Transcript Scientific Writing (Illustration)

Technical Writing
Mer331 Lab
Prof Anderson
How well you communicate is important
• Successful engineers spent 25% of work week writing
– Richard M. Davis, Technical Writing: Its Importance in the
Engineering Profession and Its Place in the Engineering
Curriculum, AFIT TR 75-5 (Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio: WrightPatterson Air Force Base, 1975).
• Professional engineers found writing their most useful
subject in college
– Dean John G. Bollinger, “Alumni Survey Results,” Perspective
(Madison: College of Engin. U. of Wisconsin, Summer 1994), p. 2.
• Recruiters claim that engineers need more work on their
writing
– Virginia Tech, College of Engineering, “Summary Report of
Employer Focus Group” (October 2000).
How well you
communicate is
important
• UNION COLLEGE
Alumni claim it as
one of the most
important things in
their jobs…
99%
An ability to communicate effectively
91%
An ability to apply knowledge of
mathematics, science, and
engineering
An ability to function on
multidisciplinary teams
An understanding of professional
and ethical responsibility
An ability to design and conduct
experiments, as well as to analyze
and interpret data
An ability to identify, formulate, and
solve engineering problems
91%
83%
80%
78%
65%
An ability to design a system,
component, or process to meet
desired needs within realistic
constraints such as economic,
environmental, social, political,
ethical, health and safety,
manufacturability, and sustainability
*Percent of respondent ratings of Extremely or Very Important
(2010 ME Alumni Survey)
Engineers are called upon to communicate
in many different situations (AUDIENCE)
What:
Reports
Articles
Proposals
Web Pages
specific
technical
audiences
•
•
Where:
Conferences
Lectures
Meetings
Posters
general
technical
audiences
non-technical
audiences
Coming up with a set of rules to handle every situation is
difficult (but not impossible!)
Analyze each situation and decide upon the best way to
communicate in that situation
Technical writing differs from other
kinds of writing
1. Subject Matter
2. Writing Constraints
audience
occasion
purpose
2. Purpose of Writing
To inform
To persuade
4. Writing Style
In scientific writing, the most important
goal of language is precision--a goal that
poets sometimes subordinate for the sake
of rhythm. (Alley, 1996)
Three aspects of writing affect the way
that readers assess your documents
Content: the message given
Style: the way you communicate the content to the
reader. Style comprises structure, language, and
illustration.
Form: the appearance of the writing (grammar, punctuation, usage, spelling, and format)
Hierarchy of writing
Don’t equate a small aspect of form such as using a
contraction with a serious mistake in content such as
leaving out important information, or style, such as not
emphasizing the most important result.
Advice for writing a good lab
Step 1: In the Lab
1. Do the lab work carefully. Good answers start
with good data.
2. Keep good lab notes. You never know what
will be important to remember later.
3. Check your data before you leave the lab. It’s
much easier to repeat measurements while
the experiment is set up!
Step 2:Get to know your data
1. Understand the technical aspects of the
experiment and how to reduce the data
2. Understand the uncertainties and limitations of the measurements
3. Look at the data in MANY different ways
(plot things like measurement versus time,
etc.)
4. Ask yourself questions about the data
5. Listen to what the data is trying to tell you!
Step 3: Identify your audience and
primary message
1. Audience
Who they are? What do they know? Why they will
read this? How they will read this?
2. What does your audience need to get out of this
document?
•
Information/data/specific result
•
Recommendations
3. How can I help them get what they need from this
document?
•
Organization, Figures/Illustrations
4. Is there anything I want to tell them? Will they care?
Step 4: Figure out what you need to
include in the report
• Brainstorm: Make a list of everything
that you need include in the report but
don’t evaluate or organize, just let it
all flow out
• Evaluate: Check the list - is everything
there that needs to be there? Are there
things that do not need to be there?
Step 5: Organize Ideas
• Format often provides a rough outline
• Review the purpose for each section in
your outline or format
– what is an introduction for, what is an
abstract for, etc. (see course web page)
Step 6: Write a Draft
• work section by section
– don’t worry about redundancy (yet)
• Free write … get it all your ideas down,
don’t try to make it perfect
Step 7: Set it Aside
• The importance of this step cannot be over
emphasized!
• Your brain thinks that the way it wrote it is
the right way. (that’s why it wrote it that
way) … give it a chance to forget.
• This is why you can’t write a great lab the
night before it is due!
Step 8: Proofread / Edit / Revise
• Note: These are 3 different activities
• Are there mistakes? Can sentences be
improved? Can the organization be
improved? Is the emphasis correct? Do
figures/tables work well to present the
data and back up any conclusions? Etc.
• Tips: Read it backwards, don’t count
on spell check, have someone else
read it, use a style manual
And finally….
• Put it aside, Proofread/Edit/Revise
• Put it aside, Proofread/Edit/Revise
• And so on….it can always be improved
Some Good References:
• Course Webpage – review format!
• Writing Guidelines for Engineering
and Science Students
http://www.writing.engr.psu.edu/
• Labwrite (a website designed to
help you improve your writing):
http://labwrite.ncsu.edu/
(we will use this in lab).
The Craft of Scientific Writing,
Michael Alley
3rd edition (Springer-Verlag, 1996)