Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Technical Writing
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Scientific Report Writing>Aims and Objectives
Aims and Objectives of this Workshop
Aim: To get students thinking about what characterises a meaningful technical
report and provide some hints and tips that, if implemented, have the potential
to improve the quality of a technical report produced by them
1. List the sections of a brief technical work in
their established sequence
2. Identify the considerations associated with
each section
3. Identify general considerations related to
technical writing
4. Discuss your concerns related to scientific
report writing
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Table of Contents
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Why Words in Mathematical Science?
The Introduction
The Main Body
The Conclusion
Title Choice
Reference List
General Writing Style
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
• General writing style:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Integrating others’ work
Critical thinking
Spelling grammar and punctuation
Writing in the correct voice
Logical, methodical and coherent
Substantiated content
Formal writing style
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Why Words in Mathematical
Science?
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Why Write in the Field of
Mathematics
• The first language of the World is the written
word not the language of written numbers
and
• The first written language of the global
scientific and technical community is English
So
• As much as you may be conversant in the
conventions of communicating in numbers
you need to be conversant in the conventions
of communicating in words in English
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
• As Mathematicians have important
contributions to make in all areas of society…
• …and if they are to make their contributions
they have to communicate their ideas…
• …and if the first universal means of
communication is the written and spoken
word…
• … then mathematicians have to communicate
effectively in words to broadcast their ideas
and effect change!
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
The Introduction
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
The Introduction >
Characteristic of quality
• A well written technical piece will
include and well crafted introduction
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
The Introduction > How do
you do it
•
3 primary functions
1. To make clear to the reader the precise subject
to be considered
2. To indicate the writer’s attitude towards this
subject
3. To lay out the plan for its treatment
(Nelson 1947)
These will now be dealt with in turn
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
1. To make clear to the reader the precise
subject to be considered
• Fix in the mind of the reader the subject
for attention
• Define the subject
• Emphasise the value of the subject to
the reader
• Limits of subject coverage
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
2. To indicate the writer’s attitude towards
this subject
• How is the subject going to be handled/
treated
• What is the purpose of your piece
• In your case part of the treatment is the
application of theory to the real world
• But your full treatment should be more
detailed*
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
2. To indicate the writer’s attitude towards
this subject
• “it is most important for a writer always to
think of the report or paper he is about to
write as having a definite work to perform…
…if one conceives his writing in this way, he
will not be shooting aimlessly into the air…
…He will be learning to aim accurately and
shoot to kill”
(Nelson 1947 p. 42)
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
2. To indicate the writer’s attitude towards
this subject
• “If before he begins a paper, a reader
understands what the writer proposes to do
for him, what emphasis he expects to
maintain consistently throughout, what point
of view he is planning to assume… …the
reader can get what he is supposed to get
with much less effort than if he gropes his
way through a maze of material with no
preliminary notion of where he is being led”
(Nelson 1947 p.44)
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
2. To indicate the writer’s attitude towards
this subject > How do you find your focus?
• Spontaneous genesis of an idea
• More likely to gain inspiration from the
World around you this may come from:
–
–
–
–
–
Physical interaction with the real-world
Background reading
Listening to others thoughts and opinions
Watching television
Lecture materials
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
2. To indicate the writer’s attitude towards
this subject > How do you find your focus?
• If the ideas are not flowing try:
– Doing some more subject reading but specifically
think about what you are reading in terms of its
real-world application
– Take up others’ pleas for assistance
– Think about your own physical interactions with
the world and ask yourself which mathematical
thinking could have been applied to them
– Your ideas?
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
3. To lay out the plan for its treatment
• You need to decide how are you going
to organise the main body of your piece
to achieve its purpose?
• Explain the plan of treatment to give the
reader a forward look over the whole
area mapped out
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
3. To lay out the plan for its treatment
> How to construct a plan
• You need to have a plan to be able to
relate it to the reader in the introduction
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
3. To lay out the plan for its treatment
> How to construct a plan
Introduction X=A+B+C
a
b
A=a+b+c
c
a1
X
b1
B=a1+b1
a2
b2
c2
C=a2+b2+c2+d2
d2
Fig. 1. Example Paragraph Plan to
structure a technical piece.
=
coherence material
Conclusion A+B+C=X
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
3. To lay out the plan for its treatment
> How to construct a plan
• To what level of detail would you relate
to the plan in the introduction?*
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
The Main Body
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
The Main Body >
Characteristics of quality
• There are a number of considerations
specific to you discipline that should be
followed in a technical piece
• These are outlined on the handout
provided and should be studied to learn
from them
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Conclusion
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Conclusion > Characteristic
of quality
• Make sure you have a conclusion or
‘terminal section’ and one that is well
crafted
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Conclusion > How do you do it
• This section is your last chance to influence
the reader of your technical piece. It:
– tells the reader the key things you want them to
remember from the other sections and what they
all mean together
– Checks your reader has got the essential idea
– Gives your reader the impression that you
achieved what you set out to do
– It doesn’t introduce new information except to
reinforce conclusions and/or recommendations
made
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Conclusion > How do you do it
• You can remind the reader of the purpose of
your technical piece
• You can make a summary restatement of the
points covered
• You can reinforce the impression of the
pattern the piece took* by briefly revisiting it
• You can say something that you hope will
leave a lasting impression on your reader
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Conclusion > How do you do it
• Conclusions are only really hard to write
if you never had a purpose or you have
lost that purpose along the way
• To help you know better what to write
– Remind yourself of what you set out to
achieve. What the point of your design was
– Ask yourself what do you want the reader
to really take away with them
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Conclusion > How do you do it
• Knowing what to say to conclude a
technical piece can be helped by
knowing the ‘family’ of report to which it
belongs:
• Factual
• Critical
• Advisory
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Conclusion > How do you do it
• Other consideration that might help you:
– What is the significance of your findings?
– What are the implications of your conclusions for
this topic and for the broader field
– Where there limitations to your approach
– Are there any other factors of relevance that
impact upon the topic, but fell outside the scope of
your piece
– Are there any suggestions you can make in terms
of future research
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Title
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Title > characteristic of
quality:
• To include a title and one that is
informative and enticing
• Your work's title can be as long or a
short as it needs to be to achieve the
criterion of an effective title
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Title Choice > How to do it:
• Revise the examples provided to
emulate the principles outline in them
for your own title
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
General Writing Style
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Critical thinking
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Critical thinking > Characteristic
of quality
• In any degree you are expected to
demonstrate that you consider the world
around you critically
• This way of thinking about the world
around you should come through in the
way in which you write
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Critical thinking > How do you
do it?
• There area two potential areas for
development here:
There is changing the way you view the world
around you
and
Developing writing strategies the prove that
you consider the world in a critical way and
that present information to others so that they
may think the same
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Critical thinking > How do you do it
Changing the way you view the world
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Critical thinking > How do you do it >
Changing the way you view the World
• Don’t blindly accept the information you
are exposed to
• Develop a sceptical mind
• Be a detective or investigative journalist
• Seek the truth
• Continually question why something is
the way it is
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Critical thinking > How do you do it > change
the way you write
• Don’t write, “the government says”
• Write, “the government makes
unfounded claims that”
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Critical thinking > How do you do it > change
the way you write
• Don’t write, “the results from Smith &
Black show”
• Write, “extensive repetitions show that it
is highly likely that”
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Critical thinking > How do you do it > change
the way you write
• Don’t write, “50% of people in the UK
rate maths as their weakest subject”
• Write, “5 studies concur that
approximately 50% of people in the UK
rate maths as their weakest subject”
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Critical thinking > How do you do it > change
the way you write
• Don’t write, “it is believed that more car
crashes occur in the dark”
• Write, “it isn’t clear whether more car
crashes occur at night or not because
the study was only undertaken in
Finland in mid winter”
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
How do you do it > change the
way you write
• Yes it takes up time to be appropriately
critical
• Yes it takes up words to be
appropriately critical
• But if you don’t want to be a sheep and
just accept what you are told then you
need to be critical
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Critical thinking > How do you do
it > change the way you write
• Trip to the zoo
• See the following handout and after 3
minutes of individual study I will ask for
the group to vote on which passage is
purely descriptive and which is
descriptive and critical
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Critical thinking > How do you do it > change
the way you write
Descriptive writing…
Critical writing might…
states what happened
identify the significance of it
states what something is like
evaluate its strengths /weaknesses
says how something is done
argue a case for doing something according to evidence
explains what a theory says
show why a theory is relevant
explains how something works
indicate why something works (best or better than others)
notes methods used
note methods used
says when something occurred
identify why the timing is important
states different components
weigh up importance of each component
states options
give reasons for selecting one option over another
lists details
evaluate relative significance of details
lists things in any order
prioritise / structure info in order of importance
gives information
make reasoned judgments and draws conclusions
states links between items
shows relevance of links
Table 2. characteristics of descriptive verses critical writing
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Integrating others’ work
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Integrating others’ work >
Characteristic of quality
• In cases of scientific and technical
writing it is important to demonstrate
that you are engaging with others' work
to develop your own thoughts.
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Integrating others’ work > How
do you do it
• Personal Development:
– Researching skills - to find others' relevant
work*
– Reading skills - obtain important
information from others' work**
– Writing skills - to effectively incorporate
others work into your own to demonstrate
you are engaging with relevant sources of
information.
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Integrating other’s work > how to
do it
• Writing skills:
– Use relevant references in your introduction to
achieve the first and second purpose of an
introduction
– Use references to peer reviewed* sources to
substantiate your critical judgements**
– Use references to peer reviewed sources to
strengthen other areas of your work where you
have been critical (see table 2. in Critical thinking)
– Use referenced material as examples used to
demonstrate a point
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation >
Characteristics of quality
• To release work that contains
correct spelling, grammar and
punctuation*
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Spelling, Grammar and
Punctuation > How do you do it
• Personal development:
– Firstly judge whether this is a personal
weakness of yours and if it is devise plans
to develop your skills*
• Techniques for development include:
– better time management so that you have time to
proof your own work
– practice increasing your typing accuracy and speed
– read instructive resources designed to help people
learn correct grammatical and punctuation
techniques**
– When you’re reading pay more attention to the
grammar and punctuation
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Writing in the correct voice
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Writing in the correct voice –
Characteristic of Quality
• To write consistently in the voice
expected in your discipline
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Writing in the correct voice – How
to do it
• In ‘Writing for the Mathematical
Sciences’ by Higham (1998) it is
acceptable to write in the first personal
plural
• That means using ‘we’
• E.g:
– “We can see by applying this equation to…”
And
– “if we are a little more cautious in our
assumptions…”
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Logical, Methodical and
Coherent
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Logical, Methodical and Coherent
> Characteristic of Quality
• A piece that flows (is coherent) makes
the difference between a frustrating
encounter and a blissful enlightening
journey
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
LMC > How do you do it
• Always have the purpose of your piece
in mind
• Plan the paragraph structure* and follow
it
• ‘Signpost’ the reader between
sentences and between paragraphs
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Logical, Methodical and Coherent
> How to do it
•Signposting
Introductory topic sentence
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Logical, Methodical and Coherent
> How to do it
• Introductory topic sentence examples:
– “Let us begin with the UK, the first
European country to organise its
broadcasting on a national scale”
– “We now focus on the case of 1 x 1
matrices – Scalars
– “It is important to consider the Central Limit
Theorem in any analysis of sample size
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Logical, Methodical and Coherent
• Long paragraphs
cantohave
a concluding
> How
do it
topic sentence at the end
Concluding topic sentence
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Logical, Methodical and Coherent
> How to do it
• Concluding topic sentence examples:
– “Thus it has been demonstrated that…”
– “These factors all lead to the same
conclusion that…
– “these few studies limit the degree to which
the matter has been investigated
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Logical, Methodical and Coherent
> How to do it
• Transitional Text
• May come at the beginning of a paragraph to
link backwards to a previous paragraph
Transitional text
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Logical, Methodical and Coherent >
How to do it
• Transitional text examples followed by
topic sentences in italics
– Having completed the survey and
determined the reason why the plan has
thus far been a failure, it will next be
necessary to consider whether it can still
be made to work
– All these facts would seem to justify the
objections of our clients, which will now be
taken up in detail
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Logical, Methodical and Coherent
> How to do it
• In complex and long technical pieces it
may be necessary to have a transition
paragraph
a
b
c
Transitional paragraph
summarising paragraphs a,
b and c and referring to d
d
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Logical, Methodical and Coherent
> How to do it
• Use headings and if necessary sub
headings
• Make those headings meaningful
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Logical, Methodical and Coherent
> How to do it
• Linking words and phrases between
sentences within paragraphs
• For linking phrases see:
http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk
• For linking words see:
http://www.surrey.ac.uk/library/splash/online/s
tudyguides/Essay_Writing.pdf
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Summary
• Not all facets of technical writing
covered
• Summary of what was covered
Student Personal Learning – Russ Lisk
Reference List
• Higham, N. J. Handbook of writing for
the mathematical sciences. 2nd Ed.
SIAM: Philadelphia
• Nelson, J. R. (1947) Writing the
technical report. 2nd Ed. McGraw-Hill
Book Company Inc: New York