4.0 The ability to write good English is vitally important, both at university and at work. If your English is poor, there is no quick fix, but reading a quality newspaper and popular science journals such as New Scientist or Nature will help. You should also discuss any feedback on essays with your lecturer and attend a Language Centre course if your English is not up to scratch.
For most essays it is assumed you will use a word processor, so that the final submission is the result of several sessions of developing and editing your drafts. Work directly onto the screen from your notes. If you own a fast Pentium PC and Word 97 or later, you should consider buying a voice dictation package such as ViaVoice, especially if you have trouble typing. Some dyslexic students are enthusiastic about these new versions of Word which have grammar and spell checkers running while you type. Alternatively see http://www.dyslexic.com/ for information on textHelp! and Inspiration
Whatever you use, be very careful to proof read your work and/or get someone else to read it.
For any sort of assignment make sure you fully understand the question before you attempt it. What is required of you? Analyse the question carefully, noting any restrictions on the length of your answer, how many marks the assignment is worth and how they will be distributed between the tasks required or various aspects of the assignment e.g. execution of the project, conclusions, presentation etc. If in doubt, ask.
Writing mathematics correctly is a task that requires no less attention to detail than actually doing the mathematics in the first place. A good guide can be found in the web book at http://www.maths.qmul.ac.uk/%7Efv/teaching/mw/.
For more general writing see http://www.thinkingwriting.qmul.ac.uk/.
Précis or summary work
4.1 If you are asked to write a précis or summary, it will be designed to test your comprehension and writing skills. You must therefore cover ALL OF THE MAIN POINTS AND NOTHING ELSE. Do not include ideas which were not in the original text, no matter how obvious, or your own comments, no matter how strongly you agree or disagree with the original text. You are being asked to provide an editorial summary - not a critique - of the material, and your marks will reflect this. Under exam conditions you will need to plan your time. In any case, begin by reading the whole article to get an overview of the content and how it fits together. Next read it again and make notes. Order your notes in terms of the original's logic and priorities. Only after this is clear in your mind should you start writing from your notes in your own words. Do not copy extensively from the text; use reported rather than direct speech. Your title should state you are writing a precis of "Original Title by Author ", so it is not necessary to waste words such as "The article states ... " or "Author goes on to say ...". Be economical in your sentence construction, but make sure the logic of the original still follows in your summary (remember to use paragraphs effectively); do not write a set of unconnected bullet points. Read the article again to check you have covered all the main points; expand or contract your précis as needed to fit the required length/word count. For assignments, read your work 2 days after writing it to make sure it actually makes sense before you hand it in.
Click here to view an example of a precis.
Projects and essays
4.2 Start early, allowing time to give your supervisor (or at least let a friend) a draft to read, before re-writes/edits and final submission. Final year project are typically 70 pages long and this seems daunting. To get started, make a list of all your objectives and all possible resources. Avoid the temptation to write a book, and do not wait until you have read everything on the subject - you will never get started of you do! Instead delimit the essay/project scope clearly so that it is not too big, but make a note of everything you have omitted in case you need it later (e.g. in writing Recommendations for Further Work).
Having decided the scope of your essay, draw a diagram of the subtopics and how they are connected together logically. Redraw this "mind map" several times until you are satisfied that it is complete and that you understand the connections fully. Only then should you start writing the ideas as a narrative.
Breaking the topic into such subtopics and writing them up before fully researching the others is often helpful; it helps you focus your ideas and gives you something to show for your efforts early on.
Do not include material which is not relevant, simply because you find it interesting or think you need padding. Meet the required specification of the work in terms of subject and page or word limits - if you don't you may get zero marks! Remember that garbage will still be recognised as garbage no matter how beautifully presented - there is no substitute for proper content.
I usually give a talk "Getting the most from your Final Year Project" early after the start of the projects. You can see the Powerpoint slides here.
The nature of the final year project has much in common with postgraduate research work, where responsibility for the management, content and content of the work passes to the student. You might therefore find the Postgraduate Research section and the http://www.engageinresearch.ac.uk/ site helpful.
PROJECT PLANNING: In planning your project (or even essay) you will find it useful to
- make a precise statement of your problem,
- draw up a scheduling chart (Gantt chart) ,
- outline your ideas using spray diagrams, category charts, flow diagrams etc. (see section 4.11 for examples of these),
- identify resource and time constraints, clear connections between ideas and information flow, to identify the data you need for application of chosen statistical techniques; you will certainly need to discuss experiment or questionnaire design with a statistician before spending time collecting, analysing and reporting data and drawing conclusions from it,
- specify any preliminary experiments or pilot studies you need,
- pinpoint areas of concern where you need to focus your attention, requirements such as equipment, training, software etc.
For projects and postgraduate work these charts and ideas should form an important part of your dissertation/thesis plan, and might even be included as an appendix in the final report. You will need to discuss these charts with your supervisor and update them regularly in the light of your agreed objectives and time plans. As a very rough guide, you could start with the schedule in section 11.2, mapping the 3 years of the PhD study discussed there into the time you have available.
At Brunel University, final year maths students have to submit a two page draft plan when they give their project talks about half way through the project. The following examples demonstrate good planning and serious engagement with the projects!
Draft Plan 1
Draft Plan 2
ORIGINALITY: Students often overestimate or underestimate what is required of them for a major report, such as the final year project dissertation. Undergraduates do sometime make important discoveries ... but more usually the final year project is required to be solid, honest and display some originality such as applying a known technique to a new situation. Keep a workmanlike approach (e.g. regular hours, set objectives, phone off the hook, "do not disturb" note on door) but be prepared for that "inspirational moment" and act on it immediately (keep a pen and paper by the bed).
INDEPENDENCE: Your supervisor will probably define what needs to be done quite closely at first, for example by setting model problems for you to work on. You will be expected to stand on your own feet more and more as time goes on, not only in the execution of set tasks, but also in generating and acting on your own ideas.
4.3 Keep the audience and purpose of your work in mind. Make short notes of all the points. Decide which are main points and which are subsidiary. Understand how the main points are logically connected. This prioritisation and synthesis of ideas and approaches is very important for your learning and understanding. Do not attempt to recycle lecture notes or to cover everything in the hope that some of what you say will be to the point; you will only get marks for discrimination and hard thinking about the subject. Copying, even if you edit the material afterwards, is NEVER acceptable.
Related topic.4.4 Departmental or University regulations apply to the contents of dissertations and theses (ask your supervisor). Note that a satisfactory final year project (>40% mark) is an absolute requirement for students at Brunel; you will not get a degree without it! Also note that it is worth 2/9 of your degree mark, so you should be spending about 2 days per week on the project. The marking scheme for the project can be found on the syllabus or in the departmental handbook.
4.5. Your essay/project should flow logically. For shorter essays, formal division into sections may not be needed, since this can be done by the use of paragraphs, reflecting the sections below. In general, longer work such as dissertations/theses should have section headings as follows (N.B. see your thesis/dissertation/project report requirements guide for the exact format):
Start Roman numbering
- Title/your name/ your year, the module/lecturer for the work and the date of submission. Make sure your title is correct, informative and short.
- Table of contents incl list of tables and figures if appropriate.
- Acknowledgements - mention any people who have helped you by discussing your work. Friends, parents and spouses might be mentioned but do keep it sensible: your examiners will not be impressed by such statements as "To Bob Dylan, whose songs kept me sane during this work!"
- Table of contents with page numbers incl. list of tables and figures if appropriate.
- Consider adding a Nomenclature defining all non-standard terms and symbols used.
- Abstract - stating the main area of work covered and main results obtained. This should not be more than half a page of type-written text (approx. 300 words) and is usually written last.
End Roman/start ordinary numbering. Use decimal notation and a larger font for
1. Main Heading
and1.1 Sub-heading.
- Introduction - usually a statement of the problem, why the problem is important and a review of previous work describing its strengths/generality and weaknesses/limitations. You should make clear where your work fits into existing knowledge and what gaps you have filled.
- Method - describes the methodology you are using. This might be an overview of your experimental design, data collection methodology or an overview of the main mathematical or statistical theories you will be using.
- Other sections - as needed, e.g. examples which fit into your main thrust. You should also include ideas which did not work out here, specifying (if possible) the reasons for their failure, and any unresolved issues or anomalies.
- Results - describes the results obtained and any limitations on their accuracy and generality. This section will usually contain analysis of the results/data and interpretation. An analysis of the sensitivity of the results to changes in parameters should also be considered.
- Conclusions - at least half a page of conclusions is needed. The conclusions must stress the main results only and require clear thinking. They are important and you cannot expect the reader to draw his/her own conclusions - if you are unable or can't be bothered to draw conclusions why should you expect your reader to do so? Make sure your conclusions are objectively supported by your results, and not influenced by what you "wanted" them to be! Be self-critical and absolutely honest. Do not include new material in the conclusion.
- Recommendations - any weaknesses in your work should be pointed out, preferably with an indication of how they might be avoided in future work. Suggestions for further work should be made.
Here's a friendly email, sent to final year maths students just before the submission date:
Dear Folks,
In the past, some students have thrown away marks by not thinking about the Conclusions and Recommendations sections. Avoid the pitfalls as follows:
This section needs thought; it should not be a hasty afterthought or a collection of things that you forgot to add earlier!
The Conclusions section should be no less rigorous than the maths sections; in particular your conclusions should be exactly that; they should not contain new ideas, but they should be honest conclusions that are supported by the evidence presented in your report. Think of it as what claims you can make that would stand up in a court of law. What have you proved? What can you reasonably claim, based on the work you have done? Unsupported conclusions will cost you marks!
The Recommendations for further work section could be a detailed specification for the next project student in the area of your project. You must identify what limitations are in your work (be honest and critical and we will reward you with marks, not penalise you!) and, importantly, how, at least in broad terms (but the more detailed the better), could a future project overcome them. Obviously your project might have open up new ideas/areas/applications that are worth investigating - again avoid being vague here. Your Recommendations should certainly contain some mathematics, not just descriptive and wordy thoughts (no matter how beautiful!).
There is 10% here; that means 7 pages out of the maximum of 70 on a pro rata basis. Most maths projects will have 1-2 pages of conclusions I suppose, and this should be followed by 5 pages of Recommendations. The balance might vary, and these guidelines might not apply to all projects ... so give your supervisor a draft now to allow time for comments and for you to act on them. The same probably applies to your Introduction.
- References - Keep a careful note of exact references you have made, otherwise it will be a lot of extra work finding the articles again when you write it up. You can record your references using either the British Standard or Harvard methods, see for example http://libweb.anglia.ac.uk/referencing/harvard.htm produced by the Anglia Ruskin University.
Journal articles may be referenced thus:
Greenhow M. "All you wanted to know about Calculus, but were afraid to ask" J. Interesting Results, 8, no. 4, (1983), pp 1-13.Articles in books may be referenced thus:
Greenhow M. "Another boring paper about mathematics" in A collection of essays in mathematics by some people who ought to know better, Ch 6, ed. M, Thatcher, C.U.P., 1993.Books, CD-Roms etc may be referenced thus:
Greenhow M. A self-study guide to newt racing, J. Wiley & Sons, 1979.Web sites should be referenced by the full URL of the site (at the top starting with http://...) and the date when it was accessed.
In the journal reference above, bold, indicates volume number, or you can write Vol 8. The standard abbreviation for the journal can usually be found inside the front cover - if in doubt use the full title. When you write the references up, put them in alphabetical order by authors surname. Finally when you proof read your project, tick each reference mentioned in the text to make sure they are all listed, and that you haven't listed any which are not referred to. In the text, you should make references as explicit and informative as possible; do not say at the end "The books I used were ..." but rather, " ... as shown by Greenhow (1983), but later questioned and extended by Smith et al (1984)". In the reference to Smith et al , full details of all the authors should be stated e.g. Smith P., Jones M. & Aardvark S. P.
- You could also include a Bibliography which contains material not explicitly referred to in your text e.g. background or further reading.
- Appendices A1, A2, A3 etc. - these may or may not be needed. They should include highly technical detail, such as tables of results, computer code or proofs of results which are not essential to the flow of the main write-up. You should also consider including a list of the software you used for various parts of the work and/or your logbook (see 4.10) - both are useful to other students reading your thesis. You should also include programs or data on floppy disc or CD-Rom as an appendix with written instructions on what the disc contains and how to run it.
Related topic.
Number all the pages, including the appendices, and run the spell checker again.
4.6 You may be writing about complicated ideas, so help your reader as much as possible. Keep your sentences short in the first draft; revise them later to combine ideas which follow logically. Use a new paragraph to indicate a logical break in the work. Read your work a day or two after you have written it, eliminating any superfluous material/words and make sentence precise, logical and economical. Have you met your stated objectives? Have you communicated your ideas at the level appropriate to your audience, or are you simply trying to look flashy? Don't give your supervisor first drafts - they are too busy to correct trivial points of English and style. Instead swap your drafts with another student at your level for correction and comments on each others submission. If he/she does not understand your material, it is probably your fault. As a navigation aid for readers, it is useful to start each chapter with 1-3 sentences (in italics) outlining the chapter's content. Similarly at the end of a chapter, a recap of the main points and where they will be used later is often helpful.
4.7 Write in ordinary plain formal English - no slang! Remember your reader may not speak English as a first language, and will be unable to understand slang terms and their connotations. Also no jokes please! Avoid personal opinions and unsupported conclusions.
4.8 You can get better marks by avoiding common mistakes.
- Learn the difference between there/their/they're, to/too/two, its/it's.
- Learn how to use apostophies e.g. Students' Union, but do not use them to abbreviate it is, they are, will not, etc. which would then sound too informal. Do not use apostophies for plurals e.g. supplies not supply's. If in doubt about a plural, consult a dictionary.
- Hyphens should be used for compound adjectives such as five-carbon molecule, free-surface effect, etc. Some nouns are also hyphenated e.g. cross-section.
- Do not start sentences with AND or BUT. Use moreover, however, nonetheless etc.
4.9 Using bullet points is a good idea. Make sure that each point can be read as the continuation of the preceding sentences as in the following example. "The main points to remember when swimming are that you should: avoid breathing when underwater, keep the legs moving, staying fairly flat in the water." Here the first two points complete the sentence grammatically, but the third should have started with "stay ...".
4.10 For protracted projects, such as the final year dissertation, keep your supervisor informed of your progress all the time by submitting thesis plans and draft chapters (not first drafts - see 4.6). Note that the abstract, introduction and conclusions are usually the last to be written after you have got the whole problem in your mind. You should aim to submit a short summary of what you have achieved, and a plan for what you will do next, roughly half way through the project. Near the end of the project, your supervisor will need to see a draft of the complete thesis in order to judge the overall development of the storyline.
Keep a logbook of what you have done (failures as well as successes, and how long each topic took to do) - this will make writing up far easier and provide evidence of your work. If you do stop work for a while (e.g. to concentrate on exams), make sure that you document where you are and what to do next - don't rely on your memory.
4.11 Do not use words when a table or diagram would show your ideas better, and refer to them in the text, e.g. "Figure 2 shows the current trend, from which we see ... ". Equations should be read as part of the text and properly punctuated and numbered e.g.
Rearranging the terms in eqn 13 gives
A = B + C
C = very complicated expression. Be aware that figures can be highly misleading, see e.g. "How to lie with statistics" D Huff, Penguin 1991. You need to choose the most appropriate form of diagram for your data, or perhaps show the data plotted in two separate ways to stress different points.
Label the figure and each axes with the variable name and units, and mark the scales clearly. Finally all tables, diagrams and figures must have a self-explanatory caption so that they can be understood without reading the text by someone broadly familiar with the subject.
4.12 Always use S.I. units and standard form e.g. 1.2*10-5 J or 3 ms-2 (not metres per sec per sec or m per sec squared etc.). Learn the following notation:
4.13 For word processed reports use 10 or 12 point in a plain font such as Times New Roman. Titles and section headings should be larger e.g. 16 and 14 point. Dissertations should be one and a half or double spaced with a left margin of at least 40 mm (to allow for binding) and a right margin of about 20 mm. A professional effect can be achieved by using headers (with title and date) and footers (with author and "Page # of 6" where # is the page number input by the word processor), as in the top and bottom of this page.
4.14 Make regular backups of all word processed work on the University Network (h:) drive.
4.16 Make a real effort to do all the assignments and worksheets for every module you are taking in your study time. It is pointless to wait for the answer handouts and then think "I could have done that!" because in real life or the exam you will not be able to. Note that exam questions are often similar to, and sometimes easier than, those on the problem sheets.
4.17 Seminars give you a chance to ask about problems you have already had, not to start problems from scratch. If you have tried the problems beforehand, the seminar leader's explanations will be much more useful to you. Do not be afraid to show that you do not understand any topic, no matter how basic; none of your friends will know how to do it either and it gives the seminar leader a good starting point for explanations and discussion.
4.18 For many topics, a good solution will start with a fairly accurate diagram. Define the problem clearly. For complicated problems you may need several goes around a MODELLING CYCLE as follows: a) simplify the situation to produce a model, b) solve, c) interpret the results to see if they are sensible and adequate for your purposes: if so, stop, else d) refine the model, e) return to loop at b).
4.19 Does your solution contain some English sentences explaining clearly what you are doing and the strategy for achieving it? Refer to any theorems/results you use.
4.20 Check your solution(s). I know it's stating the obvious, but does your solution work? Substitute your values/solutions back into equations, differentiate indefinite integrals, check inverse matrices by evaluating AA-1, multiply out partial fractions, check boundary and initial conditions are satisfied for O.D.E.s, etc.
Is your answer dimensionally correct when expressed in terms of M(ass), L(ength) & T(ime), left in an exact form if possible e.g. ln(2) or if not exact, is it quoted to an appropriate level of accuracy (with an error estimate if possible) and in standard form using S.I. units (e.g. 3.2 x 105 ms-1)? Is it reasonable, both in terms of size and sign? For example, were you expecting the energy to be negative? If your answer is a formula, can you understand it in the limit of small or large x? Does the solution reflect the symmetry of the problem, if any?
4.21 For multi-choice questions, read and consider ALL the choices before deciding. If you can't decide, make an informed guess (except in diagnostic tests of course!).
4.22 Before you get started with a problem, can you:
4.23 Many assignments involve computing and/or word-processing. It will be a real advantage to you if you get your own PC and some final-year projects are not feasible without your own machine. Buy a desktop rather than a notebook; it is much better value for money, nicer to work with in terms of screen and keyboard and more difficult to steal. Seek advice on prices - a good place to start is the Computer Centre stores. Buy as good a machine as you can afford and keep it for as long as possible, perhaps missing a generation when you do eventually upgrade (hopefully after graduation).
4.24 When programming make sure you really understand the structure of the problem and the flow of data before you attempt any actual coding. If you cannot draw an accurate flow diagram for the problem, stop and seek help. Do not attempt to start coding in the hope that something will become clear later - it will not - and any code you do write will be impossible to debug.
4.25 Backup everything you do regularly on the University Network. Don't rely on floppy discs at all! Remember that PCs, especially notebooks PCs sometimes fail and regularly get stolen. Neither will be accepted as a valid excuse for non-submission. [N.B. In registering on the CC networks, you have agreed to abide by their rules. Do not attempt any sort of hacking - if you do you'll end up out of the University and in Court. Never share your password with anyone at all. If you suspect your files are being tampered with, see User Support IMMEDIATELY. Change your Network password regularly - every 2-3 months.]
4.26 Word processing takes a lot of time but it does give you the chance to revise what you are writing and use the spell checker. You should aim to write your essay directly onto the screen from your notes rather than writing it out in full beforehand. Get up early! All PCs are free at 8 am and most free at 9 am. Inability to find a PC is not an excuse for non-submission of work.
4.27 You might want/need to produce a Web page of your document, or put it on the Web for downloading. The first requires some knowledge of HTML which you can learn at: http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp for an accessible introduction, whilst more advanced users will find that the Netskills interactive course at http://www.netskills.ac.uk/materials/ might be helpful.
4.28 The temptation to download large quantities of material from Web sites etc. must be resisted. You will be discovered and get zero marks for it - or worse! Reference carefully any material, such as diagrams, you do use, including full Web site URL and date accessed if used.
4.30 Leave plenty of space for feedback and READ IT ALL when your work is returned to you. LEARN from your mistakes, rather than attempting to conceal them. If anything is not clear, ask your lecturer. If your mark is substantially lower than you expect, please ask your lecturer to explain where you lost marks and ask for suggestions for improving your work. N.B. This is not an invitation to try to negotiate your mark, which will not be changed, so don't even try! Read the model solutions even if you have full marks already; there may be a better way of doing/expressing/presenting the solutions.
4.31 Do not cheat in any way; it is very easy for your to spot work which is not your own and, in the case of copying from another student, both original and copied work may get zero marks, so don't let others copy your work. If you do copy, any feedback you get will be of little benefit to you to improve your own understanding and writing style. Copying large sections out of a book, CD-ROM or Web site is equally pointless (whether you have referenced and/or edited the material or not) and will get you very low or zero marks. You need to read, digest and analyse the material, and then write it in your own words, preferably synthesised from several sources. There is no substitute for hard thinking about what you write, and copying everything down in the hope that some of it will be relevant will result in poor marks.
Quoting material from books or other sources without referencing them is plagiarism! This will normally result in you being awarded zero marks and disciplinary action being taken against you. If you are in doubt about what is acceptable and what is not, discuss it with the module lecturer, your tutor, your supervisor or the Undergraduate Course Director. You can learn more about understanding and, especially, avoiding " unintended" plagiarism at
http://science.widener.edu/svb/essay/plagiar.html
Look at these examples to see how (and how not!) to apply these rules in technical report writing, especially mathematics.
where
It is usually much better to include figures straight from other software (e.g. Excel, Mathematica, etc.) or drawing packages in the document via the clipboard; this makes managing and printing the document much easier. If you do need hand drawings, photos etc. you should scan them in and include them as imported pictures in the word processed report. Pasting them in (physically) and photocopying does not give such a good result. Click here to view bad and good versions of a chart.
As an aside, have a look at this web site on sizes of different objects: my daughter described this as the coolest thing ever - I agree!
Cross-referencing to other sections, pages or equations can often only be done at the end; in the meantime, mark them with e.g. "see section ++" and use the EDIT, FIND command to pick these up in the final edit.
Related topic.Problem sheets.
Click here to view a picture of the modelling cycle.
If you do get stuck, can you
Computing
Related topic.
Also look at the source code (under view-source) of this, or any other, simple Web page; this page shows the anchor syntax for this downloadable document, placed in a subdirectory. For downloadable documents, it is essential to change the read permission to global - ask someone or right click the file and look at properties/security in Windows.
Finally
4.29 Hand in your work on time, and to the correct place. All Maths and Stats Dept assignments must be handed into the Maths and Stats General Office and you must obtain a receipt which you must keep until the module has ended and you have been awarded your final module mark. Put your NAME on all submissions - you'd be surprised how often anonymous work is submitted! Remember there may be penalties for late submission!
and (for Maths Students at Brunel especially) at http://intranet.brunel.ac.uk/depts/ma/current_students/Plagiarism_document.doc.
