Mikayla Mays

McCarthy Hall Room 612

800 N. State College Blvd

Fullerton, CA 92831

Dear Dr. Bruce,

Before the first day of class, I didn't know what to expect. After the first meeting and
reading the syllabus, I knew exactly what was required of me and what I was going to learn. I
was wary about the group project, but excited about improving my scientific writing skills. This
class has met those expectations, and below I outline how I have met the expectations put forth
in the syllabus

The major assignment I chose to include in my portfolio was the Annotated Bibliography,
as I believe this best proves my proficiency in the first five SLO's. The minor assignment
includes is the Group Charter submitted for the Review Article assignment, which covers the last
SLO. Rhetorical Focus (SLO 1) can be seen in the introduction, specifically in the use of
concise scientific phrases such as "symbiotic algae" and "photosynthetic processes". This
document was meant to be a summary of relevant scientific articles for my "research group", and
these show that I am writing to fellow scientists and coworkers. The citations in this document
follow guidelines for numbered citations and each of the sources were published in recent issues
of scientific journals from several different disciplines, which emphasizes the authority of each
and shows that I meet the standards for Ethical Research (SLO 2). In addition to this, the last
sentence or two of each annotation is dedicated to explaining how each source could be used in
the review article and pointing out connections between sources, strengthening the Persuasive
Arguments (SLO 3) presented. Organization and Focus (SLO 4) and Language and Design
(SLO 5) are demonstrated by the section headings (i.e. "Working Title", "Research Question",
etc.), which are bolded and underlined. The headings are relevant to the needs of the assignment
and the stylistic choices for them were intended to break up the text and differentiate the
sections. Collaboration (SLO 6) is seen in the group charter, as that was created by the entire
group. We all agreed on the wording and format of the whole document, as well as the goals and
steps outlined for conflict resolution and missed deadlines.

I believe that I was already pretty good at constructing sentences and citations before this
class, but over the course of the semester my rhetorical awareness and ability to make persuasive
arguments has improved a lot. In addition, the group project was the least painful group
assignment experience I have had over my academic career, which shows that my ability to
collaborate has also improved. This leads me to conclude that I meet all of the Student Learning
Outcomes (SLO's) at the "Advanced" level.

Sincerely,
Mikayla Mays