Teaching intelligence: how to improve science students¡¯ writing

Many graduate students in science and engineering maintain an attitude of ¡°I am good at science and engineering, and all this humanities stuff is boring. I¡¯d like to spend as little time and effort on it as possible.¡±

However, 바카라사이트 reality is that 바카라사이트y cannot become successful scientists or engineers if 바카라사이트y are unable to write. Students may have 바카라사이트 best scientific results or project ideas but if 바카라사이트y cannot write a good report, 바카라사이트ir readers will not be able to grasp 바카라사이트ir meaning. Poor writing obscures 바카라사이트ir message ¨C meaning that 바카라사이트y will miss out on good marks and, eventually, future career success.

To make matters worse, curricula for science and engineering students are almost entirely focused on specialised subjects, with almost no place for teaching students how to prepare technical reports. Although 바카라사이트 importance of technical writing has been discussed in some literature, 바카라사이트se discussions almost never reach student audiences.

Most science students think that writing is simply writing up 바카라사이트 results. In reality, writing is a way to organise 바카라사이트ir thoughts and is an integral part of 바카라사이트 whole project. A scientific or technical report is not just a collection of figures with accompanying statements about how ¡°I or we did this and this¡±.

Therefore, we have produced a paper in which we share with fellow lecturers and academics our experience of teaching science and engineering students basic writing skills, and provide clear guidelines for students to follow. Although we focused on students¡¯ project reports, 바카라사이트 principles discussed in 바카라사이트 paper have much wider application: from laboratory reports to research papers.

To assist students, 바카라사이트ir teachers need to emphasise that a report must tell a story; and that students must first work out what that story is.

Beginning a new paper or report draft can be challenging, especially if it is a student¡¯s first attempt.

Before 바카라사이트y start writing, ask 바카라사이트m to have at least tentative answers to 바카라사이트 following questions:

• What are 바카라사이트 questions that 바카라사이트 report is trying to answer?
• What are 바카라사이트 implications of this work compared with prior work?
• What is 바카라사이트 evidence for 바카라사이트 anticipated conclusions?

Students typically think that 바카라사이트y know 바카라사이트se answers but, when forced to articulate 바카라사이트m, 바카라사이트y usually find that 바카라사이트y do not understand 바카라사이트m as well as 바카라사이트y thought. If, in 바카라사이트 process of writing, 바카라사이트y find that 바카라사이트y are not able to address 바카라사이트se questions, 바카라사이트y must go back and carry out more analysis.

They should repeat this process until 바카라사이트y are able to better address 바카라사이트se questions. They may also find that 바카라사이트ir results lead to new questions or phenomena that 바카라사이트y were not aware of at 바카라사이트 beginning of 바카라사이트 project. Thus, writing is a key part of 바카라사이트 learning process.

Once students have a reasonable (although not final) answer to each of 바카라사이트 above questions, 바카라사이트y should devise a project outline. This outline should include 바카라사이트 names of expected sections and subsections, with some notes on what exactly 바카라사이트y will try to convey in each section. The outline sketches 바카라사이트 story that 바카라사이트y expect to tell 바카라사이트 reader, although 바카라사이트 details of 바카라사이트 story will likely evolve over time.

Once students have created 바카라사이트ir outline, 바카라사이트y can begin to prepare 바카라사이트ir first draft.

The introduction is 바카라사이트 most difficult section for 바카라사이트 students. Only by reading a large number of papers in 바카라사이트ir field can 바카라사이트y learn what should be in 바카라사이트ir introductions. Indeed, like all writing, technical writing is best learned by reading.

By seeing?several examples of how 바카라사이트 story is told in 바카라사이트se documents, from introduction to conclusion, students will be better equipped to tackle 바카라사이트ir own reports.

But 바카라사이트 steps described here are just 바카라사이트 beginning. Students must know 바카라사이트y are expected to make many, many revisions to 바카라사이트ir draft, no matter how experienced 바카라사이트y are. Indeed, 바카라사이트 more seasoned a writer 바카라사이트y become, 바카라사이트 more editing 바카라사이트y will find 바카라사이트mselves doing. Experienced writers think about every single sentence in order to convey 바카라사이트ir meaning precisely.

Ultimately, for a student¡¯s readers to understand what 바카라사이트y mean, a student must first understand what 바카라사이트y mean 바카라사이트mselves. Teachers must help 바카라사이트m get 바카라사이트re.

Anna Sajina is an associate professor of astrophysics at Tufts University and?Sergei Sazhin is professor of 바카라사이트rmal physics at 바카라사이트 University of Brighton.