Workshop II Preparing the Report

1. Workshop IIPreparing the Report A D Kennedy 27 January 2010

2. Contents • Status • Scope • Depth • Audience • Format • Assessment • Questions?

3. Status“Where should we be now?” • Groups chosen and had some meetings • “Consultant” (supervisor) contacted • Topic chosen • Scope considered • Tasks allocated • Work plan being implemented • Outline in progress

4. Deadlines • Workshop III “Giving an oral presentation” • 14:00 Wednesday 10th March, JCMB Lecture Theatre C • Reports • e-mail Abstract to Teaching Office by Friday 12th March • Hand-in date is Friday 19th March • Physics projects to be handed in at JCMB • Astro projects to be handed in at the ROE • Presentations • Tuesday 23rd/Wednesday 24th March • Location to be announced

5. Scope of Report“How broad should we make it?” • Overview: reviewing whole subject area • Explanation of a technique: more detail, aim to explain a specific thing • Future look: broader again, some examples • Critical Assessment/recommendations: mainly Group Project • Project could be combinations of these. • Decide on scope early and stick with the plan

6. Depth of Report“How much detail should there be?” • Overview: broad coverage, not in depth • Explanation of a technique: technical details and background • Future look: current status and vision, light on details • General rules: • Narrow scope • Do not concentrate on details • Mathematics to a minimum (no more than needed) • Diagrams and sketches are useful

7. Audience“What is the appropriate level?” • Most important: remember readership • Target report at your peers • General physical science background • New Scientist/Physics World/Scientific American level • General physical scientists do not • Know what the “Standard Model” is • Accept “fractal dimension” as a normal measure • Simple language where possible

8. Format“What should the report look like?” • Report must be “camera ready” • Word processed to self-consistent style • Figures in appropriate places • LaTeX users: there is a template in • http://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/~wjh/tex/ • Gives correct format, page size, font… • Non LaTeX users • Main text 12 pt Roman or Times • L/R Margins of 30 cm • Top/Bottom margins of 20 cm • Citations by superscript numbers

9. Electronic Media“Can we hand in web pages?” • Acceptable if (and only if) they are relevant • Provide in convenient form (standard file formats on CD) • Give instructions if necessary • Likewise for videos, animations, etc. • Markers will not be happy if they have to go to a lot of effort to view material • Especially if it is not relevant • You want the markers to be happy!

10. References: What to Cite“Can we reference Wikipedia?” • Beware “the wisdom of crowds” • Probably not a good idea to cite Wikipedia as • It is not a primary source • But it often contains good references, so not a bad place to look initially • Review articles • Scientific American/Physics World/Physics Today are probably appropriate at this level • Physics Reports/Reviews of Modern Physics

11. References: How to Cite • Citing the Web • Nie M. (2006) The Pedagogical Perspectives of Mobile Learning. Available online: http://www2.le.ac.uk/projects/impala/documents, (Retrieved: 29th January 2009). • Consistent referencing style • [135] W. L. Jorgensen and C. J. Swenson, Optimized intermolecular potential functions for amides and peptides. Hydration of amides, J. Am. Chem. Soc.,107, 1489—1496 (1985).

12. Assessment “How is it marked?” • Assessment for • Content • Structure, readability and level • Layout and presentation • Include minutes of your meetings • Double marked • Submission deadlines: • Late penalties 5% per day • Not likely to benefit by missing the deadline

13. Abstract and Title • Short and to the point (50 words) • Plain text – no formatting characters • Title of report • Group Members • Supervisor’s Name • e-mail Abstract to Teaching Office by Friday 12th March

14. Questions?