Transcript Technical Writing S03

Providence University
College of Management
Method and Materials
Wu-Lin Chen ([email protected])
Department of Computer Science and
Information Management
Review Introduction - Stage II
• Most individuals seem to agree that the microcomputer will continue
to hold an important role in education. Gubser (1980) and Hinton
(1980) suggested phenomenal increases in the numbers of
computers both in the school and the home in the near future.
There are always problems with a sudden onslaught of new
technology. Like any new tool that has not been fully tried and
tested, the role of the computer is in question. How should the
computer be used in the classroom? Should the computer be the
teacher or used as a tool in the classroom in the same way as an
overhead projector? Can teachers do a better job of teaching
certain types of material with the microcomputer than with
conventional teaching methods? Will the microcomputer have
different effects on students with varying levels of experience?
Schmidt (1982) identified three types of microcomputer use in
classrooms: the object of a course, a support tool, and a means of
providing instruction. Foster and Kleene (1982) cite four uses of
microcomputers in vocational agriculture: drill and practice, tutorial,
simulation and problem solving.
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Review Introduction - Stages II and III
• The findings of studies examining the use of
various forms of computer-assisted instruction
(CAI) have been mixed. Studies by Hickey
(1968) and Honeycutt (1974) indicated superior
results with CAI while studies by Ellis (1978),
Caldwell (1980) and Belzer (1976) indicated little
or no significant effect. Although much work has
been done to date, more studies need to be
conducted to ascertain the effects of
microcomputer-assisted instruction in teaching
various subjects in a variety of learning
situations.
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Review Introduction - Stages IV and V
• The purpose of this study was to ascertain the
effect of using microcomputer-assisted
instruction as compared to a lecture-discussion
technique in teaching principles and methods of
cost recovery and investment credit on
agricultural assets to graduate students in
agricultural education (Rohrbach, 1983). This
topic was identified as being of importance to
teachers in providing them the necessary
background to teach lessons in farm records.
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Method
• The main part of the method section is a
description of
– the procedural steps used in your study
– the materials employed at each step
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Information Elements Included in Method
• Overview of the Experiment
• Population/Sample
• Location
• Restrictions/Listing Conditions
• Sampling Technique
• Procedures*
• Materials*
• Variables
• Statistical Treatment
(* always included)
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Writing the Procedural Description
• The description of the steps you followed
in conducting your study should be written
clearly.
• How clear?
– It should be clear enough for a reader in your
field could accurately replicate your procedure
and get the same results.
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Describe the Procedure
• The best way to describe a procedure is
– Step-by-step
– Chronologically
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Correct Verb Tense in Procedural
Descriptions
• The procedures you used in carrying out
your study should usually be described in
the simple past tense.
• Sentences included under method that are
not written in the past tense usually do not
refer to the procedures used in the study
being reported.
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Procedural Descriptions: Past Tense
• For examples:
– Surveys were sent to student health
services at 180 colleges.
– The study was carried out on a marine
laboratory research vessel.
– The generators supplied about 14,000
amps when fully operational.
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Appropriate Verb Voice – Active or Passive
• Either the active or the passive voice can be used.
Agent
+
We
Subject
Stress
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Main verb
(active)
+
stress
applied
+
Main verb
(passive)
+
Object
+
Agent
was applied (by the investigators)
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Complement
to the rubber segments
in gradually increasing
increments.
+
Complement
to the rubber segments …
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Conditions for Deciding Verb Voice – Active
or Passive
• The passive voice is conventionally used to
describe procedure in order to depersonalize the
information. The passive construction allows
you to omit the agent (usually “I” or “we”),
placing the emphasis on the procedure and how
it was done.
– EX A: For reasons related to personal safety, the test
facility was constructed (by us) in a remote area 4
miles from the main road.
– EX B: Tests were conducted (by me) with four
different types of reactors.
Note: You advisor may ask you not to use the passive voice since he or she
prefers a more personal style with frequently use of the pronouns “I” or “we.”
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Conditions for Deciding Verb Voice – Active
or Passive
• Intermix the active and passive voices
• Place old information near the beginning of the
sentence and new information at the end.
– EX: The four reactors we tested in the work reported
here are all contained a platinum catalyst (ACTIVE).
Each reactor-catalyst configuration will be described
separately (PASSIVE). The quartz reactors were
manufactured by the Wm. A. Sales Company of
Wheeling, Illinois (PASSIVE).
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Materials
• Any item used to carry out a research
project.
• Beside method, you also have to describe
any equipment or other materials used
with each step in your procedure.
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Information Conventions
• Materials
– laboratory equipment
– field equipment
– human or animal subjects
– natural substances
– fabricated materials
– surveys, questionnaires and tests
– computer models
– mathematical models
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What To Describe
• If the materials you used are well known to
researchers in your field, it is conventional
to identify them only.
• If you used specially designed or
unconventional materials in your research,
it is common to write a detailed description
of them in your paper.
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Verb Tense and Voice in Describing
Materials
• Sentence describing the subjects or
materials used in a study require either the
past or the present tense.
• When we describe the sample used in a
study we commonly use the past tense.
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Describing Samples: Past Tense Verbs
Sample
The boys
The men interviewed
The subjects
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Main verb
(past)
Description
were
between the ages of 7 and 13.
were
primarily from St. Louis, Mo.
were
18 Arabic-speaking students
attending classes at the American
University in Cairo.
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Describing Populations: Present Tense
Verbs
• When describing the general population from
which the sample subjects were selected, the
present tense is normally used.
Sample
All students who apply for
admission to the American
University of Cairo
They
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Main verb
(present)
Description
the Michigan Test of English
Language Proficiency.
take
enter
the English Language Institute where
they follow an intensive program of
English language training.
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Verb Tenses in Describing Specially
Designed Materials
• If you use equipment in your study which is
standard or conventional in your field and
probably familiar to most other researchers, you
should describe it using the present tense.
• If you describe specially designed materials with
which other researchers in your field may not be
familiar, the descriptions are usually written in
the past tense. Common devices that you
modified in some special way for use in your
study are also sometimes described in the past
tense.
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Describing Conventional Material:
Present Tense Verb
Conventional
material
The Auditory Test for
Language Comprehension
(Carrow 1968)
A typical chemical
reactor
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Main verb
(present)
permits
includes
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Description
the assessment of oral
language comprehension of
English and Spanish.
a helical, tube-in-tube heat
exchanger.
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Describing Specially Designed Or
Modified Materials: Past Tense Verbs
Modified
material
Main verb
(past)
For the testing program this
collector
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was
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Description
protected from weather by
an outer window of .10 mm
tedlar.
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Active and Passive Voice in Describing
Materials
• Both active and passive voice verb
constructions are used in describing
experimental materials.
• Your decision to use active or passive
voice depends on partly on whether the
verb is transitive or intransitive.
– Only transitive verbs can be used in the
passive voice.
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Active and Passive Voice in Describing
Materials
• The passive voice is usually used when a
human agent (the experimenter) is manipulating
the materials.
• The active voice is usually used when no human
is directly responsible for manipulating the
materials – that is, when the materials operate
“by themselves.”
• The passive voice may be used to describe an
action involving a nonhuman agent, but a phrase
must be included to indicate the agent.
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Human Agent Involved: Passive Voice
• Example: The temperature inside the
chamber was increased from 0° to 20 °C.
– The researcher increased the temperature.
• Example: Four thermocouples were
monitored hourly.
– A researcher monitored them.
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No Human Agent Involved: Active Voice
• Example: A 200 hp generator provided
power to the piezometers.
• Example: Control gauges monitored air
pressure inside the chamber.
– In above two examples, the use of active
voice indicates that the experimenters were
not directly involved in the functioning of the
equipment.
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No Human Agent Involved: Passive
Voice
• Example: Power was supplied by 14
generators with capacities ranging from 90
to 300 KW.
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