Providence University Review Introduction - Stage II College of Management • Most individuals seem to agree that the microcomputer will continue to hold an important role in education. Gubser (1980) and Hinton (1980) suggested phenomenal increases in the numbers of computers both in the school and the home in the near future. There are always problems with a sudden onslaught of new technology. Like any new tool that has not been fully tried and tested, the role of the computer is in question. How should the Method and Materials computer be used in the classroom? Should the computer be the teacher or used as a tool in the classroom in the same way as an overhead projector? Can teachers do a better job of teaching certain types of material with the microcomputer than with conventional teaching methods? Will the microcomputer have Wu-Lin Chen (wlchen@pu.edu.tw) different effects on students with varying levels of experience? Schmidt (1982) identified three types of microcomputer use in Department of Computer Science and classrooms: the object of a course, a support tool, and a means of Information Management providing instruction. Foster and Kleene (1982) cite four uses of microcomputers in vocational agriculture: drill and practice, tutorial, simulation and problem solving. Providence University Technical Writing S03 2 Review Introduction - Stages II and III Review Introduction - Stages IV and V • The findings of studies examining the use of • The purpose of this study was to ascertain the various forms of computer-assisted instruction effect of using microcomputer-assisted (CAI) have been mixed. Studies by Hickey instruction as compared to a lecture-discussion (1968) and Honeycutt (1974) indicated superior results with CAI while studies by Ellis (1978), technique in teaching principles and methods of Caldwell (1980) and Belzer (1976) indicated little cost recovery and investment credit on or no significant effect. Although much work has agricultural assets to graduate students in been done to date, more studies need to be agricultural education (Rohrbach, 1983). This conducted to ascertain the effects of microcomputer-assisted instruction in teaching topic was identified as being of importance to various subjects in a variety of learning teachers in providing them the necessary situations. background to teach lessons in farm records. Providence University 3 Providence University 4 Technical Writing S03 Technical Writing S03 Method Information Elements Included in Method • Overview of the Experiment • The main part of the method section is a • Population/Sample description of • Location – the procedural steps used in your study • Restrictions/Listing Conditions – the materials employed at each step • Sampling Technique • Procedures* • Materials* • Variables • Statistical Treatment (* always included) Technical Writing S03 Providence University 5 Technical Writing S03 Providence University 6 1
Writing the Procedural Description Describe the Procedure • The description of the steps you followed • The best way to describe a procedure is in conducting your study should be written – Step-by-step clearly. – Chronologically • How clear? – It should be clear enough for a reader in your field could accurately replicate your procedure and get the same results. Providence University Providence University Technical Writing S03 7 Technical Writing S03 8 Correct Verb Tense in Procedural Procedural Descriptions: Past Tense Descriptions • The procedures you used in carrying out • For examples: your study should usually be described in –Surveys were sent to student health the simple past tense. services at 180 colleges. • Sentences included under method that are –The study was carried out on a marine not written in the past tense usually do not laboratory research vessel. refer to the procedures used in the study –The generators supplied about 14,000 being reported. amps when fully operational. Providence University 9 Providence University 10 Technical Writing S03 Technical Writing S03 Conditions for Deciding Verb Voice – Active Appropriate Verb Voice – Active or Passive or Passive • Either the active or the passive voice can be used. • The passive voice is conventionally used to describe procedure in order to depersonalize the Main verb + + + Agent Object Complement information. The passive construction allows (active) you to omit the agent (usually “I” or “we”), to the rubber segments stress We applied placing the emphasis on the procedure and how in gradually increasing it was done. increments. – EX A: For reasons related to personal safety, the test facility was constructed (by us) in a remote area 4 miles from the main road. Main verb + + + Subject Agent Complement (passive) – EX B: Tests were conducted (by me) with four different types of reactors. Stress was applied (by the investigators) to the rubber segments … Note: You advisor may ask you not to use the passive voice since he or she prefers a more personal style with frequently use of the pronouns “I” or “we.” Technical Writing S03 Providence University 11 Technical Writing S03 Providence University 12 2
Conditions for Deciding Verb Voice – Active Materials or Passive • Intermix the active and passive voices • Any item used to carry out a research • Place old information near the beginning of the project. sentence and new information at the end. • Beside method, you also have to describe – EX: The four reactors we tested in the work reported any equipment or other materials used here are all contained a platinum catalyst (ACTIVE). with each step in your procedure. Each reactor-catalyst configuration will be described separately (PASSIVE). The quartz reactors were manufactured by the Wm. A. Sales Company of Wheeling, Illinois (PASSIVE). Providence University Providence University Technical Writing S03 13 Technical Writing S03 14 Information Conventions What To Describe • Materials • If the materials you used are well known to – laboratory equipment researchers in your field, it is conventional – field equipment to identify them only. – human or animal subjects • If you used specially designed or – natural substances unconventional materials in your research, – fabricated materials it is common to write a detailed description – surveys, questionnaires and tests of them in your paper. – computer models – mathematical models Providence University 15 Providence University 16 Technical Writing S03 Technical Writing S03 Describing Specially Designed Description of Principle Parts Materials: Three Steps • Spatial arrangement: Describe the features from • Overview: This step consists of one or two top to bottom, front to back, left to right, from the sentences that give a general idea of the center to the outside, or in some other spatial material and the purpose for which it is intended. way. This arrangement is especially useful for • Description of principal parts: Each major part or describing equipment consisting of various characteristic of the material is described in connected parts. logical sequence. • Functional arrangement: Describe the principle • Functional description: This last step shows how features in the order in which they function, from beginning to end. This arrangement is best for the various features described in previous step describing parts that operate in a fixed sequence. function together. Technical Writing S03 Providence University 17 Technical Writing S03 Providence University 18 3
Recommend
More recommend
