Writing Up Your Final Year Project Report Louise Livesey Academic Skills Adviser This workshop will: − provide strategies for tackling the writing-up phase of your final year project report − give advice and tips on structuring the whole project report, including how to manage appendices − offer ideas on how to organise sections, as part of good structuring 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice1

The Plan … 1. What is a final year project report? 2. Managing your time 3. Starting to write 4. Structures of final year project reports 5. Composition of sections 6. Drafting tips 7. Dealing with appendices 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice2

A large assignment Demonstrate… - your understanding of a particular topic/procedure/product or scientific method - you can create, design or test independently - you can do secondary research to discover what has been tried or developed in the past - you are able to practise analytical, critiquing and problem-solving skills Focus on a topic Develop deep knowledge Check with your programme tutor 1.What is a final year project report? 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice3

2.Managing your time It is not planning to deadlines... It’s planning from a deadline – working backwards from it. 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice4

Today’s date Deadline date /12/15Academic Skills Advice5 2.Managing your time

Tips: Arranging notes creates structure in mind for both the report as a whole and also how long you will need to spend on each section. Use the Pizza Principle and break down the process into Chunks. Think of a FYP report like a series of scientific papers; each section is self-contained. 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice6 2.Managing your time

3.Starting to write Deciding what you want to say is key Do not put off writing Nobody will see your first draft You do not have to start at the beginning: − Either choose a section you enjoyed working on or that you are interested in OR − try ‘eating your sprouts’ Have breaks Keep going 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice7

Title page Full title of research question Your name Course name Contents pageSections of the dissertation clearly labelled with page numbers Introduction Informs the reader what the research is about, and presents the overall research objective and specific research questions – and why. The introduction may also present and summarise the contents of the remaining sections to the reader Abstract/Background Puts the research into a particular social, commercial, theoretical or historical context. It puts your research into perspective and helps to explain the reasons for the research. Literature Review Informs the reader what previous research has been done on the topic and how it has guided or informed your own research. For example, this can include how previous research it may have influenced your own methodology or how you may be building on what happened in previous research. The literature review will also summarise the main theoretical models, principles or practices that are relevant to your research. Methodology Informs the reader what overall research methodology you adopted – and why - and what research tools (or methods) you adopted to gain and analyse your result. It can also involve discussing objectively the limitations of the methodology & methods used. It also describes the participants involved (how many/how they were selected/their characteristics etc). Results/Findings Presents a summary of the data or other information you gathered. At this stage you just present and summarise the data or information without going into detailed discussion of the implications of your findings (this goes into the next section: ‘Discussion’). Discussion Analyses & discusses the result, including implications, consequences, issues raised etc. It presents some resolution or answers to the main research questions. You may also want or need to connect the result in some way to the theories, models, practices etc you introduced in the literature review. It may also include recommendations, although this could go into a separate ‘Recommendations’ section. Conclusion Reminds the reader of the main aim of your research, your methodology and the findings. You are also likely to point out the limitations of your research and how future research might take your findings a stage further. RecommendationsLays out recommendations. GlossaryList of terms, e.g. acronyms used. Bibliography/Reference list List of all references in correct format. AppendicesAttachments, e.g. questionnaires used.

5.Composition of chapters Abstract: no longer than 10% of the rest of the report Introduction: should mention published literature on your research topic with appropriate references Materials and Methods (or Methods/Study design): state the scope or extent of your research, and make sure you explain your methods clearly Results: ensure they are easy to follow and having a textual commentary with appropriate visuals. Discussion: show critical insight through analysis and suggest further work in the field References: use the prescribed system Presentation of data: tables and figures must labelled completely and correctly All sections should… Use the conventions stated Be concise and clear Use the right level of detail Adopt appropriate notations and symbols 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice9

structure sections/chapters and sub-sections/chapters the structure of each sub-section/chapter: each point has its own paragraph the ‘flow’ 6.Drafting 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice10

Editing: maintain focus on answering your research question or hypothesis; written in appropriate academic style; and appropriate terminology. Proofreading: a final run-though looking for grammatical and punctuation mistakes; and typographical and spelling errors. Beware spell-checkers! Easy to lose marks! 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice11 6.Drafting

support your analysis (especially repetitive or lengthy information) validate your conclusions pursue a related point 7.Dealing with appendices 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice12

References Greetham, B. (2013) How to write better essays. 3 rd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Richard. (2011) How to structure a dissertation: chapters & sub-chapters. London: Write Enterprise Ltd. chapters-sub-chapters/ Accessed 12 January chapters-sub-chapters/ Study Advice. (2014) Writing up your dissertation. Reading: University of Reading. writingdissertation.aspx Accessed 12 February writingdissertation.aspx Accessed 12 February 2014 The Writing Centre. (2014) Abstracts. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina. Accessed 15 January UniLearning. (2000) Using appendices. Wollongong: University of Wollongong. Accessed 12 February /12/15Academic Skills Advice13

Academic Skills Advice Service Where are we? Chesham Building B0.23. Give us a call or come speak to us via B0.23 Who am I? Louise, the dedicated workshop adviser. Who can help me with study and writing skills? Lucy and Russell run Instant Study Skills Advice sessions every weekday 10-4 and Writing Skills Clinics three times a week. You can also access self-help resources on our Who can give me maths advice? Helen and Michael specialise in Maths support for students though clinics and pre-booked appointment. How do I get in touch? academic- Telephone: academic- 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice14

Any questions? 23/12/15Academic Skills Advice15