Grayson Ward

Final portfolio essay

UWRT 1102 has been a very useful class for me. As a college freshman

in the engineering department, writing is very important for my major. This

class helped me learn how to complete writing assignments on a college

level. On the course syllabus, there is a list of 10 skills that will be developed

in the course including curiosity & inquiry, critical reflection, and stretching

your comfort zone. I chose to list these three because I feel like the course

helped me with them more than the others.

In the class I learned 3 specific skills that will help me in creating

papers in future classes. These are quoting, workshopping, and scholarly

research. Learning to properly introduce and explain quotes is a big part of

this class. One should not add the quote without proper context.

Workshopping was something I was afraid of before this class. In high school

my group members would tear apart my writing for the sake of making their

own work look better. However, this was not the case in college. The

workshops provided a great way to receive feedback on your work. The

environment was not critical either. The students wanted to help each other

rather than criticize them. The annotated bibliography helped me learn how

to properly research a scientific topic. The sources I found were not

particularly helpful in the making of my final inquiry project, but they

reinforced the ideas I already had. In future classes, I am sure that I must

create bibliographies like this one.

Of my major assignments, each one is special to me because they are

about a subject that I am passionate about, 3D printing. I became interested

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Final portfolio essay

in this after taking a semester long class in solid works and was intrigued by

the idea that I could create a physical form of the objects I created. After that

my curiosity caused me to get my own printer and learned how to use it.

My developing curiosity essay allowed me to realize that I was able to

become interested in something very quickly. When I realized I wanted to

start learning to print, I got a printer only a few weeks after. This is true of

many topics and hobbies as well. In airsoft for example, after playing just

twice, I decided to make it my main hobby. I decided to play the role of

sniper and designed a weapon and gear loadout to fit my style. I also

watched countless videos on how to improve my game. I dont know why I

want to learn everything so quickly, but it can be helpful. If I find something

that interests me, I can learn it fast, which is a good career skill. When I

begin looking for a career, my curiosity will set me apart from other

candidates.

The annotated bibliography was not nearly as important to me as the

other two parts of the inquiry project. I felt like most of the research did not

help my inquiry. I prefer to do unguided research without having to write my

thoughts down. Most of the content in this article felt forced and unnatural.

Unlike the bibliography, the multi genre project was important to me. I

think that my use of two unconventional genres, a how-to guide and a photo

comparison, helps in explaining my argument that 3d printing is becoming

easier to use. In my how-to guide, I thoroughly explain the process without

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Final portfolio essay

going into unnecessary detail. I feel that this piece is effective in helping

people understand that the process is not as difficult as they thought. I will

be using this piece as a guide for my presentation. In it I will demonstrate

parts of the printing process and have a completed model to show at the

end.

As for the blog assignment, I felt that it was unnecessary to use a blog

to post these assignments. I didnt understand why we would post to a blog

instead of just sending an email to the professor. I was also uncomfortable

with this for a while because other people could read my work. I became

more comfortable with it because my peers would read my work in

workshops anyways.

While the major assignments were very special to me, the minor or

writers choice assignments were also important. Some of them show my

progress when creating these pieces and others show the feedback I

received that helped me make this progress. My first example is the draft of

this essay. When I first wrote this, I barely had just over one page and now I

have a 5-page essay. The feedback from the silent workshop really helped

my progression in this essay.

My developing curiosity essay also got revised because of the peer

workshops. For about half of the assignment I did not know what to do. My

group members also helped me choose what specific inquiry topic I would

research.
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Final portfolio essay

For the feedback artifacts, I chose to Include the professor feedback on

my multi-genre reflection. I feel like this feedback really helped me figure out

how I needed to reflect upon my genre pieces. It also helped me understand

what to include for the final revision of the reflection.

I appreciated my groupmates feedback for my developing curiosity

essay. This feedback helped me figure out basically what to write about. I

also like the part on how they included something they liked about the draft.

It helped me realize that my groupmates were trying to help, not criticize.

For my writers notebook artifacts, I decided to Include the dear reader

letter for the developing curiosity essay. I feel that it goes nicely with my last

artifact. In it I specifically list what I need help with. My group was very

helpful and provided wonderful feedback that was used to finish the final

essay.

For my wild card artifact, I chose to include my technical writing report

for my cad modelling class. I feel that these two classes are closely related

for me as my cad is a major part of my project for this class. I got some of

my friends to give their feedback for this paper using the same

workshopping skills I learned in this class.

Curiosity and Inquiry are the focus topics of UWRT 1102. The class is

based around developing a research project, which is designed to help

students develop their curiosity. Before the class I was already a curious

person but through the class I learned how to do more careful research. I also
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Final portfolio essay

learned how to conduct research through scholarly sources. Critical reflection

Is another topic I learned through this class. Before taking UWRT I did not

understand the value of reflection upon my work. I never learned from it and

I would continue to make the same mistakes in other writing assignments.

When being made to write reflections on my work I realized how important

self-reflection is. The class also helped me to stretch my comfort zone. I am

typically a very reserved person but the peer workshops dont allow you to

be reserved. Talking to people I dont really know about my work used to

make me very uncomfortable but I am becoming more comfortable with it by

doing these peer workshops.

Editing and revision are also important concepts in this class. A draft of

each major writing assignment was due early to allow for revision. Whoever

workshopped the draft left helpful comments to guide the writer in the

editing process. I found this very helpful because I rarely get a second

opinion on my work. I would look at my work and proofread it but not truly

revise it. I learned that revision changes the content of the work and

proofreading just fixes errors. A combination of the two should be used to

create the best work possible. After revision of my projects, I feel that they

are much stronger pieces than they were before.

Overall I have Improved upon my writing skills by taking the UWRT

classes. As an engineering student, I will have many writing assignments in

the future and the skills I learned through this class will apply to these

assignments.