Ethan Parker

Professor Elizabeth Barnet

English 219-017

May 1, 2018

Website and Performance Review

Website: https://ethanparkerunmportfolio.weebly.com/research.html

Technical writing is defined as a written form or drafting if technical communication used

in a variety of technical and occupational fields as well as many different applications. In this

English 219 Technical Writing course, that I have completed for the Spring 2018 semester, we had

separate sequences that addressed some of these aspects and ideas to better modify them and make

them the most effective in that area. In the first sequence we were educated on business world

applications such as building a resume and a cover letter to a specific internship that we would

apply for. Sequence two involved creating and presenting a research project of our own design in

accordance with the Human Research Protection Office (HPRO). And finally, sequence three was

a continuation of sequence two as a recommendations report was drafted and finalized from the

results. From all these, the English Department has a set list of goals or otherwise called ‘Student

Learning Outcomes’ (SLO’s) that each sequence is supposed to target and we as students are to

improve upon through the semester from each assignment. The five SLO’s that I believe I have

improved to most are as follows; project analysis; production and delivery; written

communication; reviewing and editing; and visual communication.

1. Project Analysis

a. “Identify a document’s readers and a document’s context relative to practices

of composing for specific global, diverse, and multicultural audiences.

Understanding how technical documents occupy and respond to social justice

and community service contexts.”

b. Within this outcome, near the beginning of this semester we discussed what

technical writing would look like and how they are able to adapt to certain

situations, and was heavily emphasized through the semester and I think that it

was most improved upon for all three of the sequences as for a resume or letter

it is important to make sure that the audience (hirer) is able to easily read and

understand, as well as access the content that you present him/ her with easily.
 The same may be said for a presentation and recommendations report;

especially for a critical issue like campus safety and how it can be improved

upon.

2. Production and Delivery

a. “Developing skills in presenting information in multiple modes and in various

media: web, paper, oral, and video. Applying delivery skills to emerging

technologies.”

b. This is one outcome that I think can be applied to the second small writing

assignment in the first sequence and the final website as they deal with different

mediums of presentation, and when doing so it slightly encompasses other

learning outcomes with the need to be clean, organized, and easy to understand

and follow for all possible or intended audiences.

3. Written Communication

a. “Students compose a clear prose that is stylistically responsible, avoids errors,

and pays attention to readability for audiences.”

b. I feel that with this learning outcome more than the others I improved upon the

most because with this outcome, as well as the next one, it trained me to slow

down when typing a million words per minute and actually read my word, and

view it through a different variety points and see if it actually looked good or

made sense. Specifically, I paid the most attention to this in sequences two and

three as when creating the infographics for the tables and data as well as the

formatting for the recommendations report I had to not only completely

simplify it but also make sure that it was able to look professional and well-

rounded all together.

4. Reviewing and Editing

a. “Across media and contexts, students learn informed stylistic choices, text-

revision for user-centeredness, and avoidance of common misspellings and

mechanical errors”

b. This outcome like I mentioned in the last paragraph, I feel goes hand in hand

with written communication because not only as did I mention that with that

outcome I had to make stylistic choices and re-read most of my work taking
 away mistakes to make it seem more professional, but I had to in some cases

look and see what parts of my work seemed to be useless or off topic, and had

to choose if or if not to delete them; which is harder than it seems because your

writing is in a way your beautiful creation and you have to almost in a way

destroy it.

5. Visual Communication

a. “Students understand and practice general visual design principals by

developing user-friendly data displays including charts, tables, infographics,

line graphs, and presentations.”

b. The final project and major writing assignment in sequence two is an example

of where I think this outcome particular focused on as when presenting the data

from the survey that we had done. While I think that the data that was collected

was not complex at all and was able to simply graph it and read it I did have to

remember that others in the class might not have as much experience with

graphics as I do being as I have to look at them essentially every day; meaning

that I had to “dumb it down” or simplify it to easier understanding and easier to

see visually.