Transcript Report Writing - University of Utah

Lab Report Grading
Terry A. Ring
ChE
University of Utah
Report Grading
Scoring Rubric for CHFEN 4903 – Categories and Learning Objectives
Category
Learning Objectives/Outcomes
A. Preliminary Oral
Presentation,
Teamwork (10)
(8) Demonstrate effective team skills-goal setting, consensus-building, listening, etc.
(9) Demonstrate effective leadership skills – team discussions, calling team meetings, etc.
(11) Produce a professional-quality oral presentation (as a team), etc.
B. Coherence –
Does the report tell
a technically
coherent story? Are
objectives stated
and met?(25)
(7) Evaluate the quality of results by comparison with accepted correlations and theories and develop valid
conclusions about deviations etc.
(10) Produce professional-quality written reports that present, analyzes, and interprets experimental results
logically and which are well-organized and delivered
C. Technical
Accuracy (45)
(1)-(6) Apply concepts from previous courses, mathematics, compute description statistics and apply to
analyze experimental data, develop specific experimental objectives to meet overall experimental goals,
design and conduct experiments, analyze experimental data to obtain parameters and correlations
(7) Evaluate the quality of results by comparison with accepted correlations and theories and develop valid
conclusions about deviations etc.
D. Professional
Standards – includes
quality of English
Language, Form,
Visuals, Citations –
Lab Operations,
safety, efficient use
of equipment,
cleanup (20)
(3) Apply methods of statistical inference
(10) Produce professional-quality written reports that present, analyzes, and interprets experimental results
logically and which are well-organized and delivered
(11) Produce a professional-quality oral presentation, etc.
(12) Apply concepts of professional ethics to design and conducting experiments and analyzing and
interpreting experimental data
(13) Demonstrate knowledge of laboratory equipment and instrumentation and their capabilities and
limitations
Proficiency and Scoring
 4 Levels




Exemplary
Proficient
Apprentice
Novice
Category
Exemplary
Proficient
Apprentice
Novice
A. Preliminary Oral
Presentation,
Teamwork
Student worked well in group,
helped set group goals,
participated in all team
discussions, played a
leadership role, prepared
well for and presented an
excellent oral presentation
Student worked well in group,
helped set some group
goals, participated in
most team discussions,
prepared well for and
presented a good oral
presentation
Student worked fairly well in
group, helped set only a few
group goals, participated in
a few team discussions,
fairly prepared for oral quiz
and presented a fair oral
presentation
Student did not work well in
group, did not help
set group goals, did
not participate in
team discussions, was
not prepared for oral
quiz and presented a
poor presentation
B. Coherence – Does the report
tell a technically
coherent story? Are
objectives stated and
met?
Objectives were well stated and
all objectives were met.
Report told a technically
coherent story and was
well written. Analyses,
interpretations and
conclusions clear and
logical.
Objectives were fairly well
stated and most were
met. Report told a
technically coherent
story and was fairly
well written. Analyses,
interpretations and
conclusions were
mostly clear and
logical.
Objectives were fairly well stated
and some objectives were
met. Report did not tell a
technically coherent story
but was fairly well written.
Analyses, interpretations
and conclusions were fairly
clear and logical.
Objectives were not stated
well and objectives
were not met. Report
did not tell a
technically coherent
story and was poorly
written. Analyses,
interpretations and
conclusions were
neither clear nor
logical.
C. Technical Accuracy
Experiments were designed and
conducted with virtually
no errors; concepts
(theory) from previous
courses applied correctly;
uncertainty analysis
excellent; excellent
comparison with accepted
correlations/results
Experiments were designed
and conducted with
only a few errors;
concepts (theory) from
previous courses
applied correctly with
few errors; uncertainty
analysis good; good
comparison with
accepted
correlations/results
Experiments were designed and
conducted with several
errors; concepts (theory)
from previous courses not
applied correctly;
uncertainty analysis fair;
comparison with accepted
correlations/results not quite
done correctly
Experiments were not
designed and
conducted correctly;
concepts (theory)
from previous courses
not understood;
uncertainty analysis
poor; no comparison
with accepted
correlations/results
Written report is virtually errorfree, well-organized, easy
to read, contains highquality graphics, several
good references, followed
required format; excellent
attention to safety and
cleanup; knowledgeable
of equipment; used
equipment efficiently
Written report has only a few
errors, relatively wellorganized, easy to read,
contains good graphics,
a few good references,
mostly followed
required format; good
attention to safety and
cleanup; fairly
knowledgeable of
equipment; mostly used
equipment efficiently
Written report has several errors,
not very well-organized nor
easy to read, fair graphics,
references not good, usually
followed required format;
fair attention to safety and
cleanup; not very
knowledgeable of
equipment; used equipment
efficiently
Written report is not
acceptable, not wellorganized nor easy to
read, contains poor
graphics, no
references, did not
followed required
format; poor attention
to safety and cleanup;
not knowledgeable of
equipment; used
equipment efficiently
D. Professional Standards –
includes quality of
English Language,
Form, Visuals,
Citations – Lab
Operations, safety,
efficient use of
equipment, cleanup
Score
________
_
10 points
max
________
__
25 points
max
________
_
45 points
max
________
_
20 points
max
Oral Report Organization
 Pick a Topic
 Pick a Time
17.
18.
19.
20.
1. Genetically modified foods
21.
2. Stem cell research
22.
3. COX-II inhibitors (Vioxx, Celebrex)
23.
4. Biological warfare agents
24.
5. Possible flue pandemic
25.
6. Guidant pace maker recall
26.
7. Gene delivery to treat human disease
27.
8. FDA regulation of pharmaceuticals
28.
rd
9. Low cost medical techn. for the 3 World 29.
10. Agricultural use of antibiotics.
30.
11. Agro-chemicals vs. Organic foods
31.
12. Global climate change
32.
13. Mercury pollution
33.
14. Air pollution in Utah
34.
15. Perchlorate pollution in Utah
35.
16. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling
36.
37.
38.
Topics
Paper vs Plastic Grocery Bags
Cloth vs. Disposable diapers
Hybrid cars
Diesel vs. Gasoline
Fuel cells
Oil shale
The price of gasoline
Tar sands
Clean coal technology
K-12 Science and math education
New Orleans levy system
Wind Energy
Solar energy
Nuclear energy
Nuclear waste storage in Utah
Yucca Mountain
Nuclear reactor security at the U
Acid mine drainage in Utah
Recycling at the U of U
Nuclear weapons testing
Sustainable Transportation
Saving energy in Salt Lake City
Oral Presentation Delivery Times
W
10/29
Oral Reports
M
11/3
Oral Reports
W
11/5
Oral Reports
M
11/10
Oral Reports
W
11/12
Lab III Assignment Given Out,
F 11/14
Lab Report II Due in Dept Office, 1 pm
M
11/17
Oral Reports
W
11/19
Oral Reports
M
11/24
Oral Reports
W
11/26
Oral Reports
M
12/1
Oral Reports
W
12/3
Oral Reports
M
12/8
Oral Reports
W
12/10
Oral Reports
Report Writing
Chemical Engineering 4903
“Rather than simply the manner in
which engineering design is
communicated, writing is the medium
through which quality engineering
design becomes possible.”
—Swarts and Odell (2001)
(ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings)
Overview
• Utilizing your Writing Consultant
• Citation
• Grammar and Punctuation
• Proofreading and Editing
• Revision Option
Utilizing your Writing Consultant
• One-on-one consultation
Office: WEB 1813
Hours: T 11:45-12:45 and 2-3;
W 2-3 and by appointment
• Rewrite consultation
• Email: [email protected]
• Drop by!
Citation Guidelines
• Cite a text within the body of your report…
• when you quote material from the text
• when you reference *ideas* that you got from the
text (or, often, a few different texts)
• when you use images, charts, tables, graphs, etc.
from the text.
• The burden of citation becomes greater the
farther along in your education and career
you get.
Citation Guidelines
• In-text citations require the author’s last name and the year of
the text, as follows (Last Name, year).
• If you cite an author’s name in your sentence (see first citation
in example below), just cite the date in parentheses.
• If you do not cite the author’s name in your sentence (see
second citation), cite both the name and date in parentheses.
Example: The coiled tube has been suggested as a useful
geometry for certain chemical reactors by Koutsky and Adler
(1964) because axial mixing is limited by the transverse flow
(Erdogan and Chatwin, 1967; McConalogue, 1970; Nunge et al.,
1972).
Citation Guidelines
Basic Journal Citation:
Last name, First initials (additional authors are listed first
initials, last name), “Article Title,” Italicized Journal
Title, Bolded Volume Number, beginning page number
(year in parentheses).
SO:
Koutsky, J. A., and R. J. Adler, "Minimization of Axial
Dispersion by Use of Secondary Flow in Helical Tubes,"
Can. J. Chem. Eng., 42, 239 (1964).
Citation Guidelines
• Alphabetize the References page according to the author’s
(or patentee’s or editor’s) last name. List the last name first.
• There’s no need to reverse the order of second author’s
name because it won’t be alphabetized.
• Example: Erdogan, M. E., and P. C. Chatwin, "The Effects of Curvature and
Buoyancy on the Laminar Dispersion of Solute in a Horizontal Tube," J. Fluid Mech.,
29, 465 (1967).
• For 4+ authors, list first author’s name followed by “, et al.,”
• Example: Ordway, F. I., et al., Applied Astronautics: An Introduction toSpace
Flight, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N. J. (1963).
• Indent second+ lines of citation on References Page.
Citation Guidelines
• See Geoff Silcox’s Web site for the official “Guidelines for
Literature References in the Department of Chemical Engineering
at the University of Utah.”
• When in doubt, look it up!
• The Guidelines document contains citation information for the
following kinds of odd resources: emails, corporate authors,
encyclopedia references, conference and symposium
proceedings, journals with issue numbers or different kinds of
pagination, CD-ROM publications, and many more…
Grammar and Punctuation
Voice
• Use active voice as much as possible.
• Passive: A numerical example
is now given to illustrate the
above example.
• Active: The following
numerical example illustrates
this result.
Grammar and Punctuation
Tense
• Use past tense for procedural, narrative
parts, and calculations; present tense for
theory, known facts, and discussing
figures, tables and diagrams
• Past: Early investigations were
reviewed.
• Present: The following numerical
example illustrates this result.
Grammar and Punctuation
Hyphenation
• Use a hyphen when two or more words modify
another word, and the words work as a unit. Do
not hyphenate most prefixes added to common
nouns.
Examples:
She is a health-care worker. (requires
hyphen)
She works in health care. (no hyphen)
She is a healthy, careful worker. (no hyphen)
Grammar and Punctuation
Hyphenation (cont.)
• engineering-specific hyphenated terms:
Acetic-acid water system
bubble-cap tray
liquid-gas interface
a 20-percent increase
a two- or three-year study
• but don’t hyphenate most prefixes:
precooled not pre-cooled
nonpolar not non-polar
Exceptions: co-worker not coworker
co-ion not coion
Grammar and Punctuation
Nonsexist language
• Nonsexist language is the norm in all
professional writing. Try using the plural rather
than the singular to avoid any awkwardness.
Sexist:
A good writer always proofreads his work.
Nonsexist:
Good writers always proofread their work.
Proofreading and Editing
•See Professor Ring’s online Introduction
to Report Writing Powerpoint for
specific examples of style, grammar,
and punctuation rules.
• Many of the previous examples were
culled from the Powerpoint.
Proofreading and Editing
•Proofread, proofread, proofread!
• Online resource: The Writing Checklist
• Revise your report at least three different times,
with different emphases in mind.
• Start by looking at the big picture, and slowly
narrow your focus down to the smaller and more
specific details.
• Use The Writing Checklist as a guide to your
revision process. It’s made with the report in mind.
Purpose
Use this document to revise, edit, and proofread your own writing more effectively for this course and
in the future.
The Writing Process
Your writing process should involve a number of stages, including research and lab work,
planning/outlining, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. The best writers often write sections of
their reports separately, rather than trying to tackle the entire document all at once. Similarly, the best
writers edit in stages, reading through the document over and over again with different emphases in
mind. Focusing on a limited number of issues during a given phase of the writing process helps you to
revise and edit more effectively. It’s more efficient to revise documents beginning with a broad,
organizational perspective and moving to a more detailed, sentence-level perspective. That way, you
don’t waste time polishing sentences that you’ll end up cutting or rewriting anyway.
1. Revising: The big picture
Read your draft from your audience’s point of view and check it for the following big-picture concerns:
___Accuracy—Are the facts, and the interpretation of the facts, clear and correct?
___Sections—Is each section of the report full and complete? Are sections clearly identifiable and
focused? Do you fulfill all the requirements of each section?
___Sectional Structure—Do the sections, paragraphs and sentences flow in an order that will be
logical from the reader’s perspective?
___Development—Are key points developed with enough detail? Are you, at any point, in danger of
jumping ahead of your reader without providing sufficient explanation between points?
___Argumentation—Do you provide evidence to back up the claims you make, or do you just ask your
reader to take your word for it? Do you provide the sources behind your theory?
___Counterarguments—Do you anticipate and address potential disagreements a reader might have
with your assertions or questions your reader might wish to ask?
___Overall Focus—Is there any distracting or irrelevant information that can be cut without distorting
the report?
___Overall Structure—Is the information presented in an order that will be logical from the reader’s
perspective?
2. Editing: Narrowing your focus
Consider reading your report out loud to yourself at this point. Often, our ears can catch
grammatical errors and awkward sentences/transitions that our eyes might miss. Trust your
ears, and consider recasting those sentences that feel awkward when read out loud. If the
terminology in this section is new to you, please feel free to ask Kathryn questions or drop
by her office hours for a brush-up on grammar.
___Tone—Do the vocabulary and other features convey an appropriate level of formality
and professionalism and an appropriate attitude toward the reader?
___Paragraphs—Does each paragraph have a clear main idea and purpose? Do sentences
come in a logical order within the paragraph?
___Continuity—Are there any gaps in information? Do sentences ever seem to jump around
without sufficient connection?
___Quotations—Have you double-checked that all quoted material is correctly quoted and
cited? Do quotations accurately represent the positions of their authors?
___Voice—Is active voice the default, with passive voice only strategically deployed? Do
you avoid the use of “we” or “I”?
___Uncertainty Analysis—Have you included an uncertainty analysis in appropriate tables
and figures?
___Citation—Do you cite your sources correctly and consistently, both in the body of the
report and in a list of references?
___Tables—Are your tables numbered using Arabic numerals? Are they self-explanatory? Is
the descriptive heading at the top? Is the descriptive heading clear and easy to follow?
___Figures—Are your figures numbered using Arabic numerals? Are captions at the bottom
of the figure, in complete sentences? Do figures contain axis labels, correlation curves, error
bars, and plots with theoretical lines where applicable?
3. Proofreading: A local focus
Always proofread your document at least once after revising/editing before turning it in.
___Headers & Footers—Do the correct headers & footers appear on every page, with the correct date
and spelling?
___Page Numbers—Are page numbers formatted correctly (e.g., not in left margin for bound reports)?
___Title & Headings—Are the title and all headings accurate and correctly spelled?
___Margins—Are all margins at least 1” wide and no more than 1.25’?
___Format—Is the formatting consistent throughout the entire document?
___Punctuation—Are you using commas, semicolons, and colons correctly? Are you using quotation
marks and periods correctly? (Watch particularly for run-on sentences, comma splices, semi-colon and
colon use with dependent clauses, etc.)
___Spelling and Grammar—Have you run a spelling and grammar check? Have you fixed any potential
problems?
___Prepositional Phrases—Is there more than one prepositional phrase in a given sentence? If so,
should the sentence be revised?
___Dependent Clauses—Do commas set apart dependent clauses when necessary?
___Dangling Participles—Do you avoid dangling participles?
___Hyphenation—Do you use hyphens to connect two or more words that modify another word, and that
work as a unit?
___Nonsexist language—Are you careful to use properly inclusive, professional language throughout?
___Nouns—Are all acronyms spelled out the first time they appear? Are all proper nouns spelled
correctly and capitalized?
___Verbs—Do verbs match in number and tense? Do they describe the action you mean them to? Are
you using past tense in describing procedure, and present tense in describing theory and discussing
figures and diagrams?
___Pronouns—Is it clear when you use pronouns (especially “it” or “this”) what they’re referring back to?
Or could a reader be confused about what exactly a pronoun refers to, or its antecedent (especially
when a sentence begins with a pronoun)?
___Readability—Are your sentences easy to read, or does you reader have to read them two or three
times to figure out what you mean?
Revision Option
 Improve your grade.
 Schedule a one-on-one consultation.
 Provide Kathryn with a physical copy of your report in
advance of the meeting.
 Come prepared with questions, concerns, and comments
from the person who graded your report.
 Revise your report within one week of your
consultation.
 Hand it in to Kathryn along with the graded original.