Reflection

ePortfolio Reflection Essay

I learned so much by making this ePortfolio. From all the blogs to the research paper, there were so many interesting steps involved in making a fun portfolio for people to read. I learned so many skills that involved research, revision, and writing. I read many articles from a variety of researchers and was able to learn more about the world of writing. This class provided me with valuable skills that I will always practice in the future. From identifying a variety of modes, genres, and different discourse communities - this class allowed me to gain the skills necessary to succeed as a writer in all of my future endeavors.

Writing this ePortfolio took a long time but the process taught me the importance of free-flowing writing. Writing a shitty first draft, allowed me to stream my thoughts on paper and properly prepared me to write a research article that answered my research question. The blogs helped tremendously in connecting my opinions with that of the authors and how the freedom of writing allows for creativity and exploration. This technique really enhanced metacognition on the matter that it allowed me to compose and demonstrate rhetorical awareness by reflecting on different forms of composition. I further documented and commented on other writer’s writing style, their language, and what type of evidence is used. This class really allowed me to reflect on my own writing techniques as well.

Through analyzing primary research, I gained the experience of analyzing critical information and breaking it down into my own words. By further breaking down information, enhanced my skills as an investigator and as a result, hopefully, become a better writer in the process. As a class, we read so many different types of genres of writing, from informal to formal to humorous styles. The friendly environment of the classroom allowed me to be honest in my blog writings and express my creativity in my own writing. As a result, I became a more confident writer.

Furthermore, in this class, I learned how to revise my own work. With the help of my peers, I was able to reflect on my own writing style and effectively work on strengthening my writing. Revisions really allowed us to evaluate our own work and to identify where our weaknesses were coming from. I’ve never done this type of thing and it was tremendously helpful in analyzing where I was struggling in my writing as a writer. Moreover, I was able to provide peer feedback to other peers in the classroom and analyze how they wrote. In the process, by analyzing what worked and didn’t work I was able to strengthen my own writing.

Additionally, in this class, I developed an ability to write on multitudes of genres and to be able to reflect on all sorts of writings. This was most prevalent in writing our blog posts and our discussion. The number of blog posts we did truly emphasizes the importance of being able to recognize how much literature is there and more importantly, recognize how important literature can be. So many authors write in unique writing styles, and being able to reflect on that in our own blog posts emphasizes my understanding of my own thoughts on the matter and the importance of creative writing.

The importance of research was stressed in this class. From the beginning, we started our research and we ended the class by doing research. Research is a very important skill to acquire and many of our works in this class, revolved around conducting research. I also learned how to conduct and gather data. I created a google form and analyzed my own data. I truly felt like a researcher and this class allowed students like myself to become motivated to conduct research. Conducting research can be a tedious task, but as stressed in this class, conducting research can be broken down into smaller and more manageable pieces.

It’s important to make an outline, a shitty first draft, and finally a final draft. I feel like I was taught this in all my years of schooling, but this class really allowed me to reflect on the importance of taking baby steps. Before I knew it, I completed a 1,500-word detailed research article that successfully answered my research question. I was able to reflect on the process and in the process, take out valuable skills from writing such a detailed paper. Research really is simple when it can be broken down into manageable steps and this class taught me to not be afraid of conducting my own research. I truly feel like I am now armed with the techniques and necessary resources to write as many research papers as I want to.

This class allowed me to probe my interests in terms of research. With all the skills I gained, I am not fearful to do my own research. Research can be conceived as a long and tedious process, but as mentioned, it truly is simple and follows an organic plan. It can be broken down into a title, introduction, research question, literature review, data collection, findings and discussion, and conclusion. Again, the process of research is a formulaic plan that should not be intimidating. Ultimately, the assignments given to us in UWP 001 allowed me to expand my research capabilities and give me confidence as a writer. I received useful critiques and learned a variety of different research skills that I don’t think I could have learned anywhere else except for this class. My only regret is that I didn’t take this class sooner because I feel much more prepared to take on college writing assignments thanks to this class. This was a fun class, and I definitely learned a lot more than expected and surprised myself with the number of words I wrote for this class. The process was taken in steps and after reflecting, it gave me the confidence to take on further writing assignments in college and in the future.