Reflective Blog Post - Overall ALES204

 Online resources plays an important role in our daily life. We can communicate, learn, or share on the internet freely. The syllabus of ALES204 states this course covers the principles of professional communication, including written, oral, and electronic components. And now, come to the end of this course, I have learned all of those objectives or even more. First of all, I have tried to use different online tools that I have never used before, for example using twitter or a blog. I think those tools are really useful. They are all different ways to communicate with a person, a whole bunch of people, a class or even worldwide. We are asked to tweet after class or type blog posts after an assignment is done. Those are helpful ways to keep track on our learning process, we can share our feelings or ideas and sometimes think even deeper : How to link the things that we have learned in class to our future learning. In my opinion, I think communication highly relates to my future career. A dietitian often needs to write scientific reports and meet with patients, hence what I have learned in this class would help me in improving relative skills.

The most impressive lesson that I have learned from the lecture is the introduction to Linkedin. It is an online tool to find people who are currently working in the company or position that I am interested in. It is more serious than facebook, however their features are similar. No party photos but a regular business profile. I have learned to list my working experiences in a more detailed way in the profile, as employers would be interested in knowing them. I think it would help a lot when I am looking for a job in the future. Moreover, by communicating with the person that have found in Linkedin, I could know more about the company or position that I am interested in. I could know what basic requirements that I need to achieve in order to get into the company, or once employed, what would be the type of work that needs to be done. Furthermore, by simply typing the company's name or type of career in the Linkedin's search bar, lots of results are found. This is an important method of communication, and we need to fight for what we want. On the other hand, I have also learned different writing skills that relates to business. I have learned how to write formal business emails, which needs to use less words to include most information. Also, a formal way is preferred as to show professional, some words are needed to avoid. Before taking this course, I always send email beginning with "hey", or just "hi", now I know the appropriate way to write and I would not make the same mistake ever again. Moreover, during the last week of class, we have introduced to Google doc and peer review, which also helps us in communication. I have never used Google doc before, and after taking this course, I would say I love it. It is really convenient that we can share ideas or information online, especially when doing a group project. First, We do not need to install any Microsoft programs. Second, We do not need to send lots of copies to every person in the group, but just simply upload a Google doc and then everyone would be able to see it. Also, we could choose to share the doc with particular group of people, or open to public, or only to ourselves.


In addition, Peer review is another thing that I have learned and I found useful. As to relate to my study field, peer review would be helpful once I need to submit my work. We would never know we have made mistakes, unless there is a person to point out them. It could also improve our quality of work, which is very important in science. I think I may need to write some scientific papers on nutrition in the future, thus peer review would be a good method for me to edit my work to improve its reliability. In the world of communication, besides writing, there is also speaking. I have also learned skills on public speaking and interview, and those are all learned in lab sections. First of all, in one of the lab, we are told to finish a poster within 30 minutes and then do a presentation. We do not have much time to prepare what are we going to say or write a script as we spend most of the time doing the poster. As I am not a native English speaker and I am quite shy to talk in front of the class, I finally have done it with confident. Also, we have been told to record an interview during a lab section. I need to plan what I need to talk and tell the employer within 2 minutes. That is the same skill as writing a formal email, use less words to describe most information. After doing those practices, I am proud of myself and this will surely help me to be well-prepared to face future interviews. On the other hand, I have found a website on attitude. It analyzes the reason why people at work do not like you, and how to improve the bad relationships. In my point of view, I think sometimes people do not mean that kind of rude way however they have used the wrong expression to tell. And this is an example of "miscommunication".
Miscommunication will cause conflicts which lead to bad relationships. This problem should be solved at work in order to create a peaceful working environment. Again, it brings out the importance of communication and besides online communication, how is it highly related to daily life. I have also read one of my classmate's blog : Amanda. In her reflective blog post, she has also included the things that she has learned throughout the whole course, for example twitter in communicating and updates in science, or skills learned in wikipedia to do future research. I like the way she writes and we have a similar image posted! I totally agree with what she is saying and I am sure we both learn a lot from this course.

In conclusion, I have improved a lot in my writing and speaking skills after taking ALES 204, as well as gaining knowledge in other aspects like peer review. A big thanks to Jess and Angie and I will apply what I have learned in this course onto my future studies!
And lastly, here are my comments to other students' blogs:
1. Kate Carlson - Reflection Time
2. Sydney - Are you IN?.... LinkedIn
3. Angela Komarnicki - My Facebook Business Profile!
4. Paula - Wikipedia Entry
5. Lisa - Delicious..

Thanks for reading,
Stephanie

Scientific Journal Article Assignment

As there are improvements in technology and knowledge, scientific journals keep undating from years to years. Those journals contain many research areas and results, which all written by different researchers in a specific study field. This week, we are expected to complete one of our major assignment in the course - the scientific article assignment. 4 choices are given and I am doing option 2. I need to first pick a journal that interests me, then find a current copy and a copy from 15 to 20 years ago. After that, I will need to compare the journals features, the articles and even passages. Being a student having a major in nutrition and food science, I am always preparing myself to become a dietitian in the future and hence I have used a nutrition-related journal. For this assignment, I have chosen the Proceedings of the Nutrition Society journal from the Cambridge Journals. I found the Cambridge Journals from school library website. The current 2011 copy of journal can be found online, however I have to borrow the 1995 hard-copy from the library.

Here is a snapshot of the 2011 journal.

I have divided my article into 3 big parts : The features of journals, the two articles and the two passages. First of all, I start my article by comparing the features. I have mentioned the differences and similarities between the two journals, for example the design of book covers, content pages and editorial boards. I have also included further elaboration on why would there be a change in features. Then, I have picked two articles from the two journals. They are all about obesity. The article from 1995 is considering whether obesity is an eating disorder, and the article from 2011 is about some policy challenges based on maternal and child obesity. Then, I start comparing the ways and methods that they arrange their data and information. The materials in 2011 article are more organized than the 1995 article. Lastly, I have picked two passages from the two articles. I discover that the ways that they present are different as well. There are still many uncertainties in 1995 article and some failure results are also included. However for the 2011 article, some exact solutions are suggested and it looks more reliable.

A general and comprehensive comparison is needed for this assignment. The most challenge part for this assignment is some small details like font sizes and types are also needed to consider, as they are already a difference between the journals. Moreover, there is a word limit and lots of information to include, which makes it even more harder to keep my writing beyond the word limit. However, I think the reference part is easier than the wikipedia stub article assignment. I just follow the citation guide from the website and the order of arrangements are not that hard to get. Unlike the citations in wikipedia, there are different codes in wiki and it takes a long time for me to figure out how to cite the sources! I think this assignment helps me a lot in writing. I have learned how to compare articles, and how to use less words to present more information. I have also learned the techiques to compare passages like metaphor, persons, etc. I would not feel uncomfortable if I need to write a similar type of paper in the future. On the other hand, I have found a website on teaching people how to write an article about diet, nutrition and food. I think this is really useful for me as I am going to take lots of nutrition-related courses in the coming 2 years, and I may need to write essays or research papers on nutrition. Hence, this website teaches me how to start and what I should keep in mind when I am writing. For example, the website states a research paper on nutrition needs to find reliable experts and sources, and there are many useful links below to click on. I have also visited one of my classmate's blog, Caylee. She has also published a post on the scientific journal assignment and she has faced the same problem as I do. She has chosen option 2 and she also feels the difficulties of keeping her work beyond the word limit. However, I think she is more creative than me that she has posted the two table of contents from the two different volumes of journals. It already reflected the differences between the journals.

Overall, I enjoy the working process and I have learned a lot from this assignment. I am sure I have the ability to do better in the future!

Thanks for reading,
Stephanie

Editing wikipedia stub article : Marry girl cake

Wikipedia is a very useful tool in helping us to search information that we are unfamiliar with, and it does help me a lot in academics. By basically typing a key word on the search bar, a page with comprehensive information comes out and it is totally reliable as there are references and sources cited in the bottom of page. And this week, I am told to edit a wikipedia stub article, and I have chosen marry girl cake. Being a Chinese, I am familiar with Chinese culture and marry girl cake is a sign of "marriage", which makes me have a interest to start editing on it. Also, as I am now studying nutrition and food science, editing on this topic relates to my study field. Moreover, I have a background knowledge of carbohydrates and sugar and related health problems, thus it helps me in finding information easily.

Here is a snapshot of my edited marry girl cake article. Last edited : November 11, 2011

The marry girl cake article originally contains less than 100 words, and only a basic description on the cake is shown. After editing, it has been improved and wider category is covered. I have added meaning behind, history, types of cakes, creation, nutritional facts, health risks and culture. I think it is important to mention nutritional facts as what I am editing is food, thus a calories breakdown is needed to tell readers what kinds of nutrients are they going to absorb after eating that. Also, I think I should let readers knowing the health risks as I am planning to be a dietitian in the future, it is significant for me to be able to explain why is the food unhealthy and what disease are we going to get if having a high intake of it. And for other headings like meaning behind, history, creation and culture, I am adding those because marry girl cake is a traditional food. It is necessary to tell readers where is it coming from and how is it produced. On the other hand, I have highlighted some terms like diabetes, blood pressure and heart disease. I think not many people know what those kinds of disease are and thus they can press the word and it will bring them to the page of it, which is also linked to another wikipedia page. Furthermore, I have added moon cake, Chinese tradition and marriage into the heading of "see also". I think they are all related to marry girl cake and people can also read those articles if they are interested in knowing more about the cake.

I think editing an article is a lot harder than I predict. Finding information and assigning headings are not that hard, the most difficult part throughout the assignment is referencing and citing. The code on citing is complicated and I have tried many times to figure out how to cite a website source. Moreover, putting citation within sentences is another challenge part for me as it is my first time to write online article, I spend most of time on citing and it is absolutely confusing. However, after finishing to edit the article, I feel joyful as I have typed an useful article in wikipedia and it would help others to know more about Chinese culture, as well as reading what I have typed. On the other hand, I have found a blog typed by winnieandyj, and it is her day of 過大禮Gwo Dai Lai . I think she mentions every steps in this process and she has uploaded lots of pictures.She has also mentioned what she received in detail (in both English word and Chinese word), like what kinds of cakes she has received. After reading her blog, now I know that there would be suckling pig in the process of Gwo Dai Lai! That is an interesting fact to know. It is not common to find those Chinese food in Canada, thus Chinese culture is quite unique. I have also read one of my classmate's blog, Joyee . I choose to link to her blog as she is also editing Chinese traditional food! Her choice is "dragon's beard candy". I ate this candy before and it tasted like sugar, and with peanuts inside. However I do not like it very much as it is too sweet and the texture is too hairy. It is a traditional snack, as well as marry girl cake.

I have used google and yahoo and wikipedia to find most of my information. The citing part is the hardest part! In conclusion, I think this assignment is useful and fun. My first experience of editing article is successful and it makes me have a deeper understanding on Chinese culture!

Thanks for reading,
Stephanie

Test for Photo Uploading

Here it comes! Stephanie's first business profile!

Hello, this is Stephanie again.

I have created a brand new facebook profile for class ALES204 and it is for business purpose! Have a look of my business profile, press here. I think a business profile somehow replaces a resume and it is better to read during a hiring process as an employer can know more about the person that he/she is going to hire. A resume is focused on quantity. It is basically about working experiences and education level and hobbies, but there is no way for you to explain how you feel about it. However for a business profile, it is focused on quality. You can actually express or include your feelings towards your working experiences like what did you learn in that period of time. You can also include something that is about yourself which you would like to tell your future employer. Moreover, an interview often holds around half an hour, thus there is not enough time for an employer to fully understand his/her future employee. If a business profile is used, he/she can even check it out by themselves at home.Furthermore, a business profile is viewed online, so that's mean all people from the world can see it through internet. People can show it to many different employers when finding a job at the same time instead of giving resumes to each of them, it is a good way to save paper and save time.

So for my business profile, I have used my grade 12 graduation picture because that is the most formal and the most recent professional picture that I have from my computer! Without any posing, I think I look professional here. Moreover, wearing a graduation gown and hat indicates my success in studies and I am stepping into a new life. However, I am going to change it to university graduation picture after I am graduated in year 2014 :P I have first  included my working experiences in Dream Tea, Starbucks and Urban Planet respectively. I think it is necessary to put them on the first priority as my future employer will be interested in what I have done before, like predicting if I am able to handle a new job with those experiences gained from the past. I have typed my feelings and gain of experiences when working in those places, as well as contact information in case my future employer may want to contact them. I have also included my interests and favorites and some volunteer experiences, which I believe it helps people to understand me more about my personalities. Moreover, I have also included the languages that I know, which are Cantonese, Mandarin, English and a little bit of Korean. I think it is important to let future employers know as language is a bridge of communication, it may help when the company needs to communicate with some foreigners.

For my personal interest, as I am planning to be a nutritionist in the future and with help of the course ALES204, I have followed some people who are nutrition professionals in twitter and some of them even have their own websites. I do not know whether it counts as a business profile but it does help me to understand more about what a nutritionist is actually doing. On the other hand, nutrition is highly related to lifestyle, so eating disorder is a concerned problem as it is common to happen. I think knowing how to keep ourselves staying healthy is important, but helping others to achieve a healthier lifestyle is more meaningful! I have also visited one of my classmate's blog: Angela Komarnicki. I like the design of her blog and I am totally agree to one of her sentence: First impressions say a lot for people! That's why we are trying hard to make our business profile looks professional and convinces people. I believe it means a lot to future employers and it does affect how they think about me after they have read the profile.

It is so excited to create such a useful business profile, which helps me to prepare myself in future employment!

And lastly, here is a snapshot of my facebook business profile.

Thanks for reading!
Stephanie

It is all about Stephanie and this is her blog for ALES204!

Hello everyone!

My name is Stephanie and it is my second year in University of Alberta! I am in faculty of science, major in chemistry, however I am going to change my major to nutrition and food science in the next fall term! Wish me luck this year! I have a great interest in nutrition and I hope I can make myself, my family and even others to achieve a healthier lifestyle.

In communication, chatting environment is really important. For example, people may have arguments when communicating because they have different point of view and points. Learning how to chat in a more peaceful way is needed. For myself, I am often be the neutralizer among my friends. When they have some arguments, I always play a role in giving my opinions to them to make them understand each others' point of view.

Moreover, I love chatting with people and I am outgoing. I use social media tools like facebook everyday, and I am using twitter more often now after I take ALES204! It is really fun and convenient to chat with others online as you can chat with lots of people at the same time, but with people from the whole world. As I am an international student, it is more convenient for me to chat with my family and friends through online as we have time difference and it is free at all!

On the other hand, in order to help me success in my future career, which is to be a nutritionalist, communication skills is absolutely important as I need to explain and share my professional knowledge to my patients. I often go visit some forums to see how people discuss a question by using words politely, or to actively comment on my friends' posts, which can also improve my communication skills.

In conclusion, this is my first blog and I am looking forward to use it throughout the course! I will be trying hard to turn myself into a professional nutritionalist in the future! :)

Hope you enjoy my writing.

All the best.
Stephanie