ENGR 250 homepage

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ENGR 250 homepage

• Course handouts, my PowerPoint slides
• Link on Engcad homepage when log into Engcad
• Link on CAPE homepage through courses
• http//www.cape.canterbury.ac.nz/courses/ENGR250/i
  ndex.htm

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Short sentences

• Sentences should generally be 25 words or less
• Complicated ideas better explained over several
  sentences
• Long sentences are difficult to read.
• Avoid grammatical errors or clumsiness

3
Passive sentence

• What is a passive sentence?
• It is one in which the agent that is doing the
  action being described is the object of the
  sentence rather than the subject. For example
• The project was reviewed by the manager
• vs

4
Passive voice

• The temperature of the condensate was determined
  to be 91 oC. (10 words)

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Signs of a Possible Passive Sentence

• Any form of the verb to be -- is, are, was,
  were, be, being, been
• The design will be checked by the stylist.
• The modification of the power unit will be
  supervised by the project engineer.
• Any form of the verb to have -- have, has, had
• The module had passed all of the tests.
• The technician had set up the power unit in the
  lab.
• Words that were made into nouns or gerunds by the
  addition of -tion or -ing
• The redesign of the circuit board was done by
  the electrical engineer.
• The solder was running off the sides of the
  board.

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Fixing Passive Sentences
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1st vs 3rd Person

• Writing in 1st person tends to clutter up your
  sentences.
• We measured the temperature of the condensate and
  determined it was 91 oC.
• vs
• .

8
The Paragraph

• Paragraph topic sentence supporting sentences
• Topic sentence
• Topic sentence is main idea of paragraph
• Put the topic sentence first let the reader
  know what is coming
• Supporting sentences amplify main idea of topic
  sentence
• Paragraphs can be too long or too short
• Only one main idea per paragraph a new
  paragraph gives the reader a chance to digest
  main idea before moving on.
• Avoid one/two sentence paragraphs the main idea
  is probably not properly supported

9

• Structure paragraphs coherently
• Repeat terms
• Use key word from topic sentence in other
  sentences
• Provide transitions
• first, second
• and, also
• but, however
• Use membership support sentences list parts of
  key group in topic sentence

• thus, therefore, so

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Admitting you need help ?

• Real People
• ELSP - English Language Support Programme
• WASS - Writing and Study Skills Programme
• Both located on Level 7 Central Library
• Library
• Many, many books on technical writing
• Internet
• http//www.cosc.canterbury.ac.nz/teaching/4thyear/
  technical_writing/
• http//www.technical-writing-course.com/
• http//cctc.commnet.edu/grammar/
• Many others (some useful, some not)

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Report Structure

• All reports have a different structure
• Type full report, technical paper, memo
• Organisation industry, govt., ENGR 250
• Audience general, technical, specialist, marker
• No one structure is always correct you always
  need to check

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Title Page

• Simple, informative and concise
• No word art
• No color folders
• No plastic binders
• Yes staple in upper left corner
• Yes include your name
• Yes include other relevant details

13
V.G. Student Civil Engineering University of
Canterbury Department of Civil Engineering The
Tensile Strength of Paper Engineering
Computation, ENGR 250 Assignment 1 V.G.
Student 10 March 2000
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Abstract

• Concise summary of the report
• Written after the main report
• Normally no longer than ½ page
• Focus on specifics
• What, why and how it was done
• What results were obtained (actual numbers)
• How reliable are the results.
• Avoid background introductory material!

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Conclusions

• An overview of the most important points from the
  discussion. More involved than abstract.
• Common mistakes
• Plural you will generally have more than one
  conclusion.
• Do not introduce new ideas and/or numbers in
  conclusions section. Anything in conclusion must
  be in the Discussion section!

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References

• Proper referencing of technical reports is vital.
• Provides additional background if reader
  interested
• Proves you are knowledgeable in the area of work
• Not referencing numbers, ideas, pictures, etc.
  is
• Plagiarism
• Cheating
• Stealing

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References

• Common Mistakes
• Including references in the Reference section,
  but no explicit mention in the text.
• Not properly referencing pictures/diagrams
  obtained from the web.
• No need to reference commonly available
  information
• g 9.8 m s-2
• MWO2 32 g mole-1
• Florida Marlins won the 2003 Baseball World Series

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Plagiarism (cheating!)

• Direct copying of someone elses report is
  cheating.
• Often noticeable by sudden style changes
• One marker reads all reports, pretty easy to
  catch
• People caught will be subject to the full
  disciplinary processes of the university
• Paraphrasing ideas from a reference must be more
  than minor word changes.
• We dont use direct quotes too often in
  engineering reports.
• If you are unsure discuss it with WASS