PHYS 280 :: Physics Illinois :: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Optional Extra-Credit Essays
You have the option to submit up to two extra-credit essays in response to your experience (attendance required) of an approved seminar or other campus event related to the course's subject matter. See the Writing Assignments page for the schedule, which will be updated as the semester progresses. No writer's memo is required, no revision is permitted.
Academics and professionals are frequently expected to seek out new work-related learning experiences and to write these up for their colleagues, so that they may benefit vicariously. These experiences can take many forms, and may include attending conferences and conventions, visiting other organizations and colleagues, and participating in training.
See the Extra-Credit Essay Opportunities assignment prompt on the Writing Assignments page for additional requirements.
Writing Strategy
Context
Orient your readers so that they understand what you have experienced and how they can find out more about it or those who provided it. For example, readers will want to know what it was (a title and short description), who provided it, when and where it occurred, and who within your own organization sponsored or organized it (and, if not apparent, why they did so).
Detailed Description
Consider what your colleagues would want to know about the overall experience and the main components that made it up. What did you learn that was of most value? Why was this important or interesting, given the work that you share? Organize your essay to address these take-aways, rather than simply recounting everything that happened, and provide a sufficient level of detail to inform and interest your readers. Be sure to make explicit connections about what you experienced at the event to what you have been learning in the course (your shared work context).
Stakes
There are a number of stakes for the writer in completing this kind of writing in the workplace. First, the writer must provide something of value to readers and, implicitly, to the organization. Second, the writer must be aware that he or she is communicating not just content, but also an impression of him- or herself as a fellow professional. Readers will form opinions about the writer's professionalism (in how well the material is presented) and competence (in how the writer shapes the material to communicate what is most relevant and insightful). Third, the writer should assume that the organization has invested in this learning opportunity, expending resources to provide this to its members. Since the writer has been afforded an opportunity, the quality and contents of the report matter to managers who are deciding whether these experiences are supporting professional development (for the individual writer and, implicitly, within the organization as a whole) and whether the particular experience described (the given event) should be offered again.
Submission
Workplace communications about individual learning experiences usually take the form of a relatively formal email (or email attachment) sent out to a shared work group. In this case, imagine your work group as our full class, from management (instructional staff) to coworkers (fellow students). Since these kinds of communications are often sent out directly, without an opportunity for peer review or revision, the same will be the case here.