Copy Editing: Final Report

The online learning platform, Blackboard, was easy for me to use. There were a lot of features our course never utilized but announcements, course documents, quizzes and grades were all easy to access.

As for the course material, we covered a lot of grammar, spelling, and fact-checking basics. If nothing else, this course was a great introduction on how to use the AP Stylebook. We also explored libel and other legal issues, headlines, effective use of photos and general story style/flow. Our readings and assignments each week were very on-topic and while some weeks required a lot of work, I didn't feel that we wasted a lot of time on material that wasn't pertinent to the course.

One area in the course that I felt was lacking was interaction with the professor and other classmates. We had weekly discussion topics but mostly we responded to the professor and sometimes she would give us feedback but we never really interacted with each other at a true discussion level. Also, I thought it would've been really helpful to discuss the specific assignments each week after they were graded - by seeing how other members of the class approached issues in the assignments; I think it could've resulted in interesting discussions and an enhanced learning experience for all participants.

I received a B+ on my final, which was a little disappointing given the amount of time and effort I put into it. There's one particular place I know I lost some credit only over a matter of semantics - I was getting at exactly what the professor wanted only I was approaching it in a different manner and didn't spell it out quite as blatantly as she was looking for. That miscommunication was probably the difference between the B+ and A on the exam.

My overall grade, according to the professor, was an A- (thought the Blackboard grades shows an A). Considering I didn't take the course with the intention of using it towards a degree, I am pleased with my grade and overall it was a good experience. Most of my frustration stemmed from minor issues.

If I had to do it all again? I'm not sure. This was a very technical and mechanical course, yet a lot of the material was still very open to interpretation. Once we settle down some of our plans for 2007, I plan to find an actual writing workshop of some sort as my next endeavor.

We are not what we know but what we are willing to learn. -Mary Catherine Bateson