Reflection #1: Technical Description

I liked writing my Technical Description. At first, it was difficult to write since I kept including opinion statements, but once I realized my mistake it was easy to fix. I didn’t really anticipate a lot of writing in an engineering course, but after this assignment it made sense. I wasn’t used to this type of writing in college so I’m glad I was introduced to it. I do prefer this type of writing to other types of writing because it’s useful in real life too. I anticipate this style of composition to be useful in the future if I ever have to write a product or process description. I didn’t have a chance to write a rough draft for this assignment but I did plan it out before I wrote my final draft. My work didn’t change that much between the drafts because I feel like there’s not many ways you can describe how something works. I tend to write a single draft and be finished with it because I edit my papers as I write. For example, I usually write out a sentence a few times before I move on to the next one. In my opinion this makes my papers flow better since every sentence is connected. Next time I would definitely submit a rough draft so I can fix any mistakes before writing a final draft, especially with this new style of composition. The strategies I plan to use when drafting and redrafting my major papers this semester are to reread the prompts and formatting guidelines over before each assignment, since I might forget. I’m used to specific formats from other classes but those formats aren’t being used in this class so it would be a good idea for me to read them multiple times. I also plan to submit a rough draft and use the feedback to improve my final draft.

Reflection #2: Memo

While composing our memo, my group changed the topic a few times. The topic we originally agreed on didn’t align with the assignment so we had to think of a new one. The topic we ultimately decided on was addressing the MTA’s fare hikes and substandard service. We communicated through slack and Google Docs. One of my group members mentioned she was in another country with limited internet access so it was hard to communicate with her. I noticed my other group member being very distant at the beginning of the assignment and then he admitted he wasn’t planning on doing the assignment. This was a challenge for me because my role couldn’t be done without everyone doing their part. After asking for an extension, this motivated my group member to do the assignment, since he didn’t have time to do it before. Even though we were still dealing with communication issues, we were all finally able to finish our memo, and I’m satisfied with the work we submitted. I don’t think the final memo was something I would’ve submitted myself, but that’s because I didn’t work on it alone. Each group member provided their own input which made our final memo a combination of all our ideas on the topic. My thoughts on group work haven’t changed after this assignment because group work seems to be one of those things that either works or doesn’t. For example, if we had in person class or if I knew the people in my group before this class, I’m sure we would have finished the memo on time. However, since I didn’t know them before and since we only communicated through our screens, this made it easy for them to ignore me or forget to answer back, which stalled finishing our memo.

Reflection #3: Lab Report

My research question for the lab report was “How Has Online Learning Been More Beneficial Than In-Person Learning?” I picked this topic because most people assume online learning isn’t anyone’s preference. However, online learning has been around before the pandemic. College degrees earned online are seen as less serious than degrees earned in person, but college is already difficult enough, so being able to do it at your own pace makes it easier. This was the first assignment we’ve done on our own that included a peer review. I enjoyed returning to working on my own. I also liked that we had peer reviews and were able to get feedback from our classmates. I was able to offer one of my peer’s valuable feedback but unfortunately, I never received my other peer’s lab report. The feedback I received helped craft a final draft. While I was writing my peer reviews, I noticed my lab report was missing some elements too and I was able to go back and fix my mistakes before submitting it. My final lab report was well organized and labeled, and it had more information supporting my research question after the peer review. My research question was about online learning and since it’s still relatively new, it was a little tricky to find recent scholarly articles specifically about the pandemic’s impact on online learning. After completing this assignment some questions I still have on this topic are, “Are more students graduating on time with distance learning than in person learning?” and “Do college students prefer online classes or in person classes?”. 

Reflection #4: Engineering Recommendation

The process of constructing our Engineering Recommendation went okay. At first, we had trouble choosing roles. We couldn’t choose the same roles as the memo assignment but we had all become comfortable with our roles since we chose them based on what we each knew what our strongest skills were. It made sense to have everyone choose different roles so that we would all be able to familiarize ourselves with the entire process of submitting a group paper. After settling on roles that we could all agree with, we worked together to create a solution for the problem we introduced in our memo, which was the MTA’s subway service. The final product is something I would feel comfortable submitting in a professional setting because I believe we did our best and backed up our solutions. I did find it easier to collaborate with my group this time and we were all able to successfully finish the assignment on time. Everyone worked at their own pace and outlining the paper helped us provide the necessary information needed for the assignment. The tools we took advantage of were communicating through Slack and on our Google Doc. We outlined what we needed for the paper directly on the Doc, based on the formatting guidelines listed in the syllabus, and then filled in the appropriate information we needed for each section. The only challenge we had to work through was choosing our roles at the beginning but once we got through that, we were able to get the assignment done.

Reflection #5: Final Reflection

Over the semester my writing process has changed because I learned a new way to write. I’ve written lab reports and research papers in the past but this class taught me there are other forms of writing, like technical descriptions and more, that would be useful in my career as an engineer. I’ve also learned to write group papers which is something I’ve rarely done in the past. Usually, group work has been done in person but now I’m comfortable with working with others remotely. For example, in Reflection #2, I said, “I don’t think the final memo was something I would’ve submitted myself, but that’s because I didn’t work on it alone”. When I wrote this, I thought that remote group work would be something I was never going to be able to do, since I work better alone or face to face with group members. This did not turn out to be true because in Reflection #4 I said, “The final product is something I would feel comfortable submitting in a professional setting because I believe we did our best and backed up our solutions”. After collaborating with my group members and learning how to communicate more efficiently, we were able to produce a paper that I would’ve submitted myself. Even though there will always be challenges with remote learning, this semester has made me more comfortable with it. I feel more prepared to work remotely in the future and use the skills I learned in this class in my career.