A13.5: Week 13 Reflection

Aims and Objectives: This week was pretty busy but I wanted to continue revising my MRP and complete all the assignments correctly and on time.  I wanted to make all the correct additional pages for the MRP and correctly site the references.

Declarative Knowledge: This week I learned what we had to include in our Table of Contents page.  I learned that I had to list links to my MRP and all of the different genres.  I also learned how to revise my work with the SCAR method.  I learned that S stands for substituting, where you substitute other words which helps with improving the clarity of the work.  I also learned that C stands for cut, where you remove something to make the idea more clear.  A stands for add, where you add something, and R stands for rearrange, where you rearrange the information. 

Procedural Knowledge:   In order to make theTable of Contents page I used the page feature on my weblog.  I provided links first in order of Preface, Acknowledgements, About the Author, Unifying Genre, References, and last the Reflection.  Then I provided links to each different genre.  I did this by highlighting the word I wanted the audience to click on to go to the link, clicked the link icon and typed in the pages URL.  I then hit insert and this made the link active.  After finishing each link, I saved and publish the page.  I then sent an e-mail to the class list with the link to my Table of Contents page.  Next, I reviewed Abby and Alyssa’s 7th genres.  I went to each of their pages, examined their genres and then made comments using the comment feature on their weblogs.  I commented on the voice the work was in, the audience it was intended for, what I thought the author was saying, something I liked, and something i thought the author should address. I then saved the comments to complete the assignment.  Next using the page feature on my weblog I cited all of my references and titled the page References.  I did this by using the APA manual and the sources I have previously cited.  I then saved and published the References page.  I also sent a link to this page to the class list.  To revise my poem I went to my 2nd genre page and clicked Edit.  I then made the correct revisions using the SCAR method.  I substituted words, removed words/phrases, and added a few ideas and sources to help make the work more clear.  I then saved these changes and wrote a reflection about them in a post on my weblog.  Last I sent a note to the class including the link to my revision.

Conditional Knowledge: Knowing what and in what order to include in the Table of Contents page is very important for both the MRP and for future academic work.  It is important to remember that the way you organize your work should/will ultimately help your audience have a better understanding of the information.  I think this is important when doing any type of project.  More practice citing sources for the References page is very useful.  We have had some practice throughout the semester, and I feel like it is slowly getting easier the more practice I have.  I understand citing more now and I think I will continue to cite sources throughout my education and career.  Revising work is a long and ongoing process for everyone.  I found the SCAR method to be very helpful and practical.  Using this method made my work more clear and I hope more reliable to my audience.  I think this method would prove to be effective for my MRP and for any other type of work no matter what subject area is addressed.  I have never had anyone really explain how to revise work so having a method like this is very enlightening.

SCAR Revisioning

    I first had some difficulty deciding which genre to revise for this particular assignment.  I realize that I need to go back and use this method for each of my different genres in order to create a better overall MRP.  I was actually glad to learn about the SCAR method because I have never really been given any method to go by when revising my work throughout school; I have just always been told that I needed to do it without any real instruction.     

     I decided to keep my poem in the same voice, however I changed the message in order to make it more informative and clear concerning cochlear implants.  I debated whether to keep it more on the emotional side or not because my journal entry is also emotional.  I finally decided to keep the poem with a few emotions in it, and I intend to later revise my journal entry to make it less emotional and to also serve as my unifying genre.       
      I first started to revise my poem by cutting out the first line.  I later cut out a few other lines, but I cut out the first line to introduce the particular client to the audience and provide the reason for him receiving a cochlear implant.  I also felt like the first line should be one of the most important pieces of information in order to gain and keep the audience’s attention.  I continued to cut different lines or words out of the poem in order to make the message I wanted my audience to receive more clear.  I decided to change the message from being more about how the mother was worried about the surgery to why the client was receiving the surgery.  I additionally wanted to show how he qualified to get a cochlear implant.  The next step I did to revise my poem was substitution.  I substituted the word “decide” for the word”choose.”  I do not really think this made the message any clearer, but when I read the specific line, I felt like it flowed better in the poem.       
       I did not really rearrange any of the lines because when I added different lines and words, the lines I left in the poem seemed to fit how they originally were.  I did however add different information to the poem in order to add more substance.  I added more sources to provide more evidence for my MRP.  I also felt like I should add this information to illustrate why it is important for children to be implanted at an earlier age instead of later in life.  I believe adding evidence will also help my audience find my information more reliable and valid. 
     I feel like using the SCAR method to revise my work was very successful and helpful to make the message I wanted to express to my audience more clear.  I will continue to use this revising method to work on my other genres, and additionally in my work for other courses in the future.