During this semester, it was no doubt that I had to change the way I went about specific tasks virtually. Before completing the Writing for Science lecture, I’ve only known argumentative writing and only let the audience see my perspective. In this class, I’ve learned that there is more to report than arguing your topic. Instead, I’ve learned different techniques for effectively connecting with my audience by being more creative to bring my point across. I will be discussing the three learning outcomes out of eight that I have reflected upon during the Spring semester of 2020. 

The fourth learning outcome states that I should know how to “develop and engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes at the end of the class.” When it comes to working in groups, I am not the best because everyone does not put in the same effort, and not everyone has the same ideas as you. I was not a fan of finding out that we will be in groups and do peer work because I enjoy working by myself. However, I quickly realized that peer reviews were an opportunity for me to grow as a writer. We all have different ideas and views because it allows you to see or understand how your audience will interpret the writing and figure out what you should change or know what works. There has been an improvement in working with my peers and collaborating ideas because I now understand its advantage, which is learning what to improve in my writing, working together, and helping my peers with their writing. For example, in each group, peer reviews were given for the literature review draft. From the helpful criticism and feedback of the paper, which made significant improvements that enabled me to achieve an A+ on my essay, there was a greater appreciation for peer work from this experience.

The fifth learning outcome states that at the end of the seminar, the skill of formulating and articulating a stance through and in your writing should be developed by the end of the course. Before taking the time, I have always struggled with formulating my thoughts into an essay format. There were still miscommunication in previous classes when it comes to my writing because I would write as if my audience know what I am trying to explain instead of blatantly saying it. However, taking this class, I have seen an improvement to a great extent. For our literature review assignment, I explained my thoughts and ideas in a way for my audience to understand without any confusion because I adequately explain my point. 

“The studies that were conducted by the three articles all conclude that proper nutritional knowledge of a vegan diet can prevent and reduce the percentage of cardio-metabolic diseases to occur by giving examples of foods rich in the crucial vitamins needed and supplements as well” (Literature Review).

I was able to show and explain how all three articles explain my point of view on the topic by comparing and analyzing. Still, it also indicates that there has been some improvement in clarifying and articulating my thoughts about a topic. Even though I have improved, there is still significant improvement that could be accomplished as well. 

To conclude, I have learned that there are more pros than cons when working with our peers because they can all give different ideas and suggestions that would be useful for writing your essay. Also, I am finally getting better at articulating my thoughts so that the audience will be able to comprehend and understand my point of view. Even though there is much to prove, it is a start, and I am grateful to have experienced this class this semester to grow as a writer. 

This entry is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.