I have learned a great deal during this semester.  This essay will evaluate my learning of the course objectives and the level of mastery that I was able to achieve.  I will explain what learning objectives I have achieved through the analysis of the four main writing assignments and other experiences from this semester.  My writing skills have evolved thanks to the feedback I have received from my classmates and by reviewing what others have written.  I have learned how to express my thoughts in a more concise and professional manner through the assigned coursework.  The skills learned will be invaluable to me in my chosen area of study—Civil Engineering.  The course load was challenging but extremely important and is a key factor in my future success.

The first assignment we were given was the “Technical Description” essay.  This helped me to understand and complete the task with the focus on who the audience is and what are you trying to convince them of.  In this assignment, we were supposed to introduce a piece of technology and describe its functionality and history to pique the audience’s interest.  The topic I chose was the Waze application because not everyone had heard of Waze as I learned from the discussion forums.  The challenges I faced included finding evidence of how its features could benefit users’ needs and using proper citations for my sources.  I did get an excellent grade because I followed the recommendations of what the other students suggested along with incorporating the Professor’s suggestions.  One of the best advice given to me was: “In the future please take extra care to clearly cite ideas taken from another source (so important in a piece like this).  As well you will need citations for images in the future” (Professor Otte).  This led me to research further how to properly state citations so as not to repeat this mistake in my future writing assignments.  Another important lesson I learned is the importance of having an outline.  This helps you be better organized and thorough in the information you are looking to present.

The next assignment that we did was the memo group assignment where we have to identify a problem or issue within NYC infrastructure that needs improvement or may be a positive addition to the City.  This assignment taught us the value of teamwork and open communication when doing group work.  Normally, I would be worried because it would require convincing others to go along with my ideas which may not match theirs.  This turned out not to be the case.  My group was great at respectfully sharing their thoughts in a respectful and professional manner.  We were able to reach a consensus of who would be responsible for what section and advise and critiques were readily shared and accepted.  The topic we chose was illustrating the effects of overcrowded train platforms in the LIRR and ways to resolve it.  The result was praise from the Professor and an excellent grade for the final draft.  This demonstrates how the experience of a group collaboration project allowed me to see that working in a group can in fact be a positive experience where ideas can be expressed openly and respectfully and work load can be shared equally by all group members.

The third assignment was a lab report.  We had to convince others what piece of technology should be improved so that it benefits all of society.  This is the assignment where my writing style would be changed significantly.  I had chosen to write about how a Waze feature could be improved so that it could help its user community during the pandemic.  After reading a sample lab report from the coursebook and discovering how it convinced others, I thought that I should follow the same format when writing the first draft.  After carefully stating what I have written for each section and where I found the information, I received some strong feedback from another student and the Professor saying that everything looks good but needs a couple of improvements.  This included trying to make my writing more convincing to others to arouse their curiosity while properly integrating sources. I attempted to use clear language and structure when writing this persuasive piece.  I also added images to help promote my message.  The Professor steered me to read the MLA guidelines on the Purdue OWL website to learn how to properly include citations.  By this advice, I was able to make significant changes to this writing piece to make it more convincing, with proper citations, and received an excellent grade.

For the final assignment, the engineering proposal, I was instructed to introduce a scientific or engineering research.  My proposal was to persuade Waze that its GPS software would be more stable if it was built on a standalone device.  I again referred to my coursebook for inspiration and ideas of how to structure my pitch.  I used the lessons learned from previous assignments to structure my proposal.  It turned out to be a good decision because my peer review partner completely understood my agenda and had no issues with the way I integrated my sources into the piece.  He did make some minor recommendations including that I include page numbers and mention “how having a standalone GPS allows for more versatility with the software, because it doesn’t need to account for other apps the way a smartphone would” (Abdel).  I felt that his observations were valid and incorporated them in my final draft.  This experience has strengthened my ability to evaluate, integrate, and explain data.  By looking back at previous assignments and discussions for guidance, it helped me structure my writing in a better and more professional manner.

An overall thought in regards to the question: “What is writing?”  I believe that writing is a unique experience that helps express your ideas for others to understand and, in some cases, to persuade.  In each assignment, I collected data from outside sources, quoted, and analyzed it.  When completing these assignments, I have formed a writing routine.  I have also learned proper structure given the assignment and how to directly address audience expectations.  It also helped me to create and express a stance through my writing.  The good thing about writing is that you could observe different writing styles, linguistic abilities, and backgrounds of others and incorporate that knowledge to make your piece more personal and interesting to read for the audience.