Mayfield final

Learning Outcomes Achieved in 2311English 2311 Technical Writing: FinalCody MayfieldSection #14

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Fall 2016English 2311:

I initially took this course for the same reason as most students, “Because my advisor told me to.” However, to my pleasant surprise, I actually enjoyed it. This course is simply intended to introduce you to the different patterns of writing found in various reports and letters for businesses, industries, etc. Thankfully, this course is so much more interesting than the afore mentioned.

Through this course I have learned a lot about my writing habits, both good and bad. With my new knowledge of technical communication I feel that I am ready to go and create whatever business related document I can think of. This course allowed me the opportunity to work with my classmates and build lasting relationships with my peers through in-class and out-of-class group work.

I would now like to present some of our learning objectives that we covered throughout this past semester

introduction

Rhetoric01

Learning Outcomes

Writing02Design03

Collaboration04Ethics and Culture05Applied Technology06

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RhetoricThrough the readings in our course and with the assistance of my professor I was able to gain a fair knowledge of rhetorical language throughout this semester.

In everything we do there is always a different rhetorical situation.

In the first section we focused on presenting ourselves to future employers and ensuring that they knew just who we are. With our hardcopy and visual resume, we were able to display visual communication.

Continuing onto the second unit, we focused more on linguistic communication as well as visual as we learned how to work with out groups in the creation of our mobile app prototype.

In unit three we used direct communication to inform potential app users of our research findings.

Finally throughout both the fourth and fifth sections of the course we used many examples of linguistic, spatial, and visual communication. These two required us to be very professional and proactive in seeing that our work was attended to and that our accomplishments were still in reach.

Learning Outcomes

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WritingWriting played a very large and important role in this course. Throughout each unit we used some of our classic writing knowledge such as good grammar and correct spelling. In addition, we had to use different writing concepts in each different unit.

In unit one we had to focus on being very clear and concise as this was for our resume. We also needed to create verb-first phrases when we listed out our skills.

Unit two focused on revising text to make it more comprehensive to the reader, for example, adding steps, tips, and directions to a car manual.

Our third unit focused on the delivery of results found throughout our usability testing, as well as the usability test itself where we had to create unique questions for our prototype.

For the fourth unit we needed to write a script for our video presentation that was

Learning Outcomes

Example of steps used during mobile app prototype unit.

easy to understand, as well as provide subtitles to our video.

Finally, in the fifth unit, we composed a proposal letter to the manufacturer using professional rhetoric while remaining clear and concise.

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DesignDesign. Where to begin?

This is the learning outcome that I believe I struggled with the most. Before this semester I was not a very organized person and I think that hindered me at first with this objective.

Formatting our resume was the big design objective we focused on in unit one.

In unit two our design was not very organized. We were storyboarding and creating mock-ups for our prototype. In turn, at times it was a mess. See image to the right!

Our design for the third unit was focusing on creating an easy to follow survey and comprehensive scenarios for our testers.

For the fourth unit we created a video presentation which took time designing how we wanted our video to look (lighting, backdrop, team member, etc.).

Lastly, design became a huge concept to follow in unit five. We created a professional proposal full of images, graphs, and helpful information.

Learning Outcomes

In addition, we created an attractive cover page, included a helpful table of contents, and even included a qualifications section tucked in at the end of the proposal.

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CollaborationCollaboration and teamwork was a huge part of this course, and I loved it! I think it’s great getting to fuse your ideas with your peers to see what they are thinking. Unit one is the only unit in this course that was not group work heavy. We broke up once into groups in this unit

Body content +/or images/examples.

Learning Outcomes

when we got into hiring committees to judge sample resumes. Throughout the other units everything was done with our group and managed via a project management board hosted on Google Sheets. This image is a screenshot of my groups board upon completion of the fifth unit.

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Ethics and CultureEthics and culture: perhaps one of the most important learning outcomes out of these five covered so far. This objective played a crucial part in each unit.

In units one through five it was important to remain truthful and not make things up.

For units two and four (prototype stage and video presentation), we focused on being accessible to the users. We don’t know who will be reading or watching, so be as helpful as you can. We ensured that we provided subtitles with our video and even typed them out ourselves so we could be sure our words matched up.

In units three and five we really focused on not singling anybody out. We avoided the key “danger words” such as you, he, she, they, your, etc.

We were sure to never mention anything offensive or not politically correct for the safety and enjoyment of our users.

Learning Outcomes

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Applied TechnologyLearning Outcomes

We used many different software and technology products throughout the course of this semester.

We used SlideDoc and Microsoft Word throughout the first unit before quickly changing things up at the beginning of unit two. For our prototype we used a paper prototype creator called Marvel.

a program called Google Sheets which assisted myself and my group with staying on task and getting our assignments completed.

For the third unit we used a survey host on the Google platform as well as a user research tool called Lookback.

Progressing into unit four, we used iMovie to edit our video clips shot using a Canon Repel T5 DSLR camera before posting our final product on YouTube.

In the final unit we headed back to the basics where we only needed Microsoft Word to get the job done.

Beginning in unit two and continuing all the way to unit five, we used

I’ve learned a lot.I can genuinely say that this course has helped me prepare for many business interactions to come. I’m ready to take my knowledge and apply it to my daily life!

In Conclusion…

thank youCody [email protected] Tech UniversityPersonal Financial Planning(940) 923-4882