draft. They have only two team members, so the project is more difficult for them, but they have done a very good job. After reading their report, I feel that there are some things that we can also add into our own report, such as the point on legal frameworks. In addition, their report is also well-organized and easy to follow. However, I did also note about some of their weakness, such as missing citations. I will learn from both their strengths and weaknesses, and apply them when revising our own report. Peer review is an important process because we get to know about our strengths and weaknesses from other people’s perspective. I will make sure my future projects are going to be peer reviewed as well.”
I proofread project #2 several times, using many different strategies.
On DD11 I wrote: “My strategy comes from the same website as Kandis, but I chose a different strategy, which is “Read the paper as a reader”. I think this proved to be a useful strategy to me. I read our report as if I was the teacher who would grade the report, and try to read from a teacher’s perspective. I also pretended I was one of the employees of the Universal Acquisition company, to see if the report is truly helpful for the employee to understand the culture. I think this gave me more insights about how to revise the report into a stronger piece. https://gustavus.edu/writingcenter/handoutdocs/editing_proofreading.php”
I have crafted a reviewer guide and reflected on it. https://drive.google.com/a/email.arizona.edu/file/d/0B9LMjBQVdrYOU1N5dzkzbzBvRzg/view
The skill of reviewing and proofreading is important for me in the future, because to produce a good piece of writing it has to be reviewed and revised multiple times.
Identify need for and then manage, analyze, synthesize, and implement multiple streams of simultaneous information through various technological and document design processes. (Information Literacy & Management)
In this course, I used Tumblr as the platform for managing my learning process. I posted the required homework on Tumblr every day, and read others’ Tumblr for learning and reflecting as well.
Google Drive has been another frequently used platform throughout the course. I posted my work on Google Drive so that everyone can see it and make comments. The comments have been very helpful in the revision process. In project #2, we used Google Drive to collaborate on the research report.
Throughout project #2, our team used Quip as our project management application. On DD6 I researched about such applications, and in the learning reflection I wrote: “The process of searching for project management application is an interesting one. Before this I did not know there are so many applications available for project management, and I once again feel the advantage of being in an digital age. No application is mentioned more than once in the discussion post. After reviewing the applications that others have found, I still think Quip is the best application to use for project #2 because it is easy to use and free of charge. However, maybe I will try some of the applications that my classmates mentioned in the future, when I can afford an expensive application.”
On Due Date 4, I used photoshop to design a page. In the reflection on project #1 I wrote: “I used photoshop in completing this project when designing my resumes. It is appropriate because it is a professional photo editing software. As I have some basic knowledge of photoshop before, I did not have to deliberately learn how to use it. However, in the process of using it I learnt some new techniques, such as using it to design a color scheme. I hope to be more proficient in photoshop in the future so that I can use it in the future projects.”
On DD7 and DD8, I used the website “popplet” to synthesize my research. http://popplet.com/app/#/2888995
In this digital age, it is important that we must take the advantage of multimedia. Using the correct technology will save a lot of time and effort, and the outcome is better.
Create, critique, analyze, and evaluate multimedia business and professional texts. (Multimodal)
On Due Date 8 and 9, I read about evaluating information. The reading required on DD8 is “Chapter 8: Evaluating and Interpreting Information; Chapter 9: Summarizing Research Findings and Other Information; Chapter 21: Informal Reports”.
On DD8 and DD9, I conducted individual resource evaluation on two resources for project #2. In my learning reflection on DD8, I wrote: “After reading chapter 8, I learnt about how to critically evaluate the resources and decide whether to use them for our research. I also followed the guidelines to finish the individual resource evaluation homework. Before this I was pretty sure we can use all the resources that I have found, but after evaluating I realized that some of them may not be very useful or suitable for our research. ” In my learning reflection on DD9, I wrote: “Conducting the resource evaluation the needs assessment is not new to me, but in the process of doing it I feel I have improved from before. ”
Evaluating texts and resources is an important skill, because I have to make sure it is reliable before using it. This is helpful for my future study as I can critically assess the resources that I might use to, for example, writing a paper.
Develop intentional cross-cultural connections and relationships with others to participate in the collaborative and social aspects of business and professional writing processes, including giving and responding to productive feedback and working in teams. (Collaborative)
Project #1 has a Global Documentation Revision section, in which cross-cultural considerations were made by me to fit the cultural background. In the reflection I wrote: “In Global Document Revision, the letter is edited to fit the Chinese culture. The letter is written to a Chinese official, hence besides showing respect, Chinese culture must also be reflected in some way. I made the body paragraph longer to show my experiences and intentions more clearly.”
In the reflection on project #1 I wrote: “ In addition, when conducting peer reviews I was collaborating with my classmates to improve their projects. Similarly, the peer review of my projects helped me a lot when I was revising my project. Thus, I feel that I have been collaborative with my classmates in the process of doing the project.”
Project #2 is a collaborative project, and I worked with three classmates together. We used Quip to manage our project and allocate tasks. We have also discussed and proceeded only when everyone had agreed. The screenshots above illustrate our collaboration.
In the highly globalized world today, cross-cultural collaboration is not uncommon. In the future, it will only become even more prevalent than today. Hence, this is important for my future, especially my career.
Reflect on the development of composing practices and how those practices influence their work. (Reflect/Transfer)
Throughout the course, I wrote learning reflections almost every day. I also reflect on peer review and every major project. Through the process of reflecting on my own learning, I feel that I can learn new things and improve in the future.
Reflecting is something that everyone should do, because it helps people learn new things. I think in the future I will still keep the habit of reflecting on my work, so that I can improve.
Explain why genre conventions for structure, paragraphing, tone, and mechanics vary and extrapolate common formats and/or design features for different kinds of business and professional texts. (Genre)
On DD5, I read about how to edit for a professional style and tone. Here is part of my reading notes: “Chapter 11 talks about writing in professional style and tone, which is important in workplace. The role of style in any document is very important, because it is directly related to the purpose of the document. Inefficient styles will make the readers less willing to read the documents, hence reducing work efficiency. I also learnt from the reading about how to edit for clarity, conciseness and fluency, which I will be applying when improving my project 1 draft. Tone is another important aspect in writing, because different tones can convey different messages, and choosing a suitable tone based on the audience is vital in writing any document. For example, when I am writing to request for letter of recommendation, my tone should be honest and sincere and showing appreciation, so that the recipient of the email would be more willing to write the letter for me.”
I also conducted a sentence analysis of a paragraph in project #2. https://docs.google.com/a/email.arizona.edu/document/d/1lprQoB1iYxjIEAcVd1aov0Ob6xL-Rwqw7WBx2jT2eLs/edit?usp=sharing
Classify and attend to the ethical responsibilities required by complex business and professional contexts, genres, and communication environments. (Ethics)
On Due Date 10, I read about ethical considerations. The readings required that day was “TCH, Ethics, pp. 17+; Ethical Issues in Research, pp. 402+”. In my reading notes I wrote: “Ethical issues should be carefully considered in all cases. Firstly, we should recognize unethical communication in the workplace and learn how to avoid them. The major causes of unethical communication are yielding to social pressure and mistaking groupthink for teamwork. ”
In the learning reflection on DD10 I wrote: “Ethical considerations are equally important, if not more. If the work is unethical, no matter how good the skills are, it cannot be considered as a good piece of work. Therefore, I feel that today’s learning has been very meaningful and enriching. Though I already know about the importance of ethical consideration, it serves as a good reminder for our project #2 and future projects.”
Therefore, I feel that I have achieved all the course outcomes listed in the syllabus, and this course has been an enriching experience that I will not forget. However, I am also aware that there is still a long way to go to become a good technical writer. For example, I feel that I should still improve on my grammar and spelling, as English is my second language. My vocabulary is still somewhat weak, although I am improving. Due to the language problem, it is sometimes hard for me to detect the tone of a piece of writing, and I also have trouble of using the correct tone when writing. I think I should read more and get more help from native speakers, so that I can learn from my mistakes and improve in the future. Overall, ENGL307 has been a wonderful course, and I am happy for my progress and improvement. I will continue to work hard in the future to grow into a better writer.