FINAL COURSE OBSERVATION

TO: Professor Shauna Anderson

FROM: Sarah Rosin
DATE: April 29, 2015
SUBJECT: Final Course Reflection
The purpose of this assignment is to reflect on this course, Technical Communication
Applications (ENGL 312). In this reflection, goal achievement, improvement,
accomplishments, and connections will be addressed.

GOALS
The first goal that I set for the spring 2015 semester was to get an A in each of my classes.
As the semester is coming to a close, I cant confidently say if I achieved this goal or not.
However, over the duration of the semester, the nature of this goal shifted into something
different. I realized that what I actually wanted from college was a defined skill set that
would allow me to find fulfilling, meaningful employment not just a grade. While I did
want to provide quality work that reflected my abilities, the greatest achievement would be
to learn new skills. I feel that I leave this semester with a multitude of new skills that I had
not learned previously including proposal creation, online tutorial creation, CreativeCloud
navigation etc.

The second goal that I set for this semester was to connect more with my peers and my
professors. I feel like I achieved this goal over these past few months. I was able to connect
with most of my professors and develop professional relationships. On several occasions,
my professors offered help, encouragement, and feedback for my professional
development. As for connecting with my peers, Im finishing this semester with new
friendships and professional contacts. Compared to previous semesters, I felt more
confident in networking with and asking for feedback from my peers. I look forward to the
coming semesters and developing these relationships further.

The last goal I set for this semester was to begin developing a writing portfolio. With the
conclusion of this semester, I have created several pieces of writing that I feel showcase my
skillset. While organizing these pieces into a cohesive and organized online or tangible
structure is still a few steps away, I am happy with the work that I have completed for the
Spring 2015 semester.


IMPROVEMENT
I overheard one of my teammates say recently, I dont like to second guess myself. I found
this comment confident, but not overly so, and productive. In most areas of my life, I have
hard time making decisions. I doubt my abilities and am uncertain of my competence.
Hearing my peer say something so matter-of-factly changed the way I thought about the
way I approach tasks. I made a motivational Post-it note, stuck it above my desk, and tried
to channel confidence. At this conclusion of the semester, I can say that I have become a
more confident writer, thinker, and problem solver. I can now complete tasks and make
decisions quickly and effectively - more so than when I began this semester. I feel more
certain in my abilities and feel excited to grow further.

Additionally, I feel like I grew as a teammate as well. Previously, I may have, at times,
dreaded the ubiquitous group project. This semester, however, I have found that working
in a team, and listening to feedback from my peers, improves my abilities not just
pertaining to the project at hand, but for further assignments as well.



ACCOMPLISHMENTS
In this course, my biggest achievement was completing the initial proposal assignment. I
was humbled and complimented when my peers chose my proposal to complete additional
work on. I had never written a proposal style document prior to this document. I found
guidance in model student assignments. To complete the research portion, I investigated
the importance of the topic through scholarly articles that provided data and statistics.
When I completed the proposal, I was excited to have learned a valuable skill that will be
relevant in the workforce.
CONNECTIONS
This course provided skills and information that was relevant to many of the additional
lasses I was enrolled in this semester. The initial proposal project overlapped with projects
that I was completing in Argument (ENGL 304). In fact, most of Argument class was based
on creating proposals that were bolstered with facts, data, and ethos. The skills I learned in
this class additionally helped in Print Document Design (ENGL 405). PDP required
supplemental memos to be written for each assignment. The text required for this class
came in very helpful for designing effective memos.