|
DATE |
TOPIC |
ASSIGNMENT
(due the following week) |
| 8/27 | Why write? |
Paragraph of
research interests. Read Gopen and Swan. |
|
9/3 |
Titles and
Abstracts |
In class:
comment on a paragraph Write abstract of
class handout. |
|
9/10 |
Thesis -
introduction |
Introduction (2-3
pages) |
|
9/17 |
Thesis -
literature review/ plagiarism |
In class Comment on neighbor’s Intro. Literature review
outline |
|
9/24 |
Thesis - methods |
Rough Draft (your
data or distributed data) |
|
10/1 |
Thesis - results |
Rough Draft (your
data or distributed data) |
|
10/8 |
Thesis -
discussion |
Rough Draft (your
data or distributed data) or Outline |
|
10/15 |
Thesis –
conclusion, references; revisions, proofing |
Rough draft |
|
10/22 |
Manuscript writing
/ review |
Critique of
manuscript |
|
10/29 |
Publication /
Journal selection/ Authorship / Cover letters |
Select journal,
authors and reasoning, cover letter |
|
11/5 |
Presentations:
Poster |
Poster handout |
|
11/12 |
Presentations Oral |
Oral presentation
(slide printout) |
|
11/19 |
Research proposals |
Rough draft -
proposal for Sigma Xi |
|
11/26 |
Writing for the
public |
Write a news
article for the science section of a newspaper |
|
12/3 |
Letters, resumés,
thesis guidelines |
Letter for job and
grant information; resumé |
|
12/11 |
Final |
Writing Portfolio |
This course is intended to help you become better at communicating scientific information through reports, papers, theses, proposals, posters, and talks. By the end of the course you should have a working draft of at least part of your thesis. We will use a “workshop’ format, in which practical application (both in and out of class) of the skills we discuss is an important part.
Grading
10 points per written assignment (one per week)
15 points for attendance
15 points for participation
other assignments may be added
Grading Scale:
A = >90%
B = 80-89%
C = 70-79%
| All students in this class are expected to have mastered the basic conventions of written English (punctuation, sentence structure, usage, etc.). The course is not focused on those conventions, but instead assumes them. |
| All assignments must be typed unless other arrangements are made. |
| Attendance and participation are important to this course, and are part of the grade. Participation includes reasonable effort and attention to in class exercises. |
| Deadlines are a reality in Science, and also in this course. Late assignments lose 25% for each day they are late, unless prior arrangements are made. |
| After the initial scoring, each assignment can be revised and resubmitted ONCE for regrading. When doing so, you MUST have someone else read the revised assignment, and must include those comments, along with the original assignment, in your resubmission. Rewrites are due two weeks after the initial due date. |
Plagiarism.
Diana
Hacker writes, "To borrow another writer's language or ideas without proper
acknowledgment is a form of dishonesty known as plagiarism" (1997. A Pocket
Style Manual, 2nd Edition. Bedford
Books, Boston, p. 91). The
University of Akron regards plagiarism as a grave academic offense, which will
not be tolerated. You are guilty of
plagiarism if you use, without proper acknowledgment, paragraphs, single
sentences, clauses, or ideas of others, regardless of the source (scientific
publications, books, pamphlets, newspapers or newsletters, commercial "term
paper" services, electronic media [such as information on the Internet,
CD-ROM's, etc.], papers previous students have submitted for this or other
courses, and the like). If you have
any questions about what constitutes plagiarism, be sure to inquire before
submitting your papers!
If you are caught plagiarizing or cheating on any graded portion of this class, you will be reprimanded to the full extent outlined in the student handbook. This includes one of the following actions: reduction of course grade, disciplinary probation, suspension, or outright dismissal from the University.
The administration has asked me to state that
"Students whose names do not appear on the university's official class list
will not be permitted to participate (attend class, take exams, or receive
credit) without first showing proof of registration."
|
Day, R.A. 1998. How to write and publish a scientific paper. 5th ed. Oryx Press |
|
Houp, K.W., T. E. Pearsall. 1980. Reporting technical information. 4th ed. MacMillan |
|
McMillan, V. E. 2001. Writing papers in the Biological Sciences. 3rd ed. Bedford/St. Martin's |
|
Pechenik, J. A. 2004. A short guide to writing about biology. Pearson Longman. |
|
Penrose, A. M., S. B. Katz. 1998. Writing in the sciences. St. Martin's |
| University of Akron Thesis Guidelines: http://www.uakron.edu/gradsch/gdlnThesDiss.php |
| Writing up research online: http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21OPEN.HTM. Asian Institute of Technology website with good background on all the parts of a scientific paper, including some things that are hard to find such as Literature reviews: How to have your abstract rejected: ftp://parcftp.xerox.com/pub/popl96/vanLeunenLipton. Amusing counter-advice, mostly with a computer/math perspective, but still fun. |
|
Literature reviews and Using the literature: http://www.languages.ait.ac.th/EL21lit.htm. Has some good background, explains why it is a useful research tool, give some guidance on outlining |
| How to write a literature review (from Sportscience - emphasis on this as a stand-alone review paper): http://www.sportsci.org/jour/9901/wghreview.html |
| The Literature Review: a few tips on conducting it: http://www.utoronto.ca/writing/litrev.html |
| Methods: Ramírez-Jiménez, Antonio; García-Villanova, Belén; Guerra-Hernández, Eduardo. 2001. Effect of toasting time on the browning of sliced bread Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 81:513 - 518. (available online through the University Library). I became aware of this through the Annals of Improbable Research: http://www.improb.com/airchives/paperair/volume9/v9i4/airhead_research.html . |
|
Grant Proposal guidelines from Sigma Xi for grants in aid of research (GIAR): http://www.sigmaxi.org/programs/giar/index.shtml |
| Scientific writing class: Gary Ritchison of Eastern Kentucky University has a full featured website for his class (http://www.biology.eku.edu/RITCHISO/801syl.htm). It is worth exploring - there are lots of useful suggestions and links here, and with a nice sprinkling of good humor. |
| Working with E-Prime (a way to improve your writing by eliminating all forms of the verb 'to be'): http://www.generalsemantics.org/Education/WEPrime.htm. Thinking hard and reading about these issues has helped improve my writing. This is a bigger change than simply using active voice. |
| A good example of the dangers of the passive voice, from a journalistic perspective (note this is in a weblog, and contains some opinion and political content; however, the point is well taken regardless of your political views): http://www.thismodernworld.com/weblog/mtarchives/week_2003_04_27.html#000536 and http://www.thismodernworld.com/weblog/mtarchives/week_2003_04_27.html#000528 |
| Evaluating internet sources of information: http://lib.nmsu.edu/instruction/evalcrit.html |
| |
| |
| |
|
http://www.georgetown.edu/honor/plagiarism.html - entertaining presentation, the heilbroner example is a very good explanation of when to use quotes, and how poor use of quotes signifies poor scholarship. Good section on paraphrasing and on citing sources too. |
| 'Some Modest Advice for Graduate students' by Steve Stearns: http://faculty.washington.edu/hueyrb/advice.pdf
| ||
| A little advice from 32,000 graduate students: http://chronicle.com/jobs/2002/01/2002011401c.htm | ||
| Choosing a research topic: http://chronicle.com/jobs/99/11/99111902c.htm | ||
| How to Be a Graduate Student (mostly a computer-science perspective, but still useful): http://www.cs.indiana.edu/HTMLit/how.2b/how.2b.html | ||
| Seeking a Faculty Position (written about chemistry, but useful nonetheless) http://pubs.acs.org/cen/education/8047/8047education3.html | ||
|
The Riley Guide Employment Opportunities and Job Resources on the Internet
http://www.rileyguide.com/
|
© RJ Mitchell 2003
