This course summary outlines the key components of an English course focused on professional skills. Students learned to create resumes and cover letters, acknowledged their skills, and researched their online presence. Later, students worked in teams to develop a proposal and usability test for improving Texas Tech University parking services. Throughout the process, students practiced skills like meeting documentation, instruction writing, and presenting. Overall, the course helped students develop professional skills like collaboration and public speaking.

1. Course Summary
By Jennifer Gerstner
English 2311-007

2. Table of Contents Timeline

3.  During this course we learned how to present
ourselves to potential employers as
professionals by creating resumes and cover
letters. Gradually, we built our resumes and
cover letters which, after completion, were
critiqued by our peers.
Professionalism
Skills
BehaviorKnowledge
Professionalism
 Throughout the process of expressing our
professionalism, we had to acknowledge
our various skills. These skills could be in
designing, communicating, or any other
area of expertise.
 Another important factor in this course was
our online presence. To continue this
outlook of professionalism, we researched
our name online as an employer would.
This allowed us to clarify our online
standings that could play in the process of
getting hired for a future job.

4. Formal Proposal
 The next portion of this course was to work
professionally in teams. We first took an assessment
test to determine what team role best fit us in group
projects. This assessment also determined what type of
people we work best with.
 We were then placed into groups according to whom we work
best with. The next step was team building. Kaylee, Katie,
Hunter and I explained to each other our strengths and
weaknesses when working in groups. This allowed us to work
fluidly in the future.
 After deciding on an idea on how to make Tech’s campus
better overall, we began proposing our idea to the Texas Tech
Parking Services. These ideas on how to make TTU parking
better were formulated into a written proposal which stating
the problem with the service and how we would like to make
it more accessible for students and faculty.

5.  To conduct the next portion of our group project, we
needed to begin testing our ideas that were included in
the proposal to perceive if they would be effective. We
began executing our experiment by creating a series of
tasks that students would perform to determine the “5
E’s”. These 5 E’s exemplify a perfect test by including
efficiency, effectiveness, engagement, error tolerance, and
easiness of comprehension.
Usability
 Our usability test allowed us to think critically about how to place our
thoughts into actions. Our imaginations were allowed to be expressed
through the process of paper prototyping. After students performed the test,
we were about to acknowledge our errors and handle them in an orderly
fashion.
 After performing our usability test, we collected feedback and began presenting it in
a usability report. This report demonstrated the entire process of the usability test. It
included our moments of error and helped us to decide how to fix them in their
future usage.

6. Instructional Document
 As a class, we were introduced to the idea of instructional sets by being given tasks and visual
instructions. We were then asked to follow the visual instructions so that we could perform the
task. After conducting the task we then were asked to write an instructional set for one of the
tasks.
 By creating a practice instructional set, we were then ready to create our own
instructional set for the TTU Parking services project. After fixing our previous
mistakes, we were able to create an effective instructional set.
 During this portion of our project, we also wanted to relate toward
various cultures so we used our TTU Parking App. So that it could
appeal to people of the German heritage. This reminded us to keep
ethic diversities in mind during all technical writing.
 Another area that was covered during this time was a template of
Meeting Minutes. Each time we met, our record keeper, Katie, made
logs of when we met, how long we met, and what we did in each
meeting. This information was then put together to show our
progress over the semester

7.  To conclude the group project for this course, we placed all of our ideas and recommendations for
the TTU Parking Services into a PowerPoint. The PowerPoint acted as our visual aid during the
project and helped us organize our thoughts. Considering I designed the PowerPoint, this was a
great opportunity to show my expertise in designing.
Presentation
 On the other hand, presenting has not always been my strong suit. Typically when I
present I get nervous and move my hands a lot. To avoid this problem, I wrote my
script for the presentation on flashcards and went over the presentation various times
so that I would not be as nervous.
 Presenting our idea to make a TTU Parking Services
App. allowed me to get out of my comfort zone. In
the future I will have to give a decent amount of
financial statement presentations to my clients so it
is important for me to be able to speak in front of
others.

8.  Overall, this course was a valuable learning opportunity. It has allowed me
to work well with others, even under tough circumstances. It has also
helped me realize my skills in designing and organizing.
 Before coming into this course I was afraid that it would be
extremely writing intensive and stressful. After going
through this course it has shown to be much less writing
intensive and less stressful than expected. There was plenty
of time to finish each assignment and it was a valuable
learning experience.