Dr.

Leslie Bruce
University Hall Room 435
800 N. State College Boulevard
Fullerton, CA 92831
10, May 2018

Dear Dr. Leslie Bruce,

When I first transferred to California State University, Fullerton this semester, I was surprised
about the number of scientific writing assignments required for my science courses. Not only did
I have no formal scientific writing assignments at a California Community College, but I also did
not have any research paper assignments in my upper division science courses at a University of
California. I can see why this course is essential for my time in college and have helped me
succeed in my courses. Through this course, you have helped me learn all the essential
techniques and I believe I have adhered to the six student learning outcomes (SLOs). I have
included my definition article assignment and two scientific notebook assignments in my
portfolio.

The first major assignment I have done at CSUF covers most of the SLOs. The definition article
was difficult, but it was a great learning experience for future writing assignments. By
understanding that the target audience would not have a scientific background, I needed to write
in an informal format, which fulfills the rhetorical focus (SLO 1). Throughout the article and
reference page, I used direct and indirect citations from peer-reviewed articles with my major’s
APA/ASM formats to fulfill my ethical research criteria (SLO 2). The whole structure of the
article was designed for me to clearly inform the audience by keeping the contents organized and
focused (SLO 4). I could keep the entire article focused on defining the term in an easily
comprehensible manner without subjecting to gender or cultural biases through use of proper
academic language and design (SLO 5).

To fulfill the other SLO’s, I have included two scientific notebook assignments; “Write about the
Retraction Watch article you read:” and “One-sentence definition”. After reading a retraction
watch article, I understood the importance of ethics in the scientific community. Even if self-
promotion is not a major offense requiring a retraction, I explained the practice should be looked
down upon through my persuasive arguments (SLO 3). Before we were assigned the definition
article assignment, I had practice writing a one-sentence definition with a peer. We both
formulated separate solutions to the assignment and then critiqued each other’s work to improve
our writing skills through our collaboration (SLO 6).

You have helped me improve my writing skills considerably for the many scientific writing
assignments I have had this semester. There will always be room for improvement and I have
already had much practice so far. I will continue to use as much as I have learned for the rest of
my time at CSUF as well as future research projects.

I greatly appreciate your help.

Sincerely,

Minh-Kinh Dang