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Tierra Williams

Debra Jimi

UWRT 1104

05 May 2017

Overall Reflection

Welcome to my digital portfolio for UWRT 1104. This class has been a journey. The

purpose of my digital portfolio is to share the knowledge that I have inquired and the pieces of

my writing that I have completed for this course. There is no particular order to go through my

digital portfolio. If you would like to view my work in order of when I completed the

assignments to see my progress over the semester, I would recommend going in order from left

to right.

The student learning outcomes that I have implemented throughout this course is

Rhetorical Knowledge, Critical Reading, Composing Processes, Knowledge of Conventions, and

Critical Reflection. I will demonstrate how I used each of these elements in different parts of my

digital portfolio.

Rhetorical Knowledge is the ability to analyze and apply strategizes throughout the text.

In order to do this, you must have an understanding of the context, audience and the purpose of

the content. I used Rhetorical Knowledge for my Genre Project. For the project I composed an

educational text through Piktochart to reach an audience of people who care about their health

and food sources. I used bright colors, graphics and short sentences to easily get the most

important information across to my audience. I knew that if I included the interesting facts that I

found it would grab the attention of those concerned about their health to the point that they will

want to go do more research, like I did.

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The next learning outcome that I implemented was Critical Reading. Critical Reading is

the readers ability to analyze and evaluate the information in the text. I used critical reading for

my annotative bibliography to form my inquiry. I used different forms of text such as movies,

videos, and blogs and provided credibility for each. To finding credible sources I had to be able

to differentiate between bias sources. I also had to do research on the authors.

The learning outcome Composing Processes is writers use of multiple strategies to

develop their writing. I implemented composing processes while doing all of my major

assignments. I found clustering to work the best for me to brainstorm my ideas. I reviewed my

writing by reading it out loud to myself. I collaborated by sharing my ideas with other students

during class and responding to their ideas. I revised my essays after I received feedback from my

peers. After brainstorming, collaborating, and editing my essays I was able to improve my final

product.

Knowledge of Convention is another student learning outcome, it means to know when to

apply certain format and rules for the genre of your writing. For instance, my Past and Future

Authoring essays used a very formal MLA formatting because it was an essay. However, when

writing in the discussion boards I typed how I would through conversation such as emails and

did not use MLA formatting. Knowing when to use certain conventions is important because

depending on who your audience is they may expect certain things such as language, slang,

abbreviations, academic writing, or poems.

The last learning outcome is Critical Reflection. Critical Reflection is the writers ability

to get across what he/she is thinking to the reader. I have a separate reflection for each of my

projects. In the reflections I identified what writing processes I used, how I felt about doing the
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assignments, and what I have learned that I can use in other courses. I am very honest with

myself and my readers so my reflections are true to how I felt when doing these projects.

Along with student learning outcomes we also had habits of mind that should be

practiced throughout the semester. The habits that I used the most are Openness, Flexibility, and

Metacognition

According to UNC Charlotte writing program Openness is the willingness to consider

new ways of being and think in the world.. Open-mindedness is one of my top character

strengths. I used my character strengths throughout the semester when editing other peoples

essays. I had to be open-minded about others point of view without taking offense to what I had

read by reminding myself that they do not have the same background knowledge as I do. I also

had to be open-minded while reading the comments of my peers and teacher. Not only did I have

to be critiqued but I also had to implement the changes in my essay. This was very

uncomfortable for me at first, I had to get use to letting others read my essays and take in the

comments without getting offended.

Flexibility is the other habits of mind that I have learned to use in this class. Flexibility is

the ability to adapt depending on what is needed. The genre project is one example of having to

adapt because I had never done a project like that before. I had to use a website that I had never

used in order to get my information across in a different content. I used short bullet points to

avoid having wordy sentences. My purpose was to educate so I chose information that would be

eye catching. I even used a picture of tumors to catch the attention of my audience.

The final habit of mind that I have used is Metacognition. Metacognition is the ability to

reflect on your own thought process. I have learned helpful things to do while brainstorming on

assignments. The processes that work the best for me is free writing and clustering because I
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work best when I am not filtering what I write while I am writing. I know now that the best way

to start an essay is to start writing whatever comes to mind. I no longer edit my drafts because it

is important for me to be able to see the progress that contributed to my final piece.

UWRT 1104 has taught me a lot about myself that I will remember for the rest of my life.

While preparing this digital portfolio I have learned that writing isnt as bad as I made it seem

when I am free to write as I please. If I could do something differently I would have chosen a

different inquiry question for my annotated bibliography. I would also have chosen a different

subject for my past authoring essay because I didnt originally plan for others to read it. I would

leave my past authoring essay and genre project the same because I worked hard on them and I

am very proud of those piece. I know what my character strengths are now and I have motivation

to complete all of my goals for the future. Most importantly I learned that my words have

meaning and that my feelings matter and are worth sharing with others.
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Works Cited

"Student Learning Outcomes." Student Learning Outcomes | University Writing Program

| UNC Charlotte. University Writing Program, 2017. Web.