Dr.

Leslie Bruce

University Hall room 435

800 N. State College Boulevard

Fullerton, CA 92831

Dear Dr. Bruce,

Taking this class, my goal for this semester was to improve upon my writing skills to

ultimately become a more capable writer in the scientific field. I believe that I have accomplished

this goal through learning new strategies for achieving the student learning outcomes (SLOs)

given at the beginning of the semester. To prove this I have created a portfolio that showcases

assignments that display the six SLOs in the form of a revised extended definition, and an entry

from my scholar’s notebook.

During this course I had to write a definition that would have been viable to submit to an

encyclopedia that would be read by undergraduate students. This required me to research a

topic and properly reference the works I found; in doing this I showcased the use of ethical

research (SLO 2) and made sure to cite sources correctly. The prompt for this assignment

required that I write this for a few specific audiences which required the skill of rhetorical focus

(SLO 1), I applied it in that I wrote a definition that could be read by the general editor of the

Encyclopedia of Science and Technology​, ​undergraduate students, and my own university

professor. This assignment also required me to organize my information in a logical manner with

a focus on what was necessary and important (SLO 4) and utilize academic language and

design that was the right fit for both the subject matter and for the audience that would be

reading it (SLOs 5 and 1).

 The other item in my portfolio is an assignment from my scholar’s notebook. This

required me to summarize an article. In my summary, which was to be kept relatively short, I

had to decide on what information was important enough to be kept, but not explained in too

much detail. This involved the use of concision and rhetorical focus (SLO 1). While this was

merely a summary and not a paper or presentation meant to provide debate I also showcased

what aspects of an argument would be useful for persuasion (SLO 3) based off of the source

material. It was an article written about mice and the sexism present in medical research that is

skewed towards the use of exclusively male mice, in my summary I included reasoning for why

this had proved to be an issue. Scholars notebook assignments also happen to be discussed

with peers during class time and I applied the feedback that other students gave as well as the

discussion that was had among the whole class (SLO 6).

I believe that this course has been a great help in improving my skills as a writer, and

hope that through the attached assignments this will be clear.

Sincerely,

Sasha Shouga