![Concise
• Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no
unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary
sentences for the same reason that a drawing should have
no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary
parts. The requires not that the writer make all the
sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects in the
outline , but that every word tell [Shrunk and White,
2008]
• “ I have made this letter too long because I did not have
the free time to make it short” (Pascal, 1656)](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/firstlecture-241210211504-84f3c64a/85/First-Lecture-pptx-presentation-for-technician-13-320.jpg)
First Lecture.pptx presentation for technician
- 2. • There is no such thing as Something for nothing. Napolean Hill
- 3. Ancient Chinese Philosopher Confucius I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.
- 4. Ancient Chinese Philosopher Confucius I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand. I practice and I perfect
- 5. Ancient Chinese Philosopher Confucius • I hear and I forget. 0% • I see and I remember. 30% • I do and I understand. 41% - 48% • I practice and I perfect > 60% Remember to do Remember to take time to read your notes Remember to take time to practice
- 6. Key Aspects of Technical Communications • Precision • Concise • Intent
- 7. Precision • When you can measure what you are speaking about and express it in numbers, you know something about it; but when you cannot express it in numbers your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind; it may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely, in your thoughts, advanced to the stage of science – William Thompson, Lord Kelvin , 1883
- 8. Precision • Precision can achieved by using measurable quantities and avoiding vague modifiers like – countless, – some, – approximately, – huge, – tiny, – Microscopic and so on
- 9. Replacing imprecise statement with precise numbers • Imprecise • A few • Some • Many • Most • All • Precise (fractional form) • 1/100 • 1/20 • ½ • 90/100 • 100/100
- 10. Replacing imprecise statement with precise range • Imprecise • A few • Some • Many • Most • All • Precise (Range) • <10 • 10 - 20 • 21 – 50 • 51 - 99 • 100
- 11. Range of Number that could replace imprecise rate • Imprecise • Always • Frequently • Often • Sometimes • Rarely • Never • Precise (as a ratio) • 100% • 99% - 70% • 75% - 50% • 50% - 25% • 25% - 1% • 0%
- 12. Precision • Examples –It is far •It is five miles away –It will not be long •It will take 30 minutes –
- 13. Concise • Vigorous writing is concise. A sentence should contain no unnecessary words, a paragraph no unnecessary sentences for the same reason that a drawing should have no unnecessary lines and a machine no unnecessary parts. The requires not that the writer make all the sentences short or avoid all detail and treat subjects in the outline , but that every word tell [Shrunk and White, 2008] • “ I have made this letter too long because I did not have the free time to make it short” (Pascal, 1656)
- 14. Examples of Conciseness • The mechanism will require a substantial amount of redesign • There are many replacement parts available out there
- 15. Examples of Conciseness • The mechanism will require a substantial amount of redesign • The mechanism will require a substantial redesign. • There are many replacement parts available out there. • There are many replacement parts available.
- 16. Examples of Conciseness • These facts, taken as a whole, indicate that system failure is inevitable. • During the give and take session with the customer, the following concerns were raised; A repair kit must go along with each unit sold.
- 17. Examples of Conciseness • These facts, taken as a whole, indicate that system failure is inevitable. • These facts collectively, indicate that system failure is inevitable. • During the give and take session with the customer, the following concerns were raised; A repair kit must go along with each unit sold. • During the dialogue session with the customer, the following concerns were raised; A repair kit must accompany each unit sold
- 18. Assignment • Improve the sentences of the right by replacing the words in bold 1. A really strong odor was noticeable 2. To start off the procedure 3. Each unit weighs more or less 70kg 4. The possible reasons for a subsystem failure are many folds
- 19. Intent • There should be no intent to evoke an emotional response from the reader • The communicator should simply convey the information as concisely and correctly as possible.
- 20. Outline • Research Project Layout • Abstract • Literature Review • Formatting with Microsoft Word • Writing References • Writing Citations • Presentations • Making Power Point Slides
- 21. Writing a report in General • Must have a title • Executive summary • Introduction • Body • Conclusion • References
- 22. Executive summary • An executive summary, sometimes known as a management summary, is a short document or section of a document, produced for business purposes, that summarizes a longer report or proposal or a group of related reports, in such a way that readers can rapidly become acquainted with a large body of material without having to read it all.
- 23. Executive summary • It will usually contain a brief statement of the problem or proposal covered in the major document(s), background information, concise analysis and main conclusions. It is intended as an aid to decision making by managers and has been described as possibly the most important part of a business plan
- 24. Research Project Layout • Title Page • Certification • Letter of Transmittal • Acknowledgment • Abstract • Table of Content • Nomenclature: Acronyms Abbreviations & Notations • List of Figures • List of Tables
- 25. Research Project Layout (2) • Chapter 1: Introduction – 1.1 Background of Study – 1.2 Aims and objective – 1.3 Scope of work • Chapter 2: Literature Review – 2.1 Introduction – 2.2 ………………… • Chapter 3: Methodology/ Methods and Materials – 3.1 Introduction – 3.2 …………
- 26. Research Project Layout (2) • Chapter 1: Introduction – 1.1 Background of Study – 1.2 Aims and objective – 1.3 Scope of work • Chapter 2: Literature Review – 2.1 Introduction – 2.2 ………………… • Chapter 3: Methodology/ Methods and Materials – 3.1 Introduction – 3.2 …………
- 27. Research Project Layout (3) • Chapter 4: Results and Discussions – 4.1 Introduction – 4.2 ………….. • Chapter 5: Conclusions • References • Appendices
- 28. What is Research? • An investigation undertaken in order to discover new facts or to get additional information • Research is the systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data to answer a specific question, or to solve a problem
- 29. Abstract and Executive Summary • An executive summary differs from an abstract in that an abstract will usually be shorter and is intended to provide a neutral overview or orientation rather than being a condensed version of the full document. Abstracts are extensively used in academic research where the concept of the executive summary would be meaningless.
- 30. Abstract and Executive Summary • "An abstract is a brief summarizing statement ... read by parties who are trying to decide whether or not to read the main document", while "an executive summary, unlike an abstract, is a document in miniature that may be read in place of the longer document"
- 31. Abstract • An abstract should explain in 1-2 lines, why the paper/thesis is important • Give a summary of your major results (preferably including numbers with error limits) • The final sentences should explain the major implications/contributions of your work • Abstracts generally do not have citations • Be explicit in your writing • Use numbers where appropriate
- 32. Abstract (2) • Answers to these questions should be found in the abstract: – What did you do? What does your research entail? – Why did you do it? What question were you trying to answer, that hasn’t already been answered? – How did you do it? State methods clearly. – What did you learn? State major results. – Why does it matter? Point out at least one significant implication of your research.
- 33. Literature Review • Not a chronological catalog, but an evaluation • All sides of an argument must be clearly explained, to avoid bias, and areas of agreement and disagreement should be highlighted • It is not a collection of quotes and paraphrasing from other sources • A good literature review should also have some evaluation of the quality and findings of the research
- 34. Purpose of Literature Review 1. Provide a context for the research 2. Justify the research 3. Ensure the research hasn't been done before (or that it is not just a "replication study") 4. Show where the research fits into the existing body of knowledge 5. Enable the researcher to learn from previous theory on the subject 6. Illustrate how the subject has been studied previously 7. Highlight flaws in previous research 8. Outline gaps in previous research 9. Show that the work is adding to the understanding and knowledge of the field 10.Help refine, refocus or even change the topic
- 36. Dividing Document into Sections • There are three sections by pagation – Cover page – Pages i, ii, iii , iv …… c – Pages 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, …….. 999
- 37. Dividing Document into Sections (2) For Older versions of Microsoft Word: • Click between two parts of your document that you want to number differently. • On the Insert menu, click Break; then click Next Page, Even Page, or Odd Page. • Click in the first section. • On the View menu, click Header and Footer. • On the Header and Footer toolbar, click Insert Page Number, and then click Format Page Number. • In the Number format box, click the format that you want for the numbers in this section. • Do one of the following: – If you want the page numbering for the first page in this section to start at a particular number other than the first number in the format series, click Start at under Page numbering, and then enter the first number that you want to appear on the first page of the section. – If you want the page numbering to continue from the previous section, click Continue from previous section. • On the Header and Footer toolbar, click Show Next. • Repeat the above steps for the page numbering in this section. • On the Header and Footer toolbar, click Close.
- 38. Dividing Document into Sections (3) For Newer versions of Microsoft Word: • Click on the Page Layout tab, and select Breaks • Then scroll down to the Section Breaks section, and choose Next Page • Click on the Insert tab, and choose Page Number • Select Format Page Number and then instead of choosing to continue from previous section, you choose the new numbering format you want and what number exactly to start from (1,2 3…)
- 39. Tables • Use “Table” • They should reflect the Chapter • Example: – Table 6.1 is the first Table in Chapter 6 – Table 10.9 if the ninth Table in Chapter 10 • Table numbering is at the Top
- 40. Figures • Use “Fig.” or “Figure”; be consistent • Figure numbering is a the bottom (of the figure), and should reflect the Chapter • Example – Fig. 6.1 is the first figure in Chapter 6 – Figure 10.9 if the ninth figure in Chapter 10
- 41. Plagiarism Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work
- 42. Types of Plagiarism • "Copy & Paste Plagiarism" • "Word Switch Plagiarism" • "Style Plagiarism" • "Metaphor Plagiarism" • " Idea Plagiarism"
- 43. "Copy & Paste Plagiarism" • "Any time you lift a sentence or significant phrase intact from a source, you must use quotations marks and reference the source." •
- 44. "Word Switch Plagiarism" • "If you take a sentence from a source and change around a few words, it is still plagiarism. If you want to quote a sentence, then you need to put it in quotation marks and cite the author and article. But quoting Source articles should only be done if what the quote says is particularly useful in the point you are trying to make in what you are writing." In many cases, paraphrasing and then citing the original sources is a better option.
- 45. "Style Plagiarism" • "When you follow a Source Article sentence- by-sentence or paragraph-by-paragraph, it is plagiarism, even though none of your sentences are exactly like those in the source article or even in the same order. What you are copying in this case is the author's reasoning style."
- 46. "Metaphor Plagiarism” • "Metaphors are used either to make an idea clearer or give the reader an analogy that touches the senses or emotions better than a plain description of the object or process. Metaphors, then, are an important part of an author's creative style. If you cannot come up with your own metaphor to illustrate an important idea, then use the metaphor in the Source Article, but give the author credit for it."
- 47. " Idea Plagiarism" • "If the author of the source article expresses a creative idea or suggests a solution to a problem, the idea or solution must be clearly attributed to the author. Students seem to have a hard time distinguishing author's ideas and/or solutions from public domain information. Public domain information is any idea or solution about which people in the field accept as general knowledge. For example, what a black hole is and how it is defined is general knowledge. You do not need to reference a general description of a black hole. The escape velocity of earth is also general knowledge and needs no reference. The distance to the center of the Galaxy is also general knowledge. However, a new idea about how to look for black holes or a new solution to a physics problem needs to be attributed to the authors. If you don't know what is accepted as public domain in a particular field, ASK."
- 48. Avoiding Plagiarism • Please note that any paper, book, or journal that impacts your work, must be referenced in your Bibliography • You can avoid plagiarism by doing any of the following: – Citation – Summarizing – Paraphrasing
- 49. References/Bibliography • All entries into the list of references have the following format: – For the Harvard Standard • Author, Date, Title, Publication Information – For the APA Standard • Author, (Date), Title, Publication Information
- 50. References • Used to demonstrate to your readers that you have conducted a thorough and appropriate literature search, and reading. • An acknowledgement that you have used the ideas and written material belonging to other authors in your own work. • As with all referencing styles, there are two parts: citing and the reference list.
- 51. Bibliography • There may be items which you have consulted for your work, but not cited. These can be listed at the end of your assignment in a ‘bibliography’. • These items should be listed in alphabetical order by author and laid out in the same way as items in your reference list. • If you can cite from every work you consulted, you will only need a reference list. • If you wish to show to your reader (examiner) the unused research you carried out, the bibliography will show your extra effort
- 52. Citations • When you use another person’s work in your own work, either by referring to their ideas, or by including a direct quotation, you must acknowledge this in the text of your work. This acknowledgement is called a citation • When you are using the APA or Harvard style, your citation should include: 1. The author or editor of the cited work 2. The year of publication of the cited work
- 53. Citing From Works With No Obvious Author • If you need to cite a piece of work which does not have an obvious author, you should use what is called a ‘corporate’ author. For example, many online publications will not have individually named authors, and in many cases the author will be an organization or company. – The number of dementia sufferers in the UK has been recently estimated at 570 000 (Department of Health, 2008). • If you are unable to find either a named or corporate author, you should use ‘Anon’ as the author name. • Be careful: if you cannot find an author for online work, it is not a good idea to use this work as part of your research. • It is essential that you know where a piece of work has originated, because you need to be sure of the quality and reliability of any information you use.
- 54. Citations
- 55. Sources of information • Books • Journals • Magazines • Conferences Proceedings • Newsletters • Webblog
- 56. Do you know a hard-working man? He shall be successful and stand before kings! Proverbs 22: 29