Technical Writing and Presentation Margaret J. Kupferle, PhD, PE AY-REU October 11, 2013
Think of your research as part of a world-wide conversation among scientific peers ...
Your reports, peer-reviewed journal manuscripts, oral presentations and posters are your turn to contribute to the conversation!
Preplanning • Who? • Audience? • What? • Purpose of author/speaker? • Where? • Venue? • When? • Deadlines? Placement? • Why? • Gain to audience? • How? • Format? Length?
Spend more time pre writing and re writing [3] • Read your work out loud • Get rid of clutter • Do a verb check • Get feedback from others [2] • Write complete sentences in order at computer [1] • Collect, synthesize, organize info Adapted from ideas at • Brainstorm take home messages http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= • Work out ideas away from computer OJITpO3aEdM&feature=related, accessed June 11, 2012
The 4-S Formula • Short • Simple • Strong • Sincere
Technical Writing Basics • Be clear by using precise language • Avoid long sentences • Keep verb tenses consistent • Define terms • Present facts or inferences, not feelings • Maintain a professional tone
Sentence-level tips • Use active voice • Choose strong (and specific) verbs • Avoid turning verbs into nouns • Do not bury the main verb • Cut unnecessary words • Avoid jargon and abbreviations
Use active voice* PASSIVE ACTIVE • The apple was pierced by • The arrow pierced the the arrow. apple. • Mistakes were made. • The technician made mistakes. • The new technique • Data quality was improved improved data quality. by the new technique.
Use strong and specific verbs ... • I went to the store. • I drove to the store • The house was on • Flames erupted from fire. the kitchen window. • Goliath was much • Goliath towered over taller than David. David. • He did not pass the • He failed the math math exam. exam. • She did not • She forgot to lock the remember to lock door. the door.
Avoid turning verbs into nouns • Carbon capacity • Natural organic reductions for phenol matter may compete adsorption occur with phenol and when natural organic reduce carbon matter is in capacity for competition with it. adsorbing phenol.
Do not bury the main verb Because of the great diversity of pathogenic microorganisms transmitted by contaminated water and the difficulty and cost of directly measuring all microbial pathogens in environmental samples, organisms that may indicate the presence of sewage and fecal contamination (indicator organisms) are often used for monitoring and regulation of recreational and drinking waters . Can your team do better?
Cut unnecessary words
Cut unnecessary words “This paper provides a review of the basic tenets of cancer biology study design, using as examples studies that illustrate the methodologic challenges or that demonstrate successful solutions to the difficulties inherent in biological research.” Adapted from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJITpO3aEdM&feature=related, accessed June 11, 2012 Can your team do better?
Avoid jargon and acronyms COI OIK K
Paragraph-scale tips • Communicate one central idea per paragraph • Tell the reader the “punch line” early • Improve paragraph flow with: • Logical flow of ideas • Parallel sentence structure • Transition words (when absolutely necessary)
Try Sorting It Out ... See what your team can do with the following paragraph: “Enormous mining companies are both continuing operations at old gold mines, such as the case of the Homestake Mine in Lead, South Dakota, which has operated continuously since 1877 and is continuing to increase its operations [Hinds and Trautman, 1983], and opening new gold mines, often in very disturbing locations, such as the proposed, and for now, postponed, New World Mine, whose proposed location was about 2.5 miles from the border of Yellowstone National Park, near Cooke City, Montana .” #7 at http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/handbook/exercises/exercise1.html, Accessed June 5, 2012
Be consistent in your use of capitals, captions, units, and scale of graphs. Fig. 1 – CV for 0.04 mM NaCl + Phenol Figure 2. CV for phenol at 0.05 mM NaCl How many things can you find to fix?
Cite your sources in the text carefully and use quotes when appropriate – avoid plagiarism*. Rathbun (1936) and Hechtman and Johnston (1947) suggest ... Kishi and Chen (1986, 1987a, 1987b) found ... There are a number of finite element models (Kishi and Chen 1998, Desai 1990, Desai et al. 1995, Zaman et al. 1998) suggested in the literature. - adapted from your handout * See http://www.plagiarism.org/ for complete discussion of plagarism
General page format : Single Line Spacing for All Titles 1 “ borders around text Use double line spacing for text. This makes it easier to read and edit. page number in footer center 9
Specific formatting requirements for your reports are spelled out in your guidelines handout.
General Presentation Format Title Slide Introduction Tasks Methods Project Title, One or more A few slides A few slides Team slides introducing describing explaining Members & problem and the tasks basics of Affiliations, stating project you plan to experimental Date goals accomplish methods Timelin Results Conclusions Relevance e Slides of One or more One slide One slide data; slides concisely summarizing with a graphical or summarizing relevance of chart embedded important findings to showing video format conclusions audience schedule preferred for tasks
Assertion-evidence slides are more effective than bullet lists for making key points* ... Bullet List Assertion-Evidence *especially for intro, background and results slides Example from http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/slides_body.html, accessed June 6, 2012
Providing Access to Clean Water in Urban Centers Relying on Water Reuse Martha Jones, Biomedical Engineering, University of Cincinnati Cindy Smith, Civil Engineering, University of Cincinnati Amy Turner , Environmental Engineering, University of Cincinnati June 20, 2012
Project Timeline Task/Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Learn methods Prepare samples Analyze samples Prepare reports
Resources (other than handouts) Americal Chemical Society ACS Webinars ™ Effective Scientific Writing -- Manuscripts and Grants http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=rh-NHu5yOYc&feature=endscreen Write Well and Prosper - Science Writing Tips http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJITpO3aEdM&feature=related http://www.asce.org/Content.aspx?id=18107 http://www.plagiarism.org/ https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/
Recommend
More recommend
