Britney Reyes

Professor Collins

Writing For Engineers

May 16, 2019

 

There is the question what is writing? I consider writing to be a form of communication in which it can be informal or formal in order to communicate with an audience. There are many components within writing and elements which are defined specifically on what your writing. With engineering there are many types of writing that can be used within the field. Some examples are letters, technical descriptions, lab report, or proposals of an innovation. The course learning outcomes that I have achieved is having better strategies in revising, editing, analyzing, evaluating, and using the Internet to locate sources that would be appropriate for my writing.

For the letter of introduction I had to follow directions in how to specifically write the letter. The goal was to have the appropriate level of formality by communicating correctly, write in a way that sounds like I have a good attitude, and be honest. What it sounds like to have a good attitude is, looking at the readers point of view so that your able to understand if the way you communicate is in a respectful manner. The format of the letter had to have a heading, an inside address, a header, several body paragraph, a complimentary close, and my signature. The course learning objective that I achieved was by having better strategies in revising and editing. I achieved the course learning objective and goal by making sure that my letter of introduction had the correct format, and was written correctly once I revised my essay after it was edited. My heading included the date, my address, and my email. The inside address was to the professor and I wrote Dear Mr.Collins. The header had the page number and the date on the top right corner. The body paragraphs was where I answered the questions asked such as my life, experiences, achievements, major, and how my major connects to my goals. What I imagined the future to be with the world of engineering and some of the challenges of engineering. I wrote the complimentary close Sincerely, Britney Reyes and then wrote my signature. The first draft was given and I had a lot of grammar issues. The professor also wanted me to be more specific in including what objects I can make more safer and what are my specific interests. What I did for my final draft was include what the professor suggested and fix my grammar mistakes. My perceptions on what writing a letter was just to introduce it have a body and a complimentary closing. My perception in writing a letter changed this semester because I learned that I should ask others to check my grammar. I have to write in a more formal way because having bad grammar shows a sort of informality. The goal that I still have to achieve has to do with having better grammar. Also, I developed as a writer this semester because when it comes to letters I learned that there are many elements within it and the way I write has to be with the correct attitude. There was no citation needed in the letter because I was writing about myself.

For the lab report analysis we were given two lab reports and I had to annotate and analyze it. I had to analyze it my discussing the elements within the lab reports. Then I had to compare and contrast the lab report and talk about what the authors did well in including and what they should have included. The lab reports that I was given to analyze was Factors Controlling Sunflower Growth and Acceleration Due to Gravity. Each part of the lab reports like the title, abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusion, and references have there similarities and differences.

The extent in which I have achieved the course learning objective of strengthening in my source in practices including analyzing and evaluating the lab report. I further analyzed the elements within both lab reports. For example, as seen in the screenshot 1, for the first lab, I explained how the title given for the first lab was straightforward and helpful unlike the second lab which I feel uses more professional words which could be used for students or professionals. My perceptions on writing lab reports has completely evolved this semester because before this class I didn’t not know how to write an actual engineering lab report. I only knew how to write a high school lab report which included critical thinking. I was not taught about the genre conventions within it and what looks like a good or bad lab report. I developed as a writer this semester. I learned what each element meant and I made sure to analyze it in both lab reports. My understanding of the goals I have achieved was understanding the limits within a lab report. My thoughts on the goals I haven’t achieved is that I need to work more on learning how to make different types of citations.

There were two types of citations shown in the lab reports. The first lab report had MLA format and that is what I am used to and understand. The second lab report had the IEEE format and I still don’t understand it very well. I just know that the citation is numbered.

For the technical description what I had to do was pick an item that I would be able to divide in components which are its parts and subparts. Then I had to make a cover page, table of contents, an introduction with the background, then the body with the technical description. conclusion, and works cited page. The extent have I achieved the course learning objective was by being able to give a technical description of The Springfield 153 Watch. I gave the definition and provided pictures of the parts within the watch. What I explained was the mechanical and quartz watches, the manual and automatic watches, the watch components, and the movement components.  My perceptions on writing regarding the technical descriptions is that when it comes to engineering there are many ways in further explaining what is within an item. In my essay a way I further explained the components within a watch was by writing, “There are nine main components within making a mechanical watch: the crown, the lugs, the case, the dial, the crystal, the hands, the sub-section dial or small seconds, the strap, and the movement (Wolfe)”. Then I went on to make a list of definitions of each interior component within the watch. There are certain ways in writing that. How I developed as a writer this semester regarding to the technical description was learning that when it comes to further analyzing an item there are many ways to do it. The goal of this assignment was to be able to further explain an item. One goal that I haven’t achieved in the technical description was being able to find good background of the item. I felt that finding where watches comes from or what was the first watch does not have a definite answer. There are many websites that all say different things. When to comes to research in the technical description that is where it becomes more difficult for me. I used MLA citation for all of the research found. Finding a way in looking for the right website is what allowed me to practice and achieve my goal in using the Internet to locate sources that would be appropriate for my writing.

For the engineering proposal what my group had to do was figure out what problem do we have and what can we do to solve it. The objective of this assignment was to be able to propose the innovation. What was involved was a lot of research. For the introduction what we write about was the preamble, the need, and the void that the innovation fulfills. For the first body paragraph other innovations that have been implemented but do not work, innovations that are in effect but do not work, the need for an engineering based improvement that already exists, what innovation is most similar to what we are trying to do and what affects the innovation. The the process of building the innovation is explained which has to do with the materials, the description of the materials and the graphics. Labor Power, time it will take, and the cost and how the innovation will work was the next part. I achieved the course learning objective by being able to implement the technical description which was a part of one of the past assignments. We basically were able to look at a problem and find a way in which we could solve it. I feel like my writing has evolved due to me being able to have an easier time looking through the databases find the right type of information. The citation used in the works cited was MLA. I developed as a writer this semester by being able to see my common mistakes and work on improving it.