Transcript How not to write an honours report
How not to write an honours report
Prof Geraint Lewis
Why am I here?
Because I’m angry!!
But why are you here?
Your Honours project grade is very important, especially if you want to; get a university medal get a PhD scholarship (you need a 1 st ) want to stroke your ego so you need to do the best you can.
What’s expected of you?
It’s pretty simple really. All you need to do is • Do some original research (not simply a literature review) in a physics area.
• Write a report detailing your research findings.
• Give a talk to provide an overview of your research.
How are you graded?
70-74 Second class honours, second division - student is proficient in the theory and practice of their discipline but has not developed complete independence of thought, practical ma stery or clarity of presentation. Student shows adequate but limited understanding of the topic and has largely followed the direction of the supervisor. 65-69 Third class honours - performan ce indicates that the student has successfully comp leted the work, but at a standard barely meeting honours criteria. The student’s understanding of the topic is extreme ly limi ted and they have shown little or no independence of thought or performance.
How are you graded?
80-89 Clear First Class quality, showing a command of the field both broad and deep, with the presentation of some novel in sights. Student will have shown a solid foundation of conceptual thought and a breadth of factual knowled ge of the discipline, clear fami liarity with and ability to use central methodology and experimental practices of the discipline, and clear evidence of some independence of thought in the subject area. Some student input into the direction of the study or development of techniques, and critical discussion of the outcomes. 75-79 Second class honours, fir st division - student will have shown a command of the theory and practice of the discipline. They will have demonstrated their ability to conduct work at an independent level and complete tasks in a timely manner, and have an adequate understanding of the background factual basis of the subject. Student shows some initiative but is more reliant on other people for ideas and techniques and project is dependent on supervisor’s suggestions. Student is dedicated to work and capable of undertaking a higher degree.
If you want to excel!
95-100 Outstanding First Class quality of clear Medal standard, demonstrating independent thought throughout, a flair for the subject, comprehensive knowledg e of the subject area and a level of achieveme nt similar to that expe cted by fir st rate academic journals. This mark reflects an exceptional achievement with a high degree of initiative and self-reliance, considerable student input into the direction of the study, and critical evaluation of the established work in the area. 90-94 Very high standard of work similar to above but overall performance is borderline for award of a Medal. Lower level of performa nce in certain categories or areas of study above. *NOTE: An honours mark of 90+ is a necessary, not a suffic ient, condition for the award of the Medal. Exa miners are referred to the Academic Board Guidelines on the award of Medals found in the general policy pages at the front of the Examiners' Manual.
Who examines you?
The overall project mark is made of 60% group mark 10% talk mark 30% external examiners mark (3x10%) Clearly you need to do well on all aspects of the examination process for a good final mark.
What do examiners do?
X Joe Honours Geraint Lewis 72 Absolute r u bbish!! Could ha ve been wri t ten by my kids GFL 22/11/09
What do examiners do?
It is important to remember that an individual examiner may read a lot of reports.
This especially true of senior staff in large groups (e.g. Astro, CUDOS etc) who will read most of the group reports (as well as see the talks), as well as acting as an external examiner on several more reports.
I typically assess 5-10 reports per year.
Therefore you need to stand out to get a high mark.
Where can you go wrong?
• • • • • •
Not giving enough time to writing.
Not writing an Honours report.
Poorly written, with poor language, formatting, figures and style.
Not telling a consistent story.
Overestimating the intelligence of your reader/examiner.
Not telling us what you did!
Give enough time!
Write an Honours Report!
You are not writing a journal article!!
Badly written
Generally, this is not a big problem, although bad text/figures are jarring (resulting in lower marks)!
Don’t assume that because you gave your supervisor a draft which they scribble on means that your text is perfect; it quite probably isn’t!
Get your peers to read through and comment, and take criticism constructively. Be prepared and complete drafts well in advance!
Not telling a story
Your report should be a complete story, with a beginning, middle and end.
Make sure you “set the scene” in the opening chapter, especially with regard to why what you did was interesting!
Make the text flow, so that it’s easy read, easy to follow, and goes somewhere.
Again, your peers can help.
Know your enemy!
Your external examiner may never have looked through a telescope, thought about quantum mechanics for 20 years or care about photonics. Theory, experimenter or observer?
Tell us what *you* did!!
The biggest complaint I have heard about reports is that “I don’t know what the student did”. Where does the literature review end & your research begin?
Make sure you emphasize the work that you did (don’t write in a passive voice).
Highlight your innovations, ideas and breakthroughs, and don’t be afraid to “blow your own trumpet”. Your inner brilliance will probably not shine through!!
Statement of Contribution
Don’t forget your talk!
The same rules apply for your talk, and it is essential for you to be prepared. Make sure your slides look “nice”, you tell a story and tell it well.
DO NOT overrun (20+5min) and be prepared for curly questions. If you don’t know the answer, just say so, but outline how you would go about finding out. DO NOT waffle a guess (you will look silly)!
DO NOT read off cards, or recite a script!
Practice, practice & then practice some more!
Talk Tips
• Introduce your topic, and what you are doing, and emphasize why it is interesting. Think hard about the level of the introductory material.
• You do not have to give a chronological description of events, or tell us everything that you did.
• Do not clutter slide with useless information.
• Don’t pad to make it look like you did a lot.
• Present bite-sized, take away results.
• Pull it all together at the end with key conclusions.
• Be upbeat and positive.
Table of Radio Properties
1. XMM-Newton observation Centaurus B
• • •
( radio: Jones, Lloyd, McAdam, 2001, MNRAS, 325, 817)
((pow + ray) x Gal. Abs.) Photon index: 2.65
± 0.31
Temperature: kT = 0.14 keV F (2-10keV) : 0.3
× 10 -13 cm -2 s -1 erg – – “jet” (power-law x Galactic Abs.) –
Photon index: 1.43
±
0.18
F (2-10keV) : 2.0E-13 erg cm -2 s -1 L (2-10keV) :5.6E40 erg s -1
“Jet” Un-identified Point Source AGN (power-law x Abs.) - Photon index: 1.56
± 0.02
- F (2-10keV) : 5.4E-12 ergcm -2 nucleus - L (2-10keV) :1.5E42 erg s -1 • Whole & “diffuse”
Photon index: 1.4
±
0.3
F (2-10keV) :6.7E-13erg cm -2 s -1 L (2-10keV) :1.9E41 erg s -1
& ASCA (Tashiro et al. 1998, ApJ 499, 713) “diffuse” “arrowhead” (power-law x Galactic Abs.) - Photon index: 1.66
± 0.43
- F (2-10keV) : 0.5E-13 ergcm -2 s -1 - L (2-10keV) “Arrow” :1.2E40 erg s -1
Stellar Evolution
Surface Brightness of M33
Red Points: Minor Axis Blue Points: Major Axis Green: Integrated light Dashed: Jones profiles
Key Results:
The surface density extends well beyond the tidal radius.
The major and minor axis profiles are similar.
And finally…
It’s important to be positive in writing your report, and “sell” your project.
It’s especially important to be positive in your closing chapter on Further Work highlighting your success and where it should go from here.
If your are not positive about your research and its impact, why should you expect your examiners to be positive?