2. Presenter Info.
Who Am I?
–
Prof. in computer science, faculty of computer and information
science.
•
What Do I Know?
–
Image and pattern recognition, computation and programming 2
techniques, artificial intelligent techniques.
What Do I Do?
Vice dean faculty of computer and information sciences, Ain
Shams University, Cairo, Egypt
2
3. Course Objectives
• Prepare the students for writing their assignments
work in report form.
• To know the possible organization of reports.
• To be able to organize and write correctly the contents
of a report sections.
• To improve the writing style of a report.
• To practices preparing and analysis the contents of a
report.
3
4. (Additional related objectives)
• To get the concepts of improving the
writing skills is a part of the communication
skills.
• To implement the logical thinking through
the writing process.
• To know some advanced methods for
search digital resources online. 4
5. Assignments
1- Collect specific parts of reports papers, such as
abstracts, introductions, conclusions
2- Start to get resources to write a report and to
present it, in any subject related to writing report
field. The report should be ready after 2 weeks
from now, with the presentation.
3- Write an analysis report on one of your colleges
reports. To be submitted after the mid term.
5
6. Related topics
- Types of reports
- Critical and logic thinking
- Reading skills
- Searching online
- Soft skills
- Typing & word processors
- Terminology & plain language
- Scientific writing
- Writing style
6
10. Chinese Wisdom
• I Read I Forget
• I Write I Remember (Summaries & Mind-Maps)
• I Do I Understand (Problem Solving ..)
10
11. Defining “Soft Skills”
Soft skills (or employability skills) can best be
defined as skills which allow students to become
more effective learners and workers. They can
include:
x communication skills
x time management
x organizational skills
x analytical, problem solving, and reflective
thinking
11
12. Communication Skills
These skills can include:
x listening, speaking
x reading, written,
x Non verbal language
x presentation skills
x documentation
x teamwork
x customer service
x professional behavior
12
13. Why Do We Care?
x These skills are key to succeeding
x Many students have no idea how to function in
the real world
x Many computer science students mistakenly
believe that technical skills are the only skills
that are important
x It makes life in the classroom more civilized and
you can get more of the curriculum covered!
13
14. Writing is learned by writing
• Practice, practice, practice
• Choose good role models
• Study good examples
• But there are also techniques and rules
to learn
14
15. Listening, Speaking,
Reading, and Writing
Communicators are paired:
• speaker-listener
• writer-reader
•If only half the pair operates effectively,
something is lost in the communication process.
15
16. Critical Thinking & Writing
• To develop your critical written analysis,
remember the following strategies:
• Question or “interview” the idea or topic.
• Use an outline, a cluster, or flowchart to
organize your analysis.
• • Use appropriate diction & academic
tone.
16
19. How to be a good writer
- Search and learn how to find resources for your topic.
- Read as you can in the interested and related fields of the selected
subject.
- Use the critical thinking if you are looking for improve the knowledge.
- Focus on the style of sentences and the common terminologies of the
subject.
- Write down short notes for the coming idea during reading, as well as
guided paragraph.
-Begin writing before the research is finished. Writing should force you to
strengthen your arguments.
19
20. Characteristics of Good Writing
• Completeness: all information needed is provided
• Correctness: relevant and precise information
• Credibility : مصداقيةsupport your argument
• Clarity: reader decides what is vague, confusing,
ambiguous
• Conciseness ايجازget to the point :
• Consideration: anticipate the reader’s reaction
20
21. The essential steps
before start writing
• 1- Gathering the Basic information & Data
• 2- Analyzing and Sorting the Results
• 3- Outlining the Report
21
22. The Writing Process
• Planning:
– Keep objectives in mind and research the topic
– Think about the audience
– Outlining helps organize thoughts
• Writing:
– Follow your outline, use your handbook
– Inspiration is acceptable but must be carefully reviewed
– Use the interview approach to supplement the outline who,
what, where, when, how)
• Quality control:
– Reread your work
– Be critical of your own work
22
23. Tell a Story
• Humans communicate through storytelling
• We are fascinated by stories
• Pose the problem, ask a question, pose a
solution, note problems that arise, address
them.
23
24. Scientific writing differs from other kinds of writing
Subject Matter Writing Constraints
audience
occasion
purpose
[Franklin,
1952]
Purpose of Writing Writing Style
To inform
To persuade
24
[Peterson, 1987]
25. You should begin the writing process by
analyzing your constraints
Who they are
Audience What they know
Why they will read
How they will read
Format
Formality
Occasion
Politics and ethics
Process and deadline
Purpose To inform
25
To persuade
26. Three aspects of writing affect the way that
readers assess your documents
Content
Style
Form
26
27. Style is the way you communicate
the content to the audience
[Peterson, 1987]
words
Illustration wordswords
wordswordswords
wordswordswordswords
wordswordswords
wordswordswords
wordswordswords
wordswordswords
Structure Language
style
27
28. Form embodies the format and mechanics
of the writing
mechanics
format
grammar
typography
usage
layout
punctuation
spelling
28
29. Types of Writing
• E-mail
• Letters and Memos مذكرات
• Agendas
• Reports
• Academic Documents
• Research (scientific) manuscripts
• Continuing education papers
29
30. Report writing
• Reports communicate information which
has been compiled as a result of research
and analysis of data and of issues.
• Reports can cover a wide range of topics,
but usually focus on transmitting
information with a clear purpose, to a
specific audience.
30
32. • Good reports are documents that are
accurate, objective and complete.
• They should also be well-written, clearly
structured and expressed in a way that
holds the reader's attention and meets
their expectations.
32
33. Different types of report
• Scientific/lab
• Technical
• Business
• Research
• Academic overview
All vary slightly in their purpose & structure.
What kind of report are you writing?
33
34. Types of reports
• At university, you may be required to write several
different types of reports:
• Technical and Business disciplines with an applied focus
such as Engineering, Information Technology,
Commerce, Accounting and Finance, will set report
writing assignments that simulate the process of report
writing in industry.
• Assignments are set in the form of a problem or a case
study. The students research the problem, and present
the results of the research in a report format to an
imaginary client.
34
36. In scientific writing, formats vary considerably
to serve different situations
The most effective combustion method
is an atmospheric fluidized bed
clean ed
exhau st
• 90% removal capability
sep arator
• low capital cost—able to
use in existing equipment
• high operating cost
• ability to use different
grades of coal
grid
air
inlet
Formal Journal Presentation
Reports Articles Slides
36
37. Writing stages
Writing is a staged process
1. Review/design/planning (prewriting)
2. Experimenting/research
3. Writing
4. Rewriting
Easy to emphasize writing stage &
de-emphasize other stages
Leads to poor communication 37
38. Key components of effective writing/
presenting
• The structure and content
• – Is it focused?
• – Is it logical? Is the thinking clear and concise?
• – Does it answer the question (s) in the reader’s mind?
• – Is it easy for the reader to understand?
• The ‘look’ of the document
• – Does it look professional?
• – Has consideration been given to highlighting structure?
• – Is the document well referenced?
• The style of writing and presenting
• – Type of introduction and conclusion
• – Use of stories, open questions
• – Use of visuals, supporting documentation
38
39. Improve your technology skills
(Word processor skills)
• One of the important issues for writing a
report by your own , is knowing how to use
the whole features of the used word
processor, e.g. insert equations, objects,
page format, as well as have a appropriate
typing skills in the both languages
(Arabic/English).
• (office 2007 tutorials)
• http://www.fgcu.edu/support/ 39
Editor's Notes
This slide is perhaps the most important slide of the set because it shows what constraints students are under as they begin writing a scientific document. In other words, this slide tells students where they should begin the writing process (an assumption here is that the students understand the content of their document and now must communicate that content). The constraints of audience, purpose, and occasion are discussed in Chapter 1. The aspect of format is also discussed in Chapter 16 and in the “Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students.” The aspect of process refers to how the student actually puts words onto paper. Will the student write as an individual or part of a group? Does the student have a fixed deadline? Chapter 17 discusses this aspect in more detail. Formality refers to the expectations that the audience has as far as mechanics, which is also discussed in Chapter 1, Appendix A, and Appendix B. Interactive exercises for mechanics can be found in the “Writing Exercises for Engineers and Scientists.” On this slide, you should make it clear to the students that no simple recipes exist for the challenging documents that they will have to write. Students should assess the audience, format, formality, and other constraints of the situation before committing words to paper. The slides that follow elaborate on each of the constraints.
One problem that many students have is that they don’t have a sense of hierarchy about aspects of writing. These students might equate a small aspect of form such as using a contraction with a serious mistake in content such as leaving out important information, or style, such as not emphasizing the most important result. With this slide, I try to distinguish these three terms. While there certainly is overlap among these terms, their definitions are distinct. Content is the message given, style is the way that message is presented (structure, language, and illustration), and form is the appearance of the message (grammar, punctuation, usage, spelling, and format). (Chapter 1)
If the constraints are what the engineer or scientist does not control in the writing process, then style is what the engineer or scientist does control. Style comprises three perspectives: structure, language, and illustration (all three are defined in Chapter 1). Students should note that unlike most terms in engineering and science, most terms in writing do not have universal definitions. For that reason, you and your students should agree upon a few definitions so that your discussions about writing make sense. So often, I have seen discussions about writing become unproductive because people invoke terms that others either do not understand or have different definitions for. Terms often used in discussions of writing, but not often understood by students, are format, style, structure, language, illustration, tone, active voice , passive voice, past tense, and the major parts of speech. These are defined in the textbook’s glossary. Reference for parachute photo: Peterson, C.W., and D.W. Johnson, Advanced Parachute Design , SAND86-8006 (Albuquerque: Sandia National Laboratories, 1986).
Information about the format of scientific writing can be found on pages 6-7 and in Chapter 16. Information about the mechanics of scientific writing can be found in Appendices A and B (and in The Craft of Editing (Springer-Verlag, 2000). Both of these subjects are discussed in separate presentations.
