The course has been beneficial in improving my writing skills in general. I have understood more about different forms of writing, their procedures, and language use. Through the course, I understand various forms of writing, such as academic writing, engineering writing, and analysis writing. Every form of writing is addressed to different types of audiences, and hence the approach to its format, language, and presentation vary.

Through the course, I realized I never had a deeper contemplation of writing. Previously, I used the same form of writing approach and language, and I never considered the audience I was addressing. Writing was as simple as a medium of conveying a message through letters, symbols, and words in the written form.  However, the course allowed me to differentiate different forms of writing. For instance, I now understand that Academic writing is nonfiction writing produced as part of academic work such as research, theories, empirical fieldwork, and interpretation of archives. Engineering writing involves stating facts backed by evidence mainly obtained from experiments and practical work.

Normal essay writing does not have a designated writing structure when it comes to academic writing. I realized that a specific structure and standards should be followed. An example of Academic research writing is my work on “A Non-Toxic Paint for Ships That Will Reduce Pollution in the Ocean.” Since it is nonfictional writing, all the information must be clear, concise, focused, structured, and backed up by evidence. Evidence is important because this form of writing aims to aid the readers to understand the content, persuade, analyze/synthesize, and inform. It has a formal tone and style, but it is not complex. It does not require the use of long sentences and complicated vocabulary Evidence is gathered from different sources obtained from the internet, libraries, etc. I learned that it requires comprehensive research to develop a competent research/academic paper. Thorough research entails reviewing different sources that talk about the topic of interest and noting down important information from each article. Once the ideas have been noted, the paper is written neatly with sub-sections discussing different ideas. It is important to ensure there is a consistent flow of information. And any facts obtained from a source have to be cited accordingly. Citing the source of information allows the paper to be authentic, and the readers can trust it. I realized for the academic paper, it is important to mind the sources you are using, especially sources obtained from the internet. To have appropriate accreditation, reputable journals should publish credible, peer-reviewed sources and authors.

The course allowed me to differentiate between Academic writings and engineering writing. Engineering writing is also referred to as technical writing, a form of writing on a particular subject that employs audience-centered means of communication that aims to transform complex technical ideologies into clear, concise documentation whose information is easy to understand. This form of writing utilizes a simple language similar to academic writing. The major difference is that its evidence is from practical work or experiments. Their structure is also different from academic writing since it follows a specific standard. As explained in the “Analysis and Annotation” paper, technical or engineering writing includes lab reports, journal articles, design, and manufacturing reports. These writings utilize a standard structure with eight sections abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. I discovered that the correct format required for subheadings to these sections has to be clearly distinct for easy reading and understanding of the target audience.

In my previous writing, I never incorporated abstracts in my writings. I learned that it is an essential element in engineering writing through this course. An abstract is a significant part of engineering writings that involves summarizing the paper by presenting all the findings and essential facts in the paper. The purpose of the abstract is to capture the reader’s attention by foreshadowing what is in the paper, which makes the reader more interested. The technical report on “Engineering Writing: Wahl Professional Senior Clipper #8500” has illustrated the various elements of technical writing and included an illustration to facilitate understanding. The use of illustrations such as figures and tables is a major distinction of engineering writing from typical essay writing.

The course allowed me to learn a lot of technical communication skills, which are essential in creating competent technical writing. It challenged me to learn advanced technical communication to aid in propelling my future in the engineering career. Skills obtained here will help me have sound knowledge to read and critique the reports and communicate through various mediums.

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