Plagiarism

The PowerPoint file from today's class on plagiarism is available here but it would be much more interesting for you to explore the subject in further detail on the university's authorship and plagiarism page.

Introductions & Conclusions : Key to Tasks in Materials Booklet

Writing introductions

WHAT YOU SHOULD INCLUDE IN AN INTRODUCTION

2. explaining the aims of the essay
6. giving a plan of how your essay will develop

WHAT YOU MAY DECIDE TO INCLUDE IN AN INTRODUCTION

1. relating the topic to your own experience and / or current events
3. stating your own opinion on the topic
4. explaining why the topic is important / interesting / relevant
7. giving your personal interpretation of the title
9. providing some background research on the topic
10. defining terms that are used in the essay title


WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT INCLUDE IN AN INTRODUCTION

5. providing a summary of your main points
8. giving reasons and examples to support your main idea

Other things you can or should try to do in an introduction:

- limitation of the scope of the essay, i.e. what you are NOT covering
- mention of differing viewpoints on the subject
- the seriousness of the problem, why attention has to be paid to it
- mentioning previous work on the subject (or lack of it)


Writing conclusions

WHAT YOU SHOULD INCLUDE IN A CONCLUSION

4. summarising your main points, but in a different way
9. re-stating your personal opinion or evaluation of the topic

WHAT YOU MAY DECIDE TO INCLUDE IN A CONCLUSION

3. repeating your main points
5. providing a solution to any issue or question raised at the beginning
7. suggesting further investigations into the topic / issue
8. reconciling two opposing points of view


WHAT YOU SHOULD NOT INCLUDE IN A CONCLUSION

1. presenting your main idea
2. providing some additional examples in support of your main points
6. present the opposite point of view to the one covered in your main points


Additional things that can go in a conclusion:

- a deduction made on the basis of what has been discussed
- comment about the future – a predication or projection on the basis of the main conclusion
- statement of dissatisfaction with gaps and limitation of the essay


Features of introductions and conclusions

The following two paragraphs are extracts from the same paper, entitled 'Innovation in Materials' by George F. Ray (from Forester, Tom ed. 1988 The Materials Revolution Oxford, Blackwell). Skim through the texts quickly in order to answer these points:

1 Which comes from the introduction and which from the conclusion?
2 What exactly does the writer do for the benefit of the reader in each paragraph?
3 Make a list of the words and phrases that helped you differentiate between the introduction and conclusion.

A : Conclusion

- starts with a quotation which the writer relates to the overall content of his article. (This is as good a way of starting a conclusion as it is at the beginning of the introduction).
- restates the purpose of the article
- indicates the limitations of his argument in relation to the future
- but hopes that his ideas will be of benefit for future work

In one of his many publications concerning the role of science, Freeman wrote: "Much scientific research is concerned with the exploration of the unknown. By definition we cannot know the outcome of such explorations and still less can we know its future impact on technology." This general statement can be applied with some force to materials. This brief survey is intended to show how science and technology have contributed to the supply of industrial and other materials in the past and that progress has been a continuing one. History does not necessarily repeat itself; nor do the examples given in this paper of scientific and technological achievements solving materials problems provide any guarantee for the future. They do, however, provide a basis for the hope that progress will go on and future advance continue to secure a link between the demand for and the supply of materials that industry and other sectors of the economy will require.

B : Introduction

- explains the structure of the paper and the content of the two parts
- gives further explanation of the ways in which the two parts are different
- states the reason for limiting the content area of the paper

This study is in two main parts. The first surveys the history of some thirty materials which are relatively new or were 'new' at the time of their introduction into general use. The dissemination of any innovation takes time; that of new materials often takes an unusually long time; hence this first part concerns materials that already have a history. The second, shorter, part deals with the present, that is, the progress of the area of materials. For both the past and the present the choice is very wide and therefore it was necessary to be selective.

Referencing

For more information on referencing, including practice tasks and further links to information about plagiarism, follow this link. The PowerPoint file from today's class is available to download here and remember to buy and eat as much Cocon mango pudding as you posssibly can.

Project Criteria

Two things for you here...the powerpoint presentation from class, and an extra language exercise on a Word document for you to try...if you need some extra work to do...

Project 2 Class 1

The powerpoint presentation from today's class is available to download here.

Project Class 5

So that Tim doesn't need to get his photos developed, there's a link to the powerpoint presentation on assessment criteria here. The exercises we did on reporting verbs are also available - just click here.

Project Class 3 : Notes and Summaries

The powerpoint presentation from Monday's class is available to download here.

Tutorial Feedback

Just a few links for you that came out of this afternoon's tutorials. One completely unacademic link is to the 3 website, where you can get a mobile phone which allows you to make free Skype-to-Skype calls. On a more English-language-related theme, you can follow this link to a previous blog posting about resources for exploring collocations. While you make notes on your report, you might find this online version of the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary useful. Also useful, but perhaps not particularly legal is this site featuring entries from the Oxford Collocations Dictionary.

Finally, I just thought I'd say that it's good to see you all working hard and thinking intelligently about your projects. I hope it continues...

Project Class : Language Issues

Some documents and links for you from today's class. First we looked at linkers, and the document we created together - including those oh-so-cute examples - is available to dowload here. Answers to the question "Is it an English sentence?" can be found on this worksheet, also completed in class, and finally you can read all about the very cute Socks here on the BBC website, or through this exercise on the passive. Finally, you can, if you wish, follow this link to the Collins Concordancer Sampler...which most students don't actually tend to like. Never mind...

Project Class 7

The powerpoint presentation from today's class is available to download here.

All of the charts and graphs we looked at in class came from the UK National Statistics website.

Project Class : Questionnaires

The sample questionnaire I showed you in class is available for you here as requested, along with the handout from today's session and the adjustments I made to the same handout while you were giving presentations. If you've got a spare few minutes and want to see a Likert scale in action, you could discover fascinating things you never knew about your own personality (maybe) via this questionnaire on the BBC Science & Nature website.