I do consider writing style, ethics, grammar, and spelling in grading reports. As an engineer, I spend a lot of my time writing, and I believe that it is an important skill. Furthermore I have found that when students do not express their thoughts clearly, it is often because their thoughts are not clear to them. Here are some random thoughts I have had about reports over the years. The list is not comprehensive. <\br> First, here is a link to a paper that you can use as a guide. http://www.ece.neu.edu/faculty/dimarzio/2share/pubs/warger-JBO08-CellCounting.pdf
- Use section headings. You may want to use a numbering scheme like Chapter 1, Section 1.1, Subsection 1.1.1, etc. In a long document, I like to end the introduction with a roadmap of the rest of the document: "Section 2 describes ... ", etc.
- Give figures and tables numbers and titles, and refer to them by number in the text. Capitalize the words figure, table, section, and the like, when they are followed by a number. For example, say "Figure 1, in the previous section, shows ..."
- Use an "equation editor" for your equations. Major equations should be shown on a separate line, possibly with a number near the right-hand edge of the column. Short or less significant equations can be included within the text. Mathematical expressions, f = m a, should be in slanted type.
Foreign words and their abbreviations, etc., should be in slant type.
- Appearance matters. Use a word processor, and lay things out neatly.
- In matlab, use thicker lines and larger text in your figures. Many other software packages also have very thin lines and small fonts as defaults. Change them. Don't use any font smaller than 8 points, even for subscripts and superscripts. If you are going to reduce the size of the figure for inclusion in the text, make sure that the fonts will reduce to something greater than 8 points, and the lines to something greater than one point.
- Informal expressions in technical writing are usually uncool.
- Use parallel constructions in lists.
- Never have one item in a sublist
- Active voice and first person will be accepted by this instructor, but not by everyone in engineering. “Mistakes were made.”
- You shouldn’t use the second person.
- Use a spell checker to ovoid stuped misteaks.
- Use a grammar checker. It will lead to a very uniform and boring, but correct style. At least if you deviate from what they allow, you will be aware that you are doing so. Sometimes a grammer checker will find sentences were you have spelling errors that will pass the spelling checker.
- If you are not fluent in English, ask a native speaker to review your work. Even a person not familiar with the subject can help you with your grammar.
- Use the web to...
-- Learn about a new field
-- Find out who is working in the field
-- Get pointers to the archival literature
- Do not use web pages as citations
-- They are transient
-- They are not refereed
- Catalog information for pricing, etc. is an exception if you include date information, etc.
- NOTE: Many journals make the full articles available online, and there are electronic journals such as Optics Express that are exclusively online. These are acceptable, because they are refereed, archival journals. The fact that you read them online rather than in print does not detract from their quality, or their suitability as references.
-- If you use these, cite the journal in the usual way, rather than the web site from which you obtained it.
-- The University pays for some subscriptions, and the material is available from any IP in the University, but not from outside. If you find one of these while on campus, remember that you may not be able to access it from home. Print a copy while you are on campus.
- A preposition is a terrible part of speech to end a sentence with. "This is a situation up with which I will not put." [Winston Churchill]
- And starting with a conjunction isn’t much better.
- I don't like to ever see a split infinitive. However, there is some disagreement on this among good grammarians.
- Another thing. Little short phrases. Not quite sentences. Not good. Unless you are Jonathan Franzen.
Sometimes a student will ignore number agreement in their paper to avoid sexist pronouns. There are other ways to handle this. Rewrite the sentence (best), alternate pronouns (not bad), or even use the dreaded "s/he" (not great but acceptable, at least to me).- If you borrow a figure, cite the source.
- Reference anyone who contributes to your idea.
- Paraphrasing is not the same thing as expressing your own thoughts. Reading someone's work and repeating it with bad grammar is still plagiarism.