Introduction
Before starting my college education at CCNY and taking my first Writing for Engineering course, I was used to book reports, research papers, and other forms of high school papers. The formatting was also different where we were required to use MLA formatting for every paper. On the first day of Professor Carr’s class, my first class for the semester, she handed us a syllabus that detailed what she expected from us and when all work is due including draft work. We were told that we would be writing several papers and reports, but also writing reflection papers after each assignment which had to include our course learning outcomes. This was all very new to me, as a freshman where I didn’t know what stance or exigence meant when writing a paper. The other terms that needed to be defined the paper or description were simple and easy to talk about. As we went through the first week or so, I was taking notes frivolously to be able to understand what my professor was looking for when writing these substantial papers. Towards the end of the course, I barely took notes because she helped me understand how to write as an engineer and in the future I am not afraid to write a technical description, a lab report, or a project proposal.
I am apart of the Zahn Competition where top engineering students fight for a chance to win 50,000 dollar to start a company together. My project leader suggested that we do a portfolio and a project proposal and I was the first one to raise my hand to complete this. In my mind I knew that I could write a proposal that could shock judges with how much detail, research, and writing flow would be in the paper. Along with this I will also be doing a portfolio of all our work from when we start the project so that the judges can see our progress throughout the semester, as I am doing right now.
In high school I used MLA formatting, but now I am required to use APA formatting. This for me was one of my biggest obstacles because I had to learn how to cite from the beginning using a different website and how to organize my paper based on the required formatting. In my assignments, the lab report/the technical description/project proposal, point were taken off because of my reference page because I simply couldn’t get the hang of it. My computer wouldn’t margin properly and wouldn’t heading properly. I was able to fix the spacing and the way I cited for the project proposal I wasn’t able to, for some reason, cite properly and space my citations properly, as shown below. This was fixed after countless draft works.
Figure 1
Along with all the issues of formatting with MLA, the one thing I understood and did properly was the course learning objectives.
Each assignment was different and required different aspects that would eventually help us as writers in our engineering fields.
How does audience impact purpose and content?
My biggest realization was that audience does impact purpose and content drastically where I needed to learn how to write for specific audiences and learn how to organize my work in a way where everyone was able to understand them. Along with this, the purpose and content of each project needed to be very detailed because we are in a writing for engineering work. The audience of the technical description was for engineers and every day students in the sciences or engineering fields. Throughout my technical description, I explained each part, function, step, and history in a way that everyone will be able to read it and understand what I am talking about. There are some parts which appeases to engineers (Mechanical engineers) more than average people, but at the end of the day this is a writing for engineers class and we are future engineers. The audience for the lab report was any engineer or student taking physics as a science class. We wrote this lab to incorporate specific data and calculations that are important for the understanding of the lab. Those who haven’t taken or are not taking physics at the moment would still understand the lab because I have explained each part in detail. Finally, the audience of the project proposal was the Japanese Government’s Public Safety department, the citizens of Japan that live in coastal areas, and any engineer willing to join the company and make a difference. My group wrote this project proposal to show how Survival Pods can limit the amount of lives lost during a tsunami. Everyone will understand the magnitude of this project proposal and how it can greatly impact society. Knowing the audience, in turn impacts both purpose and content to fully appeal to each reader and to understand their level of experience and knowledge. By knowing the audience of the reader, you will entertain them which will allow them to continue reading your piece. The quality of my writing needed to improve where I realized that my work in the future needed to be professional and accurate. This semester has taught me how to successfully research, develop my arguments, and how to appeal to certain audiences. The course learning outcomes were in my mind from the first day of class where I knew that I needed to completely learn these. Those included research and drafting which was a very difficult task throughout the semester. I still may have a little trouble with my references, but my work speaks for itself and provides enough detail and professionalism to succeed.
Conclusion
The Course Learning Outcomes and the Rhetorical Devices have helped me improve my writing throughout the semester, whether it be learning APA formatting, peer review work, learning the definition of stance, or something as simple and using indents for my reference pages. This course has helped me understand the meaning of technical writing and has changed my writing style for the better. In the future, I am confident that I could write lab reports, technical descriptions, and project proposals because peer review and blackboard discussions have made me understand different perspectives when writing.
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