How did the use of an AI tool influence your approach to graded work in the course? Explain.
I’ve used AI in past courses, but I liked learning new prompting techniques and seeing the AI’s different responses. I don’t think the tool influenced my approach to graded work that much, but I can see myself using it if I’m stuck while brainstorming or if I need something to review my work. Overall, I enjoy thinking deeply about a subject, forming an argument, and writing a paper explaining my argument. I even like reading through what I’ve written and editing the content! I feel great when I can sit back and read a paper knowing that I did a good job, and I think using AI would take some of that feeling away from me.
That being said, I am glad that UNT is taking AI seriously and incorporating it into our coursework. It would be naïve to assume that I won’t be using AI in the workplace just because I prefer not to. With the way things are moving, it seems like the most successful technical communicators will be the ones who can incorporate AI in their workflow. If companies want to use AI, then we must adapt, and I’m glad that UNT is giving students the opportunity to develop these skills. Although I may not incorporate AI into my personal life (for now at least), I’m glad to have experience from this course to put on my resume.
What course materials had the greatest impact on your own career goals? Be specific. Why did that material make such an impact?
While being in UNT’s Master of Professional and Technical Communication Program, I’ve mostly said that I wanted to be a technical writer. While I’m still open to those roles, I think my goal has shifted more into the content realm, so this course has been extremely helpful in developing my skills related to content guides and tone of voice.
Before this course, I hadn’t really learned much about content guides outside of a project in the Content Strategies course. However, in this course, I really liked reading through the material in Module 1, especially the MailChimp Content Style Guide. This material felt like a great primer for the course as a whole. I feel like seeing a company’s approach to style, tone of voice, and branding helped to prepare us for the following weeks of the course. Personally, module 1 helped prepare me for the content guide recommendation, and that assignment helped me develop skills that I would be using in a content strategy or content marketing role.
How would you guide a new student taking the course? What is most important to do to succeed? What is most important to avoid doing? Explain.
If I could give advice to a new student taking the course, I would tell them first and foremost to really understand the assignments before you start working on them. In order to succeed, you need to really understand what’s being asked of you, and you need to have developed an informed opinion before you start writing.
In the past, when I jumped into an assignment without fully understanding what I need to do or what my opinion is, I almost always had to backtrack and clarify these two points in my head or on paper before continuing on. Whenever I fully figured out what was required of me, I was able to brainstorm my material, outline a draft, and start writing. The preparation takes a lot of work up front that no one will see, but it always shows when you have an effective final draft. Throughout the entire process, I always go back to the assignment description to make sure I’m still following the instructions and checking all of the boxes. All of the assignments are detailed and straightforward. If you follow the directions and form a strong, logical argument, you’ll be very successful in this course.
At the end of the day, it’s important that your work is well thought out. A lot of people put the bulk of the work into the writing portion of the assignment. People want their words to sound scholarly, intellectual, and professional, especially if they’re trying to hide the fact that their argument is weak. In my experience, the bulk of the work should be done in forming the argument–including research and brainstorming. When an argument is fully thought out, you can start outlining and writing. If you’ve already done the work upfront, the writing should be the easiest part of the process. You can simply explain your argument in a way that is simple, easy to read, and professional. At the end of the day, a potential client isn’t looking to be impressed by the way you write, they’re looking for you to fulfill a need and answer a question. The writing is important, sure, but it’s more important that you can prove that you’re contributing to the company’s business value.