self-assessment – Technical Writing http://3764su14.tracigardner.com English 3764 @ Virginia Tech – Summer II 2014 Mon, 18 Aug 2014 10:09:40 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.3 Submitting Project 5 http://3764su14.tracigardner.com/2014/08/12/submitting-project-5/ Tue, 12 Aug 2014 04:00:05 +0000 http://3764su14.tracigardner.com/?p=232 Read more →

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This is the post for the August 12, 2014 class meeting.

Today is the due date for Project 5. Aim to submit your work by midnight in your timezone, but remember that you have a 24-hour, grace period if you need it. No excuses needed. If something has gone wrong in your world and 24 hours may not be enough, contact me immediately and let me know what you need.

Class Work for August 12

These are the tasks to complete for today’s work:

  • Go over the requirements for Project 5.
  • Review the location of the FAQs for using Google Drive.
  • Discuss the reflection memo and how to submit Project 5 in Scholar.

Requirements for Project 5

You need to turn in a reflection memo as well as a share link to your Forum Completion Report. Use the project assignment to check your work. In particular, make sure that your report addresses all four areas that fall under the participation portion of your grade: participation, daily work, number of posts, and quality of posts. Also remember to check your spelling and proofread for grammar and punctuation.

Google Drive FAQs

Note: this is the same information you followed in Project 1. I’m including it as a reference in case you need a reminder.

To make sure that you can submit your project smoothly, pay attention to the following FAQs:

Writing Your Reflection Memo and Submitting Your Project

Your reflection memo is your chance to tell me anything you want me to know before I read your project. For this project, your reflection memo will give me the link to your spreadsheet on Google Drive and the link to your analysis memo if you created one. You will also tell me about what you have written. Follow these instructions to submit your work:

  1. Go to the Assignments tab on the left menu in Scholar.
  2. Choose “P5: Forum Report.”
  3. Scroll down to the text box below the headings Submission and Assignment Text. You will write your memo in this box. (Alternately, you can write in a word processor/Google Doc, and copy/paste your text into this box.)
  4. Add your memo headers (To, From, Subject, and Date). For your reflection memo, you’ll use the following:
    • Address your memo to me (Traci) and from yourself (use your name).
    • Add a subject line that indicates this is your reflection memo and which project it is for.
    • Add the current date.
  5. Insert a horizontal divider line using the button indicated with the red arrow in the image below:
    Insert Horizontal Line button in Scholar
  6. Introduce your project—what are your overall goals, what grade have you aimed for for Project 5, and what documents have you written for the project?
  7. Convert your document to Google Drive format if you worked in another word processor.
  8. Add the Share link to the document on your Google Drive. Use the instructions for how to get the Share link on the FAQ site if you are unsure how to share documents. Make sure you set permissions so that I can add comments.
  9. Tell me what I need to know to understand the information you have included in your document.
  10. Tell me anything else you want me to know about the the layout and design..
  11. Add a concluding section that tells me anything else you want me to know about your project.
  12. Agree to the Honor Code by clicking the checkbox at the bottom of the page in Scholar. You cannot finish submitting the project without clicking that checkbox (and it’s easy to miss).
  13. Submit your Project, and save a copy of the confirmation and submission ID. If something goes wrong in Scholar, you can contact 4HELP with that information.
  14. You’re done! Project 6 (the final exam) is the job application materials you proposed in Project 4.
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Working on Projects 5 & 6 http://3764su14.tracigardner.com/2014/08/07/working-on-projects-5-6/ Thu, 07 Aug 2014 10:15:13 +0000 http://3764su14.tracigardner.com/?p=219 Read more →

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This is the post for the August 7, 2014 class meeting.

Today, we will look at the assignments for Project 5 and Project 6, the two projects remaining in the course.

Class Work for August 7

These are the tasks to complete for today’s work:

  • Finding comments on graded work
  • Talk about the assignment for Project 5
  • Review the assignment for Project 6
  • Discuss powerful word choice

Finding Comments on Graded Work

I am working through the projects you have submitted as quickly as possible. As I grade projects, I do release them immediately. You may get an email message when they are released, depending upon the settings in Scholar. You can always tell what has been graded by looking at the Gradebook in Scholar or going to the Assignments page in Scholar. If you are unfamiliar with Scholar, you can use these instructions to learn how to find feedback on your Assignments.

Getting Started on Project 5

For Project 5, you will review your work in the course and write a completion report that outlines what you have learned and done during the term. In particular, you will review your posts on the Forums and point out some of your best work. In addition to grading your report, I’ll use the information you present to help determine your participation grade for the course. In the workplace, you could think of this report as a self-evaluation for a performance review.

Here’s what you need to do to get started:

  1. Read the assignment for Project 5 completely. Begin gathering data on your forum work, explained in Step 2 of the assignment.

  2. If you have any questions (today or in the future) about the assignments, post in Questions about Project 5 topic if you have questions about the report.

Continuing Work on Project 6

Project 6, your final exam, is due by midnight in your timezone on Friday, August 15. A rough draft of your work is due for peer review on Thursday, August 14.

Move forward assuming that I have approved your proposal for the job application materials you will submit. I will get feedback to you on the proposals as soon as possible. In the meantime, move forward writing (or compiling) the materials as you proposed them.

Discussing Powerful Word Choice

Choosing strong, powerful verbs is an important part of both Project 5 and 6. Review the Skills Cluster List (p. 44) in the 2013–2014 Career Planning Guide and the Power Skills for Your Resume and Resume Bullet Formula (p. 37–40) in the 2014–2015 Career Planning Guide. These resources demonstrate the kinds of verbs you can use to show yourself as a strong, active person.

Notice in particular how the example in the bullet formula in the 2014–2015 Guide moves from a generic idea (“communication skills”) to a very strong statement about what the person has accomplished. That idea of highlighting your “Demonstrated Accomplishment/Contribution” is what you should work for in your report for Project 5 and your job application materials for Project 6. For instance, rather than saying you were a strong forum participant in your Project 5 report, choose a strong verb and add clarifying details the show your accomplishment or contribution.

Go to the Project 5: Completion Report in the Forums and respond to at least one of the three self-assessment statements there:

You will find questions there to get your conversation started. As always, feel free to engage each other in discussion by quoting one another as you reply. You are only required to post a reply to one of the three statements; however, you may feel free to reply to more than one. In fact, if you have not met your minimum requirement for the forums yet, you can take advantage of this chance to post some extra replies.

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