Academic Writing

1. Academic Writing Lesson 14 June 11, 2013 Lynn Mallory

2. Learning Targets • To make strong conclusions about a topic using correct grammar. • To explain the purposes and parts of an abstract. • To analyze an abstract and give advice to the author.

3. Review -- Parts of the Conclusion

4. Evaluate these conclusions 1. Go to today’s tab on the website. 2. Click on Conclusion examples 3. Compare these two conclusions with a double bubble map. #1 #2 http://nateology.com/wp-content/uploads/Doublebubble.gif

5. Abstracts -- Purposes • To get someone to read your paper • To get someone to come to your presentation • To help busy researchers find resources for their own research • To keep busy professionals current in their field

6. Parts of an Abstract • (almost the same as the paper) • Background • Purpose • Method • Results • Conclusion Adapted from Writing Up Research by Robert Weissberg & Suzanne Buker (2008)

7. Background • The amount depends on your audience • Show gap in research • Research questions • May be omitted in shorter abstracts • Present tense verbs • Although computers are now common in classrooms throughout the • United States, it is not clear what • their most effective role is in the • teaching-learning process.

8. Purpose • State clearly and briefly • If beginning with this, give context • Can describe the PAPER/PRESENTATION, rather than the STUDY • Past tense verbs • This study compared the effects of computer-assisted instruction and traditional lecture-discussion on • the performance of graduate • students enrolled in an agricultural • education course.

9. Method • Includes sample, procedure, materials • May be mixed with results • Past tense verbs The cases of this study were performed in a low speed wind tunnel and multiple coolant flow rates through the film-cooling holes. A range of blowing ratios (U∞/Uc) was studied whereby coolant was injected from holes placed along the camber line of the blade with a large scale blade model with the mainstream velocity at 11.3 m/s. Numerical analysis was conducted in a linear cascade with a scaled-up turbine blade whereby the Reynolds number of the engine was matched (2.1*105). http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/scientific-method-7.jpg

10. Results • The main focus of scientific abstracts • Choose 1 or 2 significant results to share • May be combined with method • Past Tense Students in the control group performed significantly better on a written test than either of the two treatment groups. Students having previous experience with computers did not perform significantly better than those new to computer-assisted instruction.

11. Conclusion • Include your most important recommendation, whether for action of for research • Present tense and modals Overall, the holes appears to be a feasible method for prolonging blade life. Or Further research needs to be conducted to determine that most appropriate place for computer-assisted instruction in agricultural education.

12. Break Time

13. Let’s Look at this Abstract • Abstract—Thirty street dust samples were collected from all over Bushehr city, Iran, to characterize the spatial distribution and sources of two soil heavy metals (Pb, and Mn) and for the interrelation patterns of these elements, anthropogenic, the multivariate analysis was applied. Samples were collected by the random systematic method. The concentrations of Pb, and Mn were analyzed with an ICP-AES. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used, and geostatistics was conducted for the data processing. The results showed that the main source of the Pb is anthropogenic, mines of Mn natural material. The result's finding of this research showed that multivariate statistical analysis, a powerful tool for identifying and monitoring sources of heavy metals of street dust. • Index Terms—Geostatistics, Heavy metals, Principal component analysis, Spatial variability, Street dust.

14. Now the Gasifier abstract • Biomass gasification has been receiving increasing attention as a potential renewable energy source for the last few decades. This attempt involved designing, developing and testing a small downdraft biomass gasifier JRB-1 (6-7 kW) at Durham University, UK. The gasifier was built of stainless steel pipes, sheets and other fittings and tested for wood chips and pellets. The composition, moisture content and consumption of biomass feedstock (3.1 kg/hr for wood chips, 2.9 kg/hr for pellets), temperature inside the reaction zone (950-1150 oC), primary air flow rate (0.0015 m3/s) and exit temperature of the producer gas (180-220 oC) was measured. The main constituents of syngas included nitrogen (50-56%), carbon monoxide (19-22%), hydrogen (12-19%), carbon dioxide (10-12%) and a small amount of methane (1-2%). These results were used in Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software to obtain the lower calorific value of syngas (4424-5007 kJ/m3) and cold gas efficiency (62.5-69.4%) of the gasifier, which were found close to the calculated values. Again the thermal efficiency was calculated as 90.1-92.4%. Being comparatively easy to build, downdraft gasifiers like JRB-1 are likely to be the most appropriate technology for developing countries.

15. Abstract Tips • Let’s look at the English Solutions Textbook, pg. 154 • General guidelines •  Journal articles range from short communications or letters with abstracts ranging from 50-125 words to full length articles with abstracts of around 150-250 words. •  Conference abstracts: 150-600 words •  Master’s thesis: 150-300 words •  Dissertation: 350 words see http://wwwlib.umi.com/dissertations/ for examples •  However, always check the author guidelines for the journal or conference and check with your department for thesis or dissertation guidelines.

16. Writing Time