Farha Zaman
Writing for Engineers
Crystal Rodwell
March 20th, 2019
Lab Analysis Reflection:
For this third assignment, I have to say it is the single most difficult writing assignment I’ve ever had to do. We had to find three lab reports on a topic that we really like and find interest in, and then compare and contrast them in an essay so that we can learn what a lab report should consist of. Picking at and identifying mistakes in professional published lab reports really helped to learn how hard it is to be perfect and how important it is to try your best to follow a lab report format, because it genuinely makes the difference.
I’ve maintained a very formal tone throughout this essay, especially considering that I tend to start speaking to a reader the way I would speak to a friend. Of course, I inserted my self into places I shouldn’t have when I wrote my first draft, but I had to go back and take out some “I thinks” and instead analyze from an unbiased perspective. I needed to learn how to use APA format for this writing assignment which I think still needs to be practiced and perfected. I struggled to find how to type out my references, as well as how to number my pages. I’ve managed to do both, however I had to do it by referring to the websites and friends who know how to use APA format. In the future, I plan to be able to use APA format on my own. I’ve maintained motivation throughout this assignment because I am interested in the lab reports I wrote about. All of the reports discuss robots and innovative technology in automated robots which is something I plan to further study and work with in my future. The bad decision may have been here, although my interest is in robotics, I know close to nothing. Therefore, when it came to analyzing and writing an entire essay about lab reports that have to do on this topic, I struggled as I could hardly understand what I was reading. I had to read each of the lab reports multiple times just to understand any of the language at all. I managed to get a gist of the experiments performed, and understood enough to write somewhat of an analysis. On the contrary, had I understood more of the lab reports I chose to analyze, I would have been to more accurately pick and point out similarities, differences, and mistakes in these lab reports.
In the writing assignment I hoped to successfully compare and contrast these three lab reports and rhetorically analyze the different components of each of them to prove how well they were written. I have learned a lot from this assignment, as I learned the importance of a proper lab report, and how to make sure that a lab report follows a good, clear format and how it all works together to present an experiment and its results. My intent was to write clear enough for someone who knows nothing about the topic and hasn’t read the lab reports to still understand what I’m talking about. I did that well until it came to the third lab report which I admit that I may sound a bit lost, in which case I am lost, though I have read over it multiple times. My goal to making sure people can understand me is achieved until we reach the last lab report.
Looking back at the report, I was able to pick apart every component of a lab report and compare and contrast every single section to the other lab reports, however I failed to explain every single point I have made. I explain how most similarities and differences effect how well the lab report is presented, but i don’t believe that I explained this very well for every single topic, which was a part of my requirement.
When working on this assignment, I really improved my ability to develop my work collaboratively with others. Its very useful to have a second or third set of eyes reviewing and explaining how I can make my work better. On top of having a peer and my professor read my work, I had my sister read it to see if she understood any of it all. She pointed out inconsistent vocabulary, as well as how often I say, “eve.” To add, I have gotten the chance to read my peer’s work, which helps me identify anything that they have done that I might have overlooked or missed. When editing and reviewing my peers works, I even got the compliment that I make very good, clear comments on their paper, because the questions I asked them when reviewing, really helped that person boost the quality of their essay. I was happy to be able to critic properly, however I wish I was able to separate myself from my paper and read my own work as a second set of unbiased eyes and do the same thing.
Another important thing I have learned to do is research. Most of the assignments ive ever worked on have been conducted with sources that professors/ teachers have already found and printed for me. In the rare cases that I had to do my own research, I usually used online articles, without even checking if they’re published. For the first time, I had to learn how to use online databases, scan through hundreds of websites, and learn the difference between published professional pieces and academic pieces done by students. This assignment has taken my level of professional writing to the next level and I truly appreciate that.
