Final Reflection

ENGL 2311

Final Assignment

by Michael Nzoiwu

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Class Overview

Over the semester, my growth as a technical writer has greatly improved.

My knowledge of situations and their proper application has a positive impact on my writing style. At the beginning of the semester, I was very prone to writing in a very similar tone, assignment to assignment. There was barely any effort on my part to alter my style depending on why I was writing. This class helped me to change this habit.

I will also be mentioning the different ways each unit helped.

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Unit 1: Communicating with Employers

My résumé before this assignment was a sorry excuse, to say in the least. The final product that I ended with, I began to print out to replace my prior one, due to the fact that it was that much more professional. The organization of elements came together much better than that of its predecessor. It was also rather enjoyable to input personality and more details in elaboration in a visual format for the visual résumé that was assigned. I am not equipped with the tools to appeal to employers in a more effective way. I have also learned an entirely new medium with which to communicate in a professional manner.

This unit had much to do with the presentation of prospective employees with the hiring committees of companies. This involved drafting an appropriate résumé and a visual résumé as well.

Employers

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Unit 2: Documenting Procedures

Unit 2 was one that first introduced the aspect of technical writing in the form of a group project so far. The work was not just split between us, but we had different jobs as well, such as me being the Facilitator of the group. The project was constructing a mobile phone app that would expedite the process of finding relevant information located in a car manual. Each member of our team created a mockup and took to transcribing different aspects from a physical car manual into language that would be compatible with the simplicity of a phone application. From here, the app would begin official development

The work done on these assignments differed from what I was used to, as I had never had a job assigned to me. Instead I had always taken responsibility for a task and done as much to fulfill that. I learned through this unit that assignment of jobs is not only professional, but an organizational strategy.

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Unit 3: Usability/User Experience

The major goal of this unit was to test the usability of the app that our group had created. This was not as easy as it might sound however, as our own opinions were not to be included in any reports. For our official Usability Test Report, out team would need to go out and get the opinions of absolute strangers, through surveys made by us. Our usability test report was required to include our sample’s response to our survey questions, and a video of the user themselves using a version of our app. I had never formally administered a survey before, so I had to prepare questions and stick to a plan so that I followed all the proper guidelines on must in the situation. Now that I have learned the proper procedure for the facilitation of a survey, I feel much more confident in my abilities to do anything of the like in a professional or even casual environment.

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Unit 4: Presenting Proposed Actions

Unit 4 asked of our group that we present the workings of the app we had developed in a video format. Once again, this is a practice that I had very little experience in. I was not used to presenting an assignment through video, as it differed in many aspects from traditional presentation. Overcoming the inexperience proved to be very important in this class as a whole.

However, the creation of a video to present the app was actually very suitable. Once again it was a great help to formulate a script to guide the commentary. The only challenge are faced was hoe exactly to present our app. To solve this, we decided that testing the app in the same way that we had tested others during the usability testing stage was a great start. This way we were able to represent each group member’s work as well as the entirety of the app.

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Unit 5: Proposing Actions to Decision Makers

Working to create the proposal was an assignment that effectively tested my ability to follow through with the job I had been given since the start of the project. I was important that I took take responsibility for making sure that our group achieved all of the aspects of the assignment. There was definitely a more experienced audience that was to be addressed, and revisions were just as important as writing the proposal in the first place. Not only was the way that I saw the effectiveness of the peer review process and the revising and editing process affected, but I learned about the components that one would include in a proposal, and when to use them.

A main assignment in this unit was the proposal . This wrapped up the group work that we had been working on for the past couple of weeks.

The proposal was a professional address to anyone reading it, presenting all of the information that had ben collected in the correct order and organization

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Learning Outcome

As this assignment brought the work we had been engaged in to a close, it was interesting to look back at everything I had gained in knowledge throughout the semester. Professional group work, knowledge of rhetorical situations that affected writing style, and recognition of genres, just to say the least.

I believe that I have made a wise investment by choosing to dedicate myself to a technical writing course and plan to habitually use the methods I have learned for my benefit.

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Conclusion

Overall, I am glad to say that I came out of this technical writing class with a considerable amount more knowledge than I entered with. I have extended faith in my ability to communicate in many more modes than I once was. As any student that can recognize the importance in the topics being learned, I now foresee my communication level at a steady incline as a result of the crucial foundation received.

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Bibliography

Pexels.com (Pictures)

Oneextrapxel.com (Icons)

Drte.co (Nancy Duarte Design Elements)