1 Document Writing and Presentations

2 Writing reports and project documentation u Approaches to writing u Writing style u References u Other tips u Approaches to presentations u Other Tips

3 Writing and structuring reports Initial considerations: u who is going to read the report? what do they already know? what do you want them to learn? u how long should it be? what general structure should it follow? The Essence of Computing Projects - A Student’s Guide, Dawson, C.W., Prentice-Hall, 2000, Ch 6

4 Approaches to writing u Top-down approach identify structure of report (how many chapters? what chapters? draft ToC) points to be discussed in each section helps give direction to your writing will often change as your understanding of your project improves u Evolutionary approach write parts of your report as you do the work information, references, etc. necessary for writing are at hand revise and refine based on later developments

5 Introductory section Points to consider: u should give general introduction to the project u constraints that affected progress u present approach and solution in a clear and succinct fashion u clear description of the project’s aim and objectives

6 Review Points to consider: u review of relevant work by others u relationship between this work and yours u if similar work has been done before, reasons for your particular approach should be given u avail of the library facilities and guides for conducting a literature review

7 Results and discussion chapter u first present the main results of your work u then critically discuss them were the objectives satisfied if not, why not limitations lessons learnt u present future work / enhancements that could be performed u normally a relatively short section acceptable to repeat some of the points and statements made earlier in report

8 Style (1) u learn from style of text books, journal papers, etc u try to avoid using personal pronouns (I, you, my) u keep sentences short and to the point u avoid abbreviations, jargon and slang u use past tense (e.g. “test cases were drafted during the requirements specification process...”) u avoid shortened forms (isn’t, wouldn’t, …)

9 Style (2) u start sentences with a capital letter! u beware apostrophes, e.g. the web server’s security features are not robust the web servers’ security features are not robust the web servers security features are not robust the web server’s security features aren’t robust u beware spell checkers “Chapter 2 - Liturgy Review” ! color vs. colour u ensure overall structure is apparent report has beginning, middle and end each section has beginning, middle and end

10 References (1) Material is referenced in reports to: avoid plagiarism »plagiarism can be performed accidentally or deliberately. In both cases, it is a serious academic offence identify context »to demonstrate how your work relates to, builds on and extends the work of others support and validate »to support your own arguments and validate any statements that you make identify sources »so that the interested reader can locate and follow-up the actual sources you have used.

11 References (2) In reports references should be cited in a consistent manner, using one of the following schemes: “… some early work by Brooks suggests that … (Brooks, 1975)” “Early work in this area [6] shows that …” “Boehm [BOEH87] gives a good…” References should then be listed in the relevant format: Brooks, F.P., (1975) The Mythical Man-Month : Essays on Software Engineering, Addison-Wesley, 1975 [6] Brooks, F.P., The Mythical Man-Month : Essays on Software Engineering, Addison-Wesley, 1975 BOEH87 Boehm, B.W., “Improving Software Productivity”, IEEE Computer, Vol 20 No , pp adopt a style and be consistent

12 References (3) u references to internet sites should be limited if possible, preferably to well established sites, archival services, or sites that aim to guarantee persistence of content. u references to WWW pages should contain: Author (Last name, First name), Title of page (in quotes), Title of complete work, Date the page was created, URL (Internet address), Date you saw it. u example: Abilock, Debbie. "Research on a Complex Topic." Nueva Library Help, 8 August 1996, (1 October 1999). For detail see:

13 Tips u Never use ‘I’, ‘my’ or ‘we’. u Every Table should have a Table number and be referred to in the main text. u Every Figure should have a Figure number and be referred to in the main text. u Take care with references. u Appendices should appear in order as they are referred to in the text.

14 Tips u Ever chapter should have an introduction. (8-12 lines) u Ever chapter should have a conclusion. (8-12 lines) u Every heading should have a reference number. u Do not include large amounts of code, screen dumps, tables etc. u Use the spell checker!

15 Presentations u First slide should include: title of presentation name and affiliation date/other specific details u Second slide should give an overview of the structure of the presentation. u Last slide should be a summary. u Give each of the main slides a succinct title.

16 Presentations u Make sure you are aware of what is expected: content time available supporting material presentation facilities u Make sure each aspect of work is given equal time. u Only include relevant material - be succinct. u Be prepared to defend your work.

17 Presentations - Suggestions u 1 slide - 1 minute. u Try not to include large paragraphs of text. A picture says a thousand words! u Have a balance between text and pictorial information. u Make font size > 22 point. u Don’t tell jokes unless you are sure people will laugh!!!!!

18 Presentations - Suggestions u Rehearse your presentation for timing purposes. (it will usually take longer on the day) u Give your presentation to your PSG for feedback. u If necessary use prompt cards, but try not to read your presentation. u Be careful of where you stand in relation to the projection screen. u Talk to the audience, not the overhead projector.

19 What now? u Initial report. consult project supervisor u Literature Review u Requirements Capture u Analysis and Design