Science & Research Writing 

Annotated Bibliography

• How does this assignment connect to other work you've done in non-English classes?

Throughout the process of gathering sources and reading the research papers for this annotated bibliography, I noticed many connections between this specific assignment and many of the other projects I’ve done. In Intro. to the natural sciences, we had a project similar to this where we had to read short research articles and complete the questions provided. Having experience with reading large amounts of research papers really helped with this project since I was able to find the main focus of the article efficiently. I also connected this assignment with our carbon footprint analysis in Intro. to the natural sciences, in this project we had to calculate the environmental impact of our daily actions and make it into a simple poster. Having a relatively more detailed understanding of overconsumption really helped with this project since overconsumption is one of the most significant reasons for excessive carbon usage. This annotated bibliography project is also tied to our PBL outline, throughout the process of designing our outline, we had to do in depth research about our topic of migrant rights, the research we conducted was not only reliable and credible but also done efficiently so that we’d have more time to actually design the outline. Overall, this project definitely improved my research skills and made me realize the important part social media plays in global issues like overconsumption. 

Narrative Science Piece

• What are some improvements you could make on this assignment?

After reading my draft thoroughly and comparing it to my peers’, I’ve noticed some things that I would like to change. The first and most important thing that I’ve noticed is how my draft lacks research. That is a relatively significant issue since as far as I want my paper to be appealing to the younger generation, I also want the paper to deliver information that proves the paper was written with strong evidence and will further nudge the audience to take action. And I would like to incorporate more qualitative research into my article since most of the data I’ve presented so far are quantitative data. The second factor that could be improved is the writing style. I feel like this paper is not as descriptive and detailed as I would like it to be. So by making it seem like a story with descriptive writing, it would definitely help the audience understand how urgent the issue is. The last and final improvement that I would make is that I would give out recommendations on how to quit the environmentally harming habit of impulse buying. I would write a section dedicated to spreading awareness with legitimate methods and words of encouragement. 

Annotated Bibliography

• How does this assignment address a specific global issue?

• How does this assignment consider different perspectives, especially culturally unfamiliar perspectives?

This assignment directly addresses the global issue of overconsumption, which puts the environment in serious danger, but surprisingly has been normalized over the years due to social media. After further research I found that overconsumption actually contributes heavily to problems like deforestation, carbon emissions, and waste buildup. Which led me to form a theory of change, effective solutions require two crucial factors. Personal change and larger actions. In this scenario the personal change could be reducing unnecessary purchases, while the larger actions could be stricter policies regarding the environment and more responsible production of companies. While doing the research for consumerism, I also made sure to include culturally unfamiliar perspectives. For example, some sources highlighted the effect of overconsumption in wealthier countries have on Sri Lanks, where people in Sri Lanka generally consume less, they often experience consequences of overconsumption the most. Learning this also helped me see that consumerism is not only an environmental issue but a social and economic one. 

Narrative Science Piece

• How does this assignment address a specific issue connected to Taiwan?

If you have been on social media this couple of years, you would notice how there are more and more influencers who dedicate their content to shopping and hauls. You would also notice “PR packages” becoming overly extravagant and wasteful. What used to be a small box with a few selected products turned into over-the-top packaging along with the whole collection stuffed inside. Although the problem of overconsumption in Taiwan isn’t as pressing as it is in other countries, it does not mean that we should ignore this growing issue. Instead, we should start taking action and spreading awareness to prevent this crisis from occurring. 

Final Reflection

• What additional insights into local and global issues and perspectives have you connected to this semester? 

My topic at the start of the semester was “brainrot content”, but I later on decided to change it to “social media and their effect on overconsumption” so it aligns with my interests.This issue is relevant to Taiwan as “influencer culture” makes its way to the general public. I’ve noticed how more and more influencers based in Taiwan are promoting the concept of “more is more” and their audience is getting influenced heavily. So yes, Taiwan is facing the issue of overconsumption rapidly.

Methods Presentation

• How does this assignment build on previous work you've done in English classes other than this one? 

As a new student who just transferred here from a traditional Taiwanese school, this new style of teaching is definately very new to me. At my old school, we focused mainly on grammar, vocabulary memorization, and test preparation, so I rarely had chances to do presentations. This assignment feels completly different because it challenged me to explore topics that are way out of my comfort zone, organize the information, and present it according to my understanding of the topic. I believe that this will help me grow in new ways, especially in researching difficult topics, arranging my findings, and improving my ability to explain more complicated ideas clearly to others.

How have you grown in your work/study habits in this assignment?  How do you plan to grow in this area moving forward?

In this assignment, I have grown in my study habits by throughly researching the topic before jumping straight into writing, this benefitted me when it was time to prepare the powerpoint since I already had a clear idea of my topic. It also saved me the time that I woud usually spend searching online for background information, and instead I could focus more on organizing my slides and planning how to deliver my ideas properly for a better understanding. As someone who tends to struggle with deadlines, I plan to move forward by starting my projects even earlier than before and taking more detailed notes, so that I could have a stronger foundation of the topic before creating my presentation.

Narrative Science Piece

• How did feedback from your peers help you grow during the completion of this assignment?

One thing that I haven’t mentioned yet but is pointed out quite frequently is the lack of explanation for the terminology used in the paper. My paper is targeted towards the younger generation. Therefore, I incorporated some slang to make the paper more engaging. But I overlooked the fact that other audiences may find the use of terminology to be excessive especially when an explanation is not included in the paper. That’s why I would add a small section to explain each and every slang used in the paper to make the article more suitable for the larger audience. 

Final Reflection

• In what ways will the assignments in this class connect to future classes and life after high school?

The most useful thing I learned to do in this class is researching. Before this class my only form of research was asking AI, which was unreliable. But after a lecture on how to research and some videos on fact-checking, I learned how to properly do research. And this skill goes beyond just this class. In a world where technology is constantly evolving, learning how to manage it and get reliable information is incredibly important and crucial to life. (It would also be incredibly helpful in university.)

Methods Presentation

• Presentation – What visual, rhetorical, and presentation techniques did you use to make your method easy to understand?

The technique I used to make my method easier to understand was that I went in depth when talking about the example study, I believe that seeing something in practice can really improve your understanding. That's why I chose to go in detail when talking about the midwife's tale, I gave out examples when discussing the ways the author ensured validity, and the overall message of the study. By connecting my explanation to a concrete example, I was able to simpify the research method and make it easier to understand. Another technique that I incorporated in my presentation was simplicity, by putting less words on my powerpoint and then explaining it to the audience, this ensured that they have a clearer understanding instead of confusing them with overwhelming information. Moving forward, I plan to use real world examples in my presentations, since they not only make my message clearer, but also keeps the audience more engaged.

Annotated Bibliography

• Sources — What were your challenges in finding and understanding scholarly sources on your topic? How did you ensure your scholarly research was thorough and relevant?

Throughout the process of finding sources and reading them, I’ve faced some problems. Originally, my topic was gonna be the impact of social media, but I figured that the topic of just social media and its impact would be too broad for a project like this. So I improvised and narrowed down the topic to the impact of social media regarding the global issue of overconsumption, which was perfect since consumerism is rapidly growing to be a global problem and the noticeable impact that social media has on it. The second problem I faced was a problem that highly affected my understanding of the articles, it was that I couldn’t understand the complex and professional wording of the papers and I found my mind completely fogged from time to time while reading since I didn’t understand the message they wanted to convey. I overcame this by thoroughly reading the abstract part of the paper and pulling it out whenever I found myself zoning out. The third problem I faced was that I couldn’t find sources that provided different perspectives. I overcame this by searching for even more specific topics like searching for studies conducted in different countries,  papers that study consumerism in different fields, and studies that consider different factors of consumerism. To ensure my sources were reliable and relevant, I only selected peer reviewed studies published by well known and credible sources, and I also specifically chose sources that directly addressed global issues, eliminating ones that were too general and unrelated. Altogether, this approach helped me build a collection of reliable sources. 

Narrative Science Piece

• Who was your audience for this piece? How did you appeal to them?

The audience for this paper is the younger generation, specifically women of the younger generation. I included slang and simple language to make the paper as engaging and easy to read as possible, and I tried my hardest to not make the paper seem boring and overly scientific since I wanted this paper to be suitable for as many people as possible. 

• How did you structure your piece? What were your goals in using this structure?

Since I wanted people to relate and therefore take action, I structured my piece using 2 personal stories, one talking about experiencing overconsumption through observation, the other about experiencing overconsumption personally. I chose two stories with two different perspectives to hopefully make more people relate to this story. And that would widen my audience, which would therefore attract more people to take action.

• What kinds of evidence did you choose to use in this piece, and how did you find that evidence? What were your goals in using that evidence?

As far as I’ve written so far, most of my evidence is quantitative evidence that came from my annotated bibliography and further research. I mainly chose to use quantitative data because I personally think that numbers show how bad overconsumption affects the environment and how many people are actually engaging in the activity.