Thoughts on Scientific Writing and the Switch to Virtual Bioengineering


As I have just turned in the Data Summary Revision, I definitely have some thoughts about the assignment. I remember feeling slightly overwhelmed after even the very first figure hw assignment (gel electrophoresis) - sure, a picture, title and caption seemed pretty simple at first, but I quickly learned that that would not be the case for this data summary. I started to learn the various nuances of scientific writing that differ from other forms of writing. In thinking of titles for figures, I really had to think, 'what is this figure proving? How does this connect to the overall experiment?." For the captions, I struggled a bit with separating the interpretation from the description of the figure. Also, I quickly learned that I would definitely have to be doing lots of photo editing (changing contrast, cropping, resizing, adding text) to produce figures that were visually appealing and easy for others to read and understand. I also found that I really enjoyed making figures on BioRender. Being able to piece together schematics definitely took time and thought, but it was really satisfying seeing the final product come together from individual graphics of eppendorf tubes, microarrays, or DNA vectors). Overall, I feel that I gained valuable skills from the data summary even though it was certainly not a simple assignment. The feedback from the instructors and the BE Comm. Lab definitely helped along the way, and I'm sure I'll be applying these skills to the research article.

I also wanted to add in a few thoughts about my experience so far with doing 20.109 from home. First, I really appreciate all the time the professors and instructors are putting in to make this work as best as possible. Of course, though, learning via Zoom and not being in the actual lab for a bioengineering course has come with some challenges. I miss doing lab experiments and working through in-class exercises alongside my classmates. While I am trying to be as productive as I am at MIT, I have found the work this week taking me longer than I anticipated, given the amount of time I was used to spending on 20.109 assignments at MIT. Especially since we have been off of school for two weeks, I think it has been a bit tough getting back into the material, which is interesting but also new and challenging. I am definitely still super busy like I am when I'm on campus, and I am hoping to get more used to this whole new way of learning.

-Anais

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