Semester Reflection
Semester Reflection
Semester Reflection
RC 2001
Professor Lowe
8 March 2023
Semester Reflection
It’s hard to say how I feel like I’ve changed over this semester when it comes to my
writing abilities because I feel like I haven’t. I still have trouble expressing myself through my
writing and I struggle to meet word counts and page counts. I tend to be hesitant to write more
because I feel like it sounds forced. Despite all of this, I do see some improvement in the details
of my writing.
In classes that I had to write for in the past, I would wait until a few days before a paper
was due to start writing. This meant that I only did one draft and didn’t give myself enough time
to revise. I would try to get the paper perfect on the first try. This kept me from being able to
dump all of my ideas onto the page because I was getting stuck in the beginning paragraphs.
The schedule of this class and the number of drafts that we turned in helped me break this
toxic cycle. I was able to put a bunch of ideas into my document and not worry about whether
they were useful or not. I simply got my words out first, then changed them around and cut some
content out in the next draft. It wasn’t until the last draft of my papers that I started to feel
confident about my work, but this was because I had more time to think through what I was
I think I demonstrated my reading and writing skills best through my research and the
sources I found. I was able to find a variety of both scholarly and popular sources, then
determine if they would be useful to me. I found that many of the popular sources weren’t very
helpful to me, but they provided an overview of topics that I wanted to discuss in my writing.
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They also gave me keywords and terminology that I could further research and find scholarly
articles about.
As an industrial design student, I don’t see myself using a lot of writing in the future, but
there may be some opportunities. For example, writing a brief for a design project. These briefs
typically aren’t long, but they need to explain your design intent. I think with what I’ve learned
from this class about creating many early drafts will help me create well-written and clear design
briefs. Also, I may have to write an article or paper about a product to get people interested in it.
I can use my voice to make the product sound appealing and useful to consumers.
In the syllabus for this class Goal #1 emphasized that writing is a process that includes
drafting, revising, and proofreading. Of all of the goals listed in our syllabus, this was the one
that I think I met best. I learned to take time in drafting papers and to both give and receive
useful feedback. Goals #2, #3, and #4 deal with writing in the discipline, which is something I
hadn’t done before this semester. I was challenged to examine how other product designers use
writing and I had to learn how to properly use written work for my discipline. Lastly, Goal #5
challenged me to dig deeper into my research and find new means of obtaining information. I
had used the library database in the past, but I relied on it more heavily this semester to find
scholarly sources. I also found data from the EPA that I was able to analyze and help back up my
argument in my Arguning in the Discipline paper. With the new techniques and practices I
learned over this semester, I was able to meet these course goals and improve my writing skills.