This paper shows how I have met the course objectives over the semester. Over the semester I have written papers which I utilize as evidence for this paper. I refer to essays like the technical description, engineering proposal, and the lab report analysis to support my claims.

This semester has taught me many things about writing. We have had several assignments, but I would like to focus in on the technical description, lab report, and the engineering proposal.  This course has a few learning objectives, and today I will demonstrate how I have achieved those objectives while referencing the essays I mentioned above. I will also write about how I have changed as a writer along with my view of writing itself.

The first course learning objective says, “Acknowledge your and others’ range of linguistic differences as resources and draw on those resources to develop a rhetorical sensibility”. In simpler terms this statement is saying that people have different vocabularies, and we should use this difference to develop a style of writing which invokes emotion in our reader. We should say things in an understandable way so that the message is received and felt by the reader instead of convoluting our vocabulary so that the point we are trying to make is missed. In my lab report introduction, I did a good job conveying the idea of what the paper is about along with my intent to the reader. I wrote

“ My topic of interest is the teaching of vector mechanics, in which students analyze forces and motion to quantify what will happen to an object or particle by using Newtons Laws of Motion. I chose this topic because I find teaching very interesting along with the subject of mechanics. I combined my two interests and ended up with this topic. Lab reports typically contain a title, abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusion, and references. I will go through each section and compare the presentation and structure of the information based on the lab report structure mentioned above.”

Upon reading this introduction the reader can extract the idea I want to convey. My language is straightforward, and my objective is clear. This paragraph does a good job of displaying that I have achieved course objective number one.

The second course objective says, “Enhance strategies for reading, drafting, revising, editing, and self-assessment”. This objective is saying that we have developed techniques for reading, editing, and reflecting on the work we have done. Throughout the course we wrote small self-assessments after major assignments like the lab report and the technical description. This gave us a chance to reflect on our writing like the course objective says. For the lab report analysis, we had to annotate the two research papers which is a technique that the class utilized to supplement reading. This technique was useful to condense the papers material and focus on the important parts of the paper. We usually got feedback from the professor if not our peers which helped immensely when going from the first draft to the final version of the paper. We could correct things like being too informal, straying from APA format, or staying on topic. I believe the feedback received was what improved all of my papers the most. Having to read and reread not only my own assignment but also the assignments of others gave me the practice necessary to become a better editor like course objective number two mentioned.

Course objective number three says “Negotiate your own writing goals and audience expectations regarding conventions of genre, medium, and rhetorical situation”. This objective is saying that we should try to reach a good middle ground between what the audience expects, and what the goal of our writing is. I like to write about technical topics and got excited when I saw we had to do a technical description of a device. In my first draft I went into detail about how a jigsaw functions and left out things like history and began going off topic when my focus shifted to the electric motor. My audience was expecting something different from what I presented, and it was reflected in the feedback I received. In my final draft I focused in on my topic and gave some history on the jigsaw like the assignment asked for. I still got to write about a technical topic but focused more on the assignment and was able to produce a better paper because of this. This was a sort of negotiation, where the audience and I came to a middle ground. In the end we were both satisfied. I believe this situation shows I have completed course objective number three.

Course objective number four says “Develop and engage in the collaborative and social aspects of writing processes”. For the technical description we had a class dedicated to peer review which is where we talk with our classmates about their writing and give them feedback. We socialized and collaborated to make our writing better which I though was very useful. We also had the engineering proposal where we brainstormed ideas with classmates and wrote together to produce a paper. These two situations are good examples to show that course objective number four was achieved.

Course objective number five says “Engage in genre analysis and multimodal composing to explore effective writing across disciplinary contexts and beyond”. For this class we read many kinds of writing as research for our assignments. For the technical description I ended up reading biographies, technical papers, and looking into instruction manuals which are all written very differently. For the lab report analysis, I looked at pedagogical techniques relating to teaching physics. I have read different genres and plan to explore much more in my life. I believe this exposure to multiple genres shows that I have achieved course objective number five.

Course objective number six says “Formulate and articulate a stance through and in your writing”. For the engineering proposal I had to convey the need for the Alexa Door Closer and have a stance on how the world is progressing to become more convenient and give the consumer more control. Devices which do this are popular like the remote control for the tv or the Alexa bulbs which allow you to control the lights remotely. In the following paragraph I did a good job on conveying the need for the proposed device. I wrote

“The torsion spring door closer by itself deprives the consumer of control which is what our product brings to the table. We are modernizing the door closer to integrate systems like Alexa who can presently do things like turn on lights and even control electrical outlets. To correct the shortcomings of the previously discussed topics we have integrated a door closer with some electrical components to give the consumer more control. Our device consists of a torsion spring door closer, a plunger solenoid, an Alexa smart plug, and a door stop each designed for our particular application. I will talk about how these components each contribute and work together to make something useful.”

For the engineering proposal I had to give good reasons to why the proposed product was superior and take a stance which I has to defend and convey to my readers to have the product looks appealing. This demonstrates my successful completion of course objective number six.

Course objective number seven says “Practice using various library resources, online databases, and the Internet to locate sources appropriate to your writing projects”. For most of the assignments in the class we had to find online resources to support our claims. For the lab report analysis, I utilized the CCNY database to locate two lab reports to compare. For the other assignments I used many internet sources to compile supporting information. I have completed course objective number seven through the research for all the assignments. Along with this course objective is course objective number eight which says, “Strengthen your source use practices (including evaluating, integrating, quoting, paraphrasing, summarizing, synthesizing, analyzing, and citing sources”. I had cited (in APA format) over 20 different sources for the class and have gained experience with intext citation too. I have quoted many times along with paraphrasing to support my claims. For example, in the lab report analysis I said “Another important concept is the idea of a cognitive domain. There are six levels of the cognitive domain which are used to assess the student’s mastery of mechanics (Putra and Heriyanto, 2020)” which is an example of me paraphrasing an idea along with an intext citation. I also went on to say “One example of this extra information in Paper 2 can be shown when the author says, “A review of the Newton’s law material of motion, there are three laws that underlie it, which was developed by Newton (1687) as the basis of classic mechanics” (Putra and Heriyanto, 2020, p. 2)” which is an example of a direct quotation. Writing the assignments for this class gave me a good feel for citing and locating evidence which is why I feel I have achieved course objective number eight.

Before this course I was neutral on writing. I felt that this course would be another writing course with no engineering component, but I was pleasantly surprised. I got to write about technical topics and discuss a product where I did simulations and engineering drawings. This class showed me that writing can be fun for me depending on the topic. I believe writing is a form of expression where we convey thoughts and emotions to the reader through words. My perception of writing has changed for the better since this course both combined engineering and writing. It gave me a newfound admiration for writing which I did not have before.

In conclusion I have achieved all course learning objectives. Through the combination of engineering and writing I have learned to enjoy writing more than I did before. I am glad I took this course and learned particularly about APA formatting which I was largely unfamiliar with before. I hope to take what I learn in this course and use it to succeed in my future career as a Mechanical Engineer.