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Slo Reflection

The student reflects on how the 5 student learning outcomes (SLOs) focused their technical writing studies throughout the semester. They analyze how each SLO was addressed in two of their projects: 1) Analyzing rhetorical situation by tailoring documents to specific audiences through elements like cover letters and content. 2) Finding and evaluating information through primary research, knowing audience research is key to persuasive writing. 3) Composing documents by learning formats like IMRD and improving grammar. 4) Presenting documents through adding visuals and formatting resume elements for readability. 5) Composing in various modes by using visual arguments and multimodality to augment text and make arguments more impactful. The

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76 views

Slo Reflection

The student reflects on how the 5 student learning outcomes (SLOs) focused their technical writing studies throughout the semester. They analyze how each SLO was addressed in two of their projects: 1) Analyzing rhetorical situation by tailoring documents to specific audiences through elements like cover letters and content. 2) Finding and evaluating information through primary research, knowing audience research is key to persuasive writing. 3) Composing documents by learning formats like IMRD and improving grammar. 4) Presenting documents through adding visuals and formatting resume elements for readability. 5) Composing in various modes by using visual arguments and multimodality to augment text and make arguments more impactful. The

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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Overall SLO Final Reflection

Dear Professor Potter,


Student Learning Outcomes have provided focus to our studies of technical writing all
throughout the semester. No matter what project we were working on at the time, we connected
what we learned back to our 5 SLOs. These SLOs made sure that our learning that we did for
specific projects could be applied to technical writing as a whole. These five focusses were
present in all of our projects and can be seen throughout the writings on my portfolio. Our in
class learning was also applicable to our overall focusses with many of our weekly assignments
guided toward SLO learning. Below I will mention all five of these outcomes and describe how I
addressed these goals in projects 1 and 2.
Analyzing rhetorical situation was one of our more complex and challenging of our SLOs. For
this learning goal we were challenged to address specific audiences and craft our documents to
apply to specific situations. One prominent place in which consideration of audience is very
apparent is the cover letters of both of my projects. From the specific logos to the clear mention
of our audience a cover letter is one of the prime places where audience is addressed. In this
element of my projects I learned to make my projects personally applicable to my audience. For
example in the cover letter for my first project I included the sentence: In Oregon, riparian and
aquatic wildlife are an integral part of the natural world. In this case I was writing to ODFW, a
government organization that is dedicated to preserving wildlife in Oregon. Through this
sentence that I included I stated a shared view in an attempt to connect my project more
connected to my audience. This kind of consideration for my audience is a vital part of what I
learned about analyzing rhetorical situation.
Rhetorical situation was not confined to my cover letter it also played a large part in the body of
my project documents. Every document had to be specifically tailored to prepare them for their
intended audience. For example in my second project the qualifications section was completely
designed to appeal to my audience. When writing this section I focused on the qualifications that
would appeal to a nonprofit clean energy organization. This is an example of keeping a
document focused on a document. Keeping a document focused on audience is one of the most
important elements of analyzing rhetorical situation. This element helps a document to maintain
a focus which can be very important. Learning how to do this was an important part of reaching
our Rhetorical Situation goals.
Finding and evaluating information was our second SLO and it played a critical part in both of
our projects this semester. In project 1 we learned a lot about research techniques. Mainly we
learned about the difference between primary and secondary research, and we learned how to
conduct our own primary research. Primary research was something that I had never done before
and proved to be a unique challenge when I was conducting my research for project 1. What I
found was that a personal interview provided a lot more information than a survey. This kind of
experience will no doubt help me with research in the future.

In project 2 we used this SLO to develop a more persuasive element in our writing. For this
project we had to research our organizations, audience, and projects all in an attempt to persuade
an organization to invest in a project. This kind of research develops SLO 2 in a very audience
orientated way. You have to know what your audience wants and present your proposal in a
favorable way. Through this specific lens I learned about a different aspect of this SLO that is
certainly applicable in my future persuasive projects.
Composing documents was one of our most specific SLOs that I worked with when creating
projects 1 and 2. For each project we learned a very specific format that we could apply to all of
our future projects of those genres. For example the IMRD form of creating an analytical report
was a very big part of composing our reports. This format helped us organize a comprehensive
report and played a key part in keeping our reports focused. In a very specific way this kind of
learning to any kind of report I write in the future, and gives me a lot of genre related experience
that will be helpful in the future. While we were learning about composing documents we also
learned a lot about grammar which is an essential piece of making a document look professional.
For example, I had to go through my first project and change many of the times I used the words
affect and effect because I did not previously understand the difference between the two words.
These elements of composing documents will greatly help me when I write professional and
technical documents in the future.
Presenting documents was one of the more challenging SLOs for me because I have always kept
my documents very simple. While writing an essay I typically only use text and a uniform font
but in this class we explored adding visual elements to our projects. One of the more obvious
aspects of this SLO was the addition of pictures and visual arguments to my documents. Using
and placing these visuals was a bit of a challenge as I had to learn how to reformat my projects
accordingly. Another less obvious example of my learning process considering this SLO is
exhibited in project 2 in the composition of my resume. Here I worked hard to make certain
elements pop and guide the reader through my resume quickly and efficiently. For example I
made all of the major elements bolded and easy to find. These examples show how what I have
learned about presenting documents has shaped my writing and improved my ability to
supplement my writing with visual elements.
The fifth and final SLO, composing in various modes, was like a combination of all of the
previous SLOs. As we developed this learning goal we composed documents in a way that
presented the information we had gathered in a way that would appeal to our specific audience.
Visual arguments made up a large portion of my learning considering this SLO. Learning how to
use a visual argument properly can be very useful whenever you are making any sort of
argument. Using visual arguments was a big part of my first project. In order to convey the
seriousness of stark environmental changes visuals of things like invasive species and river
diversion helped convey the message. Through this project I learned how to add a multimodality
aspect to my future projects that could augment the text and make my work less bland. This
experience just gives me another tool to use in my professional writing future.
Throughout this semester, working on these SLOs was a unique experience. Each SLO presented
a new set of challenges and allowed me to focus my experiences into comprehensive learning. In

each area I had to try some new things which led to experimentation and improvement of my
writing. As evidenced throughout both of the projects that I created this year, these SLOs have
helped me develop as a writer and improve my professional skills. Over all these SLOs made this
course focused and enlightening.
Sincerely,
Craig Still

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