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Issue 5 and 6


While reading Issue Five: Composing Together, I learned a lot of valuable tips and tricks to working together as a team. In college so far, I have been asked to work in many different group settings. I severely disliked group projects at the start, because much like the people in this issue, I found myself doing all of the work. After reading how to properly deal with collaborative projects, I feel much more comfortable about them.
Issue Five suggests to readers that in order to successfully create a collaborative project, the goal of the project needs to be thoroughly thought through. Instead of simply jumping into solving a problem or completing a task, the group needs to assess the various paths they can take. After this, then the work should be split up based on the individuals strengths and weaknesses.
As an engineering major, working collaboratively in a team is a huge part of my everyday life. Like many group projects, some members of the team will refuse to contribute, and I end up being stuck with all of the work. I have a hard time splitting up tasks among teammates and making sure other people do their work because I am very introverted and I have a hard time forcing myself to lead. Before reading this article, I had a lot of issues with my team and I did not know where to start in order to fix it. After reading this issue, I know how to effectively take tasks and split them up among my team, and make sure that our collaborations run as smoothly as possible. Now, I do not despise working in teams, because this issue has made me realize that is an essential skill that I will need not only for my future as an engineer, but in many more aspects of life.
Issue Six: Research: More Than The Detective Work, covers how to successfully research different things in life. Writers Losh and Alexander use the visual metaphor of detectives to show readers how to choose proper sources and make sure they are sources they can trust.
I have always assumed that if a source was on social media, it was likely not trustworthy. Social media is full of opinions and often times "fake news" so I have avoided all sources from these sites.
Issue Six taught me that sometimes sources from social media can be a great help. They can give an insiders information on their views of current events. Another thing I learned from Issue Six is that it is a good idea to broaden your sources further than simple quotations. When writing a research paper, it is always a good idea to include quotations, but sometimes it is better to include summaries, or paraphrases of the sources instead.
Finally, Issue Six discusses how it is easy to get distracted and run into poor sources when researching online. Although it will seem like a shortcut, it may take more time to find valuable and credible sources online. Researchers will need to find a scholarly web browser, and then search for sources there. After they find a source that they deem credible, they should research the author or publisher to see if it is appropriate to use.
Issue Six taught me a lot about how to analyze sources and choose credible ones, which is a very daunting task when it comes to researching. This issue was very helpful in clearing up some of my concerns.
“Government Announces Anti-Fake News Unit.” BBC News, BBC, 23 Jan. 2018, www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-42791218.
“Why Choose Us – Sterling Engineering.” Sterling Engineering Group of Companies, 6 Oct. 2015, segoc.com/group-of-architects-working-on-a-project/.

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