WritingSkill

Background

Asourcurrentworldhasenteredtheeraofinternational communicationandadvancedtechnology,therearemore andmorechancesforengineersandtechnicalprofessionals toconveytechnicalinformationinEnglishforvarious purposes. Engineeringstudentsneedtobeequippedwith

adequatewritingabilitysotheycancommunicatetechnical informationclearlyonatleastabasiclevel. AgoodEnglishwritingproficiencycanbeacontributingfactor totheirprofessionalrecognitionandcareerprospect.

WritingSkill

Thegoalofthistopic(writingskill)is
totrainstudentsinwritingclear,conciseand effectiveEnglish.

SyllabusOutline,thistopicconsistsoffour stages:
Preparationstage ToolsAcquisitionStage Summarywritingstage Compositionstage

WritingSkill:preparationstage

Thisisthestageforbuildingupstudents' confidenceorreshapingtheirperceptionsof Englishwriting. Tostartwith,writeafewshortessaysontopics theyareveryfamiliarwith

Writeanessayaboutyourhome,consistsofat least100words(about10lines) Hint:usethewordsandstructuresyouare familiarwith

WritingSkill:preparationstage

Makeajournal
Toseeyourownprogress Thisjournalistobesubmittedintheendofthis writingskilltopic

WritingSkill:ToolsAcquisitionStage
Manygrammaticalconstructionsareimportantfor writinggoodEnglish.Theprincipleofthisstage, however,istomakestudentsgetfamiliarwitha fewbasicessentialtoolsthatcanenhancetheir sentenceclarityintechnicalwriting.

WritingSkill:ToolsAcquisitionStage

UseofSubordinateClauses

Definition:Agroupofwordsthathasbotha subjectandaverbbut(unlikeanindependent clause)cannotstandaloneasasentence.Also knownasadependentclause. Example:

"Memoryisdeceptivebecauseitiscoloredby today'sevents."(AlbertEinstein) "Ifafreesocietycannothelpthemanywhoare poor,itcannotsavethefewwhoarerich."(John F.Kennedy)

WritingSkill:ToolsAcquisitionStage

Formally,subordinatingconjunctionscanbegroupedas follows:

simpleconjunctions:when,whenever,where,wherever, because,if,unless,until,while,as,although conjunctivegroups:asif,asthough,evenif,eventhough,even when,soonafter,nosooner complexconjunctions::therearethreesubclasses:

derivedfromverbs:provided(that),granted(that),considering (that),seeing(that),suppose(that),supposing(that),so(that) containinganoun:incase,intheeventthat,totheextentthat,in spiteofthefactthat,theday,theway adverbial:so/aslongas,assoonas,so/asfaras,muchas,now (that)

WritingSkill:ToolsAcquisitionStage Exercise
1.Belowisalistofcomplexsentences,identifythesubordinate clausesandthesubordinatingconjunctions,thenexplainthe relationshipexpressedineachsentence.
1)SinceJimarrivedearly,hedidn'thavetowait. 2)WhenConstancesighed,theotherpeopleintheroomturnedto seewhohaddoneit. 3)Becausethedogbarkedincessantlyatnight,theneighbors finallylodgedacomplaintwiththetownboard. 4)Asmotorracinggoesgreen,Formula1isaimingtolead automotiveresearchinfindinghitechefficiencygain. 5)Oneofthekeystothisecologicaldriveisregenerativebraking, whichrecoversenergygeneratedduringdeceleration.

WritingSkill:ToolsAcquisitionStage Exercise
2.Combinetwosentencesorasetofisolatedideasintoone sentencebyusingappropriatesubordinatingconjunctions.
1)Newracingbicycleshavediscwheels.Windresistanceis reduced. 2)Copperishighlyconductive.Itisusedforelectricwiring. 3)Thewaterisheated.Itreachesapresettemperature. 4)TheprogramwaswritteninFORTRAN.Itislongerthana machinelanguageversion.Itcanrunonmanydifferent computers. 5)Eunicesetfiretothecat.Thecatjumpedintothepool.Thecat couldnotswim.Rodneyrescuedthecat.

WritingSkill:ToolsAcquisitionStage Exercise
3.StudyaboutRelativeClauses. 4.StudyaboutParallelism. 5.Writeanessayaboutthemetamorphosisofany insectbyusingsubordinateclauses,relative clauses,andparallelism.

Donotforgettherule,thatyouhavetomakea journalofyourwritingpractice. SubmityourworktodaytoMr.Dayatinthe LecturerandAdministrationroom.

WritingSkill

Writingtechnicalreport
TheslidesafterthisaretakenfromPurdueWritingLab, PurdueUniversity

Overview

Thispresentationwillcover:

Reportpurposeandplanning Reportformatandorganization Headingsandlanguage Visualdesign Sourcedocumentation Finishingtouches

ReportPurpose

Describeresearch

Explainproblemorissuestudied Discussresearchmethod Describedatacollected Describeresearchfindings Explainimplications

ReportPurpose

Informreadersofresearchresults precisely,concisely,andspecifically

Theyshouldnthavetoreadwholereporttoget essentialpoints

ReportPlanning

Beforewriting,consider:

Whyyouarewriting Whatyouhopetoachieve Whoyouarewritingfor

These considerations will determine your reports content, organization, textual and visual design

ReportFormatandOrganization

Reportsgenerallyincludethese sectionsinthisorder:

Abstract Introduction LiteratureReview Methodology Results Discussion Conclusion

ReportFormatandOrganization

Butbeawarethatorderisflexibleinthat sectionscanbecombined
Somejournalscombineintroductionandliteraturereview Othershavetheresultsanddiscussioncombined

ReportFormatandOrganization

Abstract

Alwayscomesfirst Microcosmofentirepapercontainskeyinfo fromeachsection

Containsessentialinformationonlyitisbrief! Coversresearchhighlights Givestheresearchproblemand/ormainobjectiveof theresearch Indicatesthemethodologyused Presentsthemainfindingsandconclusions

ReportFormatandOrganization

AbstractExample:

Abstract.Inthispaper,weproposeanapproachwhichiteratesadesign testanalysiscycleusingsymbolicdataminingmethodsfordesigningcon trollersofautonomousswarmrobots.Theapproachisapplicableevenif theonboardsignalisunavailabletothedesigner,whichiscommonfor suchkindsofrobots.Asthefirststep,wetackleaspecifictaskinwhich twoswarmrobotstrytovisitasmanycellsaspossibleinasquarefield beforeafatalcollision.Quickanalysisusingconventionaltechniques,re lyingalsoonhumaninspectionrevealedinterestingessentialsincluding adesirabletypeofinteractionbetweentheswarmrobotsandpossible refinementsofthecontrollers.Weconsiderpossibleuseofdatamining methodsincludinganefficienttrajectorydiscoverymethod,aneffective minoritysubsetdiscoverymethod,andarobustpartialclassifierdiscov erymethod. Keywords:Symbolicdatamining,Controllerdesign,Swarmrobots Takenfrom:TowardUsingSymbolicDiscoveryin DesigningControllersofAutonomousSwarmRobots,E.Suzuki,et.al.,2009

ReportFormatandOrganization

Background/Introduction

Explainstheresearchproblemanditscontext

Explainsimportanceoftheproblem(Whydoesit matter?Whyismoreinformationneeded?) Explainsreasonandgoalsforstudy Explainsthelimitationsoftheresearchperformed

You want your reader to fully understand the significance of your research

ReportFormatandOrganization

LiteratureReview

Summarizesandevaluatestheliteraturethatyouhave usedinyourstudybyconsidering:

Howthatliteraturehascontributedtoyourareaofresearch ThestrengthsandweaknessesofpreviousstudiesHowthat literatureinformsyourownresearchandunderstandingofthe researchproblem

ReportFormatandOrganization

Methodology

Explainshowdatawasgathered/generated Explainshowdatawasanalyzed Assumesreaderunderstandsmaterial

Doesnotincludeexplanatorymaterial A1pieceofcoilwascut

Isinpasttenseandpassivevoice

Theresearchhasbeencarriedout Itistheresearch,andnotyouractivities,thatareofinterest

ReportFormatandOrganization

Results

Visuallyandtextuallyrepresentsresearch findings

Visualrepresentationofresults:

Graphs,tables,diagrams,charts Textpointsoutthemostsignificantportionsofresearch findings Indicateskeytrendsorrelationships Highlightsexpectedand/orunexpectedfindings

Explanatorytext:

ReportFormatandOrganization

Discussion

Assessesandcommentsonresearchresults Includes:

ExplanationforResults

Commentsonunexpectedresults,offeringhypothesisfor them Doesyourresearchconfirmpreviousstudies?Deviatefrom them?

Comparisontoliterature

Explanationforhowinfocanbeappliedinbroader context

ReportFormatandOrganization

Summary

Discusses:

Whatwaslearnedthroughresearch Whatremainstobelearned Weaknessesandshortcomingsofstudy Strengthsofstudy Possibleapplicationsofstudy(howitcanbeused) Recommendations

OrganizationalConsiderations

Youraudience,purpose,andcontents shouldinfluenceyourreportorganization andformat

Example:yourprofessormayhaveveryspecific guidelines

Carefullyconsideryourdecisions

HeadingsandSubheadings

Headingsandsubheadingsguidereaders attention Canbeusedtokeeptrackofvariouspartsof project:

Forexample:MakingComponents,Assembling Components,andTestingAssembly Specificandhelpful Usedtobreakuptextandchunkinformation Usedtoguidereadersattention

Theyshouldbe:

HeadingsandSubheadings

Exampleofvagueheading:

Theuseofsomecomputingtechnologiesin certainengineeringclassrooms UsingMatlabintheFreshmanengineering classroom

Exampleofspecificheading:

LanguageandVocabulary

Reportsshouldbeeasilyaccessible

Bestraightforwardandconcise Usesimpleterms,notjargonandtechnicalterms Keepsentencesshortandsimple(20wordsmax) Bespecificandnotgeneral

Useconcretenumbersandmetaphorsorsimiles

VisualDesign

Areportsvisualdesigncanmakeorbreak itscommunicationsuccess VisualDesignincludes:

Useofgraphsandothergraphics Useofwhitespace

VisualDesign

Graphics:

Shouldbeusedtoillustratespecificpoints Shouldbeincorporatedinawaythatisnaturalto reportscontent/context Shouldbeexplainedfullyintextusingreferences suchasFig.1shows Shouldbecitediftakenfromasource

VisualDesign

Graphicsacaveat

Graphicsdonotspeakforthemselves! Forthisreason,textualinformationshouldcome beforegraphics.

VisualDesign

Generallayoutshouldfocusreaderson keyinformation

Usewhitespacetoguidereadersattention

Createdthroughuseofheadings,subheadings,and visuals

SourceDocumentation

Citesourceswheneveryouarequoting, paraphrasing,orsummarizingworkthatisnot yourown

Quotingdirectlyisdiscouraged Books Journal,magazine,ornewspaperarticles Interviews ConferenceProceedings Lectures

Sourcesinclude:

SourceDocumentation

Citing:

Showsyourcredibilityasaresearcher Givespropercredittoauthorsandresearchers Protectsyoufromaccusationsofplagiarism

SourceDocumentation

UseAPAorotherspecifiedformatfor documentation Checkonlineforstyleguides

http://owl.english.purdue.edu http://www.apastyle.org/

Checkjournalsforformatinfo

FinishingTouches

UsabilityTesting

Haveacolleaguereadyourreportforclarity, organization,andvisualdesign

Checkyoursourcesforpropercitations Proofreadcarefullyorbetteryet,ask someonetodoitforyou

References

AsianInstituteofTechnologyLanguageCenter.(2003).WritingUpResearch Guidebook.AsianInstituteofTechnology.RetrievedJune9,2005from http://www.clet.ait.ac.th/el21open.htm Chan,S.L.,Kitipornchai,S.,andAlBermani,F.G.A.(1991).Elastoplastic analysisofboxbeamcolumnsincludinglocalbucklingeffects.Journalof StructuralEngineering,117,19461978. Halligan,N.(2004).Ashortcourseonwritingtechnicalreports.Technical Writing.RetrievedJune9,2005from http://www.technicalwritingcourse.com/typeoftechnicalreport.html Kvam,E.(Personalcommunication,June112005).

WritingSkill
Exercise

Tostartwith,writeashortessaysontopicsyouareveryfamiliar withsuchasselfintroduction,descriptionofafamilymember,a closefriend,dailylivingpatternsoryourownchosentopic.

Choseatopicinwhichtheyhaveconcretecontenttowriteabout. Afewguidelinesandvocabularymaybeprovidedifneeded. Usethewordsandstructuresyouarefamiliarwith. Thewritingprocessatthisstageservesasawarmupexercise.