Sadia Chowdhury
Writing for the Sciences 213000
Joseph Boisvere
Self-Assessment
In this course, I came with expectations of learning to improve my writing skills especially in science writings. As a student, I have seen progress throughout my writing assignments. However, in this class, I think I have seen drastic changes because I was exposed to polished scientific writings and criteria that helped me grow as a writer this semester. Some of my weaknesses include poor grammar and unorganized writing structures. Throughout all the assignments in this class, I have repeated those mistakes, but I believe I still did way better in my last paper regarding those weaknesses. I have taken other writing classes before, however, this was my first time taking a writing for science class and this course has been very interesting for me. From learning how to write technical descriptions, scientific controversies to a IMRaD research paper, it has been quite a progress. I also took notes of the criteria’s and requirements in this class that helped to remind me of what should be included in all my assigned work. There were also discussion board posts every week that was very fun to do because I was able to put my input into it and read other’s opinions as well. Each discussion board had a new topic connecting back to the previous one which I found intriguing because we were able to analyze and make connections.
Reflecting upon my first assignment, the technical description, I chose to write about solar panels because it serves as both a device and a scientific topic in some measures. I first made a checklist for this assignment based on the description of the assignment by the professor. Based on my checklist, I organized the structure starting from introduction to conclusion, added visual aids and citations as well. This paper was quite light handed because I researched about the solar panels, the way it worked, and information based on what someone who does not know what solar panel is should know. I think I organized the information efficiently, however; I made several grammatical errors and incomplete sentences. Based on the feedback I received from the professor, I revised and edited the essay that made the essay more polished.
For the second paper, I chose to write about a scientific controversy of positive and negative effects of sleep deprivation. I struggled quite a bit with this topic because it was hard to state and find sources with the controversy as sleep deprivation mostly has negative effects. However, I managed to find sources that showed the controversial side of sleep deprivation and I was able to organize it into the side I sided with. People mostly know of negative side effects of sleep deprivation so it would be less likely be common to know of the positive sides of sleep deprivation. The sources I found showed strong sides of the controversy which is why it was easier for me to show both sides and why it can be a controversial topic. I did struggle with the structure because I wasn’t sure how to transition, however I used transition lines to help me make it more thorough. I would say that this paper was the hardest among all assignments.
Lastly, the research group project was a very fun way to work with my peers and research the topic we all agreed upon. This project was meant to be done in an IMRaD style which was new for me. However, we still overcame it and helped each other. This project was done well because we divided the work to make sure no one does more work than the other. The topic we chose was The Adverse Effect of Globalization on Infectious Disease Emergence and this topic was ideal for us because we are currently going through a pandemic and thought this topic would be informative in the presentation as well. Throughout the research, we also learned a lot about TB, HIV and COVID-19. It was very important to us to discuss these topics because currently the world should be informed about globalization. It plays such an important role because certain diseases can easily spread. Overall, I think me and my group did well together, but we did make some errors in the paper. It was a different experience for me.
Overall, all these assignments have helped me grow as a student and writer because I learned new different ways of writing and putting my information together. It also has helped me improve my grammatical errors and structure. From the first paper to the last paper, my grammatical error decreased and I was able to use scientific terms to make my papers more sophiscated. As a student, I always strive to learn and improve. Writing is an essential skill and there are varieties of ways of writings. I’m glad to take this course and be exposed to challenges. Feedback from professor has helped me improve a lot. Moreover, the discussion boards were also helpful in gathering my thoughts and putting my perspective into place. The assignments were very organized and straightforward. I had a great time in this class and it was one of my best courses this semester.
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