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Essays and Reports

Essays and Reports. A guide. Types of Scientific Writing. Factual account of accepted knowledge Textbooks, many student essays Reporting what has been found Lab reports, research papers Arguing a point of view interpreting data making a case. Types of writing. Essays

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Essays and Reports

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  1. Essays and Reports A guide

  2. Types of Scientific Writing • Factual account of accepted knowledge • Textbooks, many student essays • Reporting what has been found • Lab reports, research papers • Arguing a point of view • interpreting data • making a case

  3. Types of writing • Essays • Extended piece of writing on a single theme • Is in the form of continuous text • In the form of introduction, main section, conclusion • Report • Account of findings from an activity or project (e.g. lab report) • Usually divided into sections by headings • May contain recommendations for action • written in a concise style

  4. Guidelines for writing • Read the given title carefully • Be sure you are clear what is being asked • Gather your information • Keep notes of sources and information • Produce an outline plan • Write a draft - this need not be too neat • Read through your draft and make changes as needed • Submit when you are satisfied

  5. Look at the title • The words used in the title give a clue to what is needed • A factual account will contain words like describe, explain, Illustrate in the title. • An essay want a case making will contain words like discuss, evaluate, analyse. • Sometimes comparisons are wanted; e.g. compare, contrast, distinguish.

  6. Gathering information • Try always to base your answers on more than one source of information. • As you read, make notes. • Keep a record of your sources. • Ensure you know how to reference properly • Look at the DISSC website (http://dissc.tees.ac.uk/mainmenu.html)

  7. Plagiarism • Plagiarism is passing someone else’s work off as your own. It is cheating and is taken seriously. • Strategies to avoid plagiarism • Keep notes as you read - in your own words - and use these to construct your answers. • Keep a notebook with you for this purpose. • Avoidprinting or photocopying your source material if at all possible • Always make reference to your sources • If you must use the words of your source make it obvious you are quoting and state your source • Quote sparingly.

  8. Planning • A plan is an outline of your answer • It should show the shape of your answer without giving detail • It can be in the form of headings and sub headings or as a diagram

  9. Sample plan 1 • Title • Introduction • Main argument • evidence for • evidence against • evaluation of evidence • Other issues • Conclusion

  10. Sample plan 2

  11. Writing up • Start with a draft • It does not have to be • Neat • Legible to anyone but you • Use a word processor • Making changes is much easier • Remember to reference properly

  12. For more help & Info • DISSC • http://dissc.tees.ac.uk/mainmenu.html • You may also visit DISSC in the LRC • These notes may be found on my website • http://sst.tees.ac.uk/external/U0000504/ • Select Learning Skills from the main menu.

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