Survive the FINAL EXAM!

Dear students,

Remember to sit for the final exam of this course:

30th DECEMBER 2013 (MONDAY) 

Starts at : 9.00 am ( be at the disignated exam hall EARLIER)

All the best to all of you and GOOD LUCK for the finals!

Best regards;

Misz F.

F.E. Popular Question no. 3

The final report, do you still remember how hard it was to write FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS, CONCLUSION & RECOMMENDATIONS?

Findings = remember to write what you can highlight/the most important data from the tables/figures

Discussions = is derrived from the findings that is most important to the research objectives & problem statements

Conclusion = is a ONE paragraph statement of the most important points that can be concluded based on the DISCUSSIONS

Recommendations = are suggestions based on the CONCLUSION made earlier- you may suggest what certain authority can do/take actions for example: the university should enforced all students presentations be delivered in only English language.

REMINDER: do not confuse yourself between CONCLUSION and RECOMMENDATIONS

Quick Recall 2

How many types of data collection method? What is secondary data? What is primary data?

F.E. Popular Question no. 2

How to collect data? What is the method? One of the method is QUESTIONNAIRE. What type of question can be constructed for questionnaire? 

Close ended = yes/no

Mutiple choice = A, B, C, D,E.... 

Ranking = number 1 is the most important/choice: number 5 is the least important/choice

Checklist = tick the choices that apply - respondent can have more than 1 answer/choice

Scale = 1,2,3,4,5= strongly disagree, disagree, not sure, agree, strongly agree

Open ended = suggestion/opinion questions

Quick Tips 1

Remember to write all your answers in full sentences not in BULLETED OR POINT FORMS. State your point then elaborate or explain it in detail. Give example.

Quick Recall 1

How many reports that you have written throughout the semester? Do you still remember those? The types? The purpose?

F.E. Popular Question no.1

Do you still remember developing a research proposal? The format? The components?

NOTE: 

The hardest part would be on the Problem Statement, Objectives and Significance of the study

JUST REMEMBER:

Problem statement = the issues/problems that are closely related to the main problem; for example the main problem is "university students are shy to speak English" so: university students would not develop their English language, students would have problems in their job interview session, university students would have limited opportunity to develop themselves.

Obejctives = are the aims/purposes that you want to achieve and the reasons you want to do the research

Significance of the study = is the contribution/ importance/ benefit of your research to some people for example the specific group (students, engineering students, disabled person etc) or university community as well as our country.

Final Exam Alert!!

Salam & Hi all,

Are you in the mood of final exam fever? Do you need a remedy for your fever? Check out this blog for the topic label "LIFE SAVER" for the tips and quick review of your final preparation to survive in the exam hall for this course.

For more updates "keep calm and stay focus" to this blog.

Good luck guys!

Misz F.

My dear students: This is for you..

Salam and Hi all,
So..this is the final week and guess what? The semester is over! Finally! BUT the "party" is not over yet because you need to SUBMIT THE FINAL REPORT within this week from 16/12/13 to 20/12/13. REMEMBER: the report should be in hardcopy and each group members must put their signature upon submission. Thank you.

Progress Report Part 2

Once you have written a successful proposal and have secured the resources to do a project, you are expected to update your supervisor on the progress of that project/research. This updating is usually handled by progress reports, which can take many forms: memoranda, letters, short reports, formal reports, or presentations. A progress report is a document that describes the progress of a particular person or event over a specific period of time.  Progress reports are often used to judge the development of a project or person doing a task before or between official reviews. Progress reports are valuable to determine if projects are advancing, if a person is making improvements on a job or task, or for ensuring methods created to reach certain goals are having their desired effects. Read more: http://www.ehow.com/about_6689190_progress-report_.html#ixzz2kPxXba5L

Primary OR Secondary Source?

Primary sources

A primary source is an original object or document -- the raw material or first-hand information. Primary sources include historical and legal documents, eyewitness accounts, results of experiments, statistical data, pieces of creative writing, and art objects. In the natural and social sciences, primary sources are often empirical studies -- research where an experiment was done or a direct observation was made. The results of empirical studies are typically found in scholarly articles or papers delivered at conferences, so those articles and papers that present the original results are considered primary sources.

 Secondary sources

A secondary source is something written about a primary source. Secondary sources include comments on, interpretations of, or discussions about the original material. You can think of secondary sources as second-hand information. If I tell you something, I am the primary source. If you tell someone else what I told you, you are the secondary source. Secondary source materials can be articles in newspapers or popular magazines, book or movie reviews, or articles found in scholarly journals that discuss or evaluate someone else's original research.

Research versus Review Articles

Although scientific and other peer reviewed journals are excellent sources for primary research, not every article in those journals will be a research article. Content may also include book reviews, editorials, and review articles. Since review articles include citations and are often quite lengthy, on first glance, they can be difficult to differentiate from original research articles. Since the authors of review articles are discussing, analyzing, and evaluating others' research, not reporting on their own research, review articles are not primary sources. They can be of great value, however, for identifying potentially good primary sources.

Primary research articles can be identified by a commonly used format. Look for sections titled Methods (sometimes with variations, such as Materials and Methods), Results (usually followed with charts and statistical tables), and Discussion. Since a review of the literature is part of the research process, the article will also include bibliographic citations and a Works Cited section at the end. An Abstract at the beginning will summarize the research findings and give you a good sense of the kind of article that is being presented, so this is an excellent tool to use to determine if the item is a review article or a research article. If there is no abstract at all, that in itself may be a sign that it is not a primary resource. Short research articles, such as those found in Science and similar scientific publications that mix news, editorials, and forums with research reports, however, may not include any of those elements. In those cases look at the words the authors use, phrases such as "we tested"  and "in our study, we measured" will tell you that the article is reporting on original research.

Source:  http://www.ithacalibrary.com/sp/subjects/primary

Data Collection Method: LNote5

A Prezi presentation.

Developing Research Proposal: LNote 4

A copy of Prezi prsentation.

Language of Reports: LNote3

A copy of Prezi presentation.

About Technical Writing : LNote 1

A copy of Prezi presentation.

Types of Report : LNote2

Copy of the Prezi presentation.

Welcome Back Students!

Salam and Hi All,
Glad to know that you are ready to start the new semester (Semester I 2013/14 Session). So let's have a kick start for this course. Check it out!

GOALS:

This course is intended to develop English language writing competence, train students in working collaboratively and develop lifelong learning skills for continuous personal and professional development.

SYNOPSIS:

This course introduces students to report writing skills needed at tertiary level. Students will learn basic report writing skills such as proposals, progress report, informational and analytical report. To enable them to produce these reports, they will learn how to collect data using questionnaires. The data collected will be analysed, transferred into graphic forms and presented orally and in writing. Based on the analysis of data, students should be able to draw conclusions and make recommendations.

ASSESSMENT

Assignment 1 (Informational report)	:	10%
Proposal	:	10%
Assignment 2 (1 set of questionnaire)	:	5%
Progress Report (Oral presentation 1)	:	10%
Final Report	:	15%
Oral Presentation 2	:	10%
Final Examination	:	40%
Total	:	100%

QUICK REVIEW 4: OBJECTIVES or Purpose of the Study

Simply said, objective(s) is/are written to tell the readers what goals/aims of your research/study want to achieve. It should be written in a specific way that is: begin the statement with "to".

Examples:
1. to identify...
2. to clarify...
3. to determine...
4. to figure out...
5. to find out...
6. to discover...
7. to explore...
8. to seek...
9. to assist...

and many more...

BETWEEN U & ME

 

Salam & Hi Guys,

I just wanna wish all of you GOOD LUCK for your final, GOOD LUCK for writing & choosing the right answers, GOOD LUCK for a good grade & GOOD LUCK for surviving in the exam hall!

Remember...DO NOT leave the answer space empty, write something (who knows that it could be 5%  of the possibilities would be the right answer?)
DO NOT leave any "love" or "hate" messages to replace your possible answers in the answer booklet....it would be a 110% assurance that it is not going to work...

LoVe you guys!



Misz F.

QUICK REVIEW 3 : Statement of Problem vs Significance of the study

Statement of Problem:

Should be written in  complete sentences not in point forms or suspended sentences. As the name suggests, you need to write them in full statement.

It clarifies what are the reasons a research/study need to be conducted.

Significance of the Study

In simple understanding, it should appear clearly to the reader why your research is so important to a certain group or people or community if it will be conducted. Tell the reader what is the benefit of your research/study to these people.

QUICK REVIEW 2 : Conclusion & Recomendation

Conclusion:
It states the concluding paragraph to wrap up the major findings highlighted in the findings & discussion section. It should be written in 1 paragraph to assure that it is the final say about the findings & discussions.

 Example: It is obvious that many of the undergraduates are aware that they need to enhance their English language skills especially during their job interview and also secure the job in their hand. 

Recommendation:

Also known as suggestion to improve the situation said in the concluding paragraph, in short the recommendation should be made based on the conclusion made in the section.

Example: Based on the conclusion, a few recommendation can be drawn to ensure that the students will enhance their English language command. One of the recommendations is, the student themselves have to grab opportunities or seek for extra classes to improve their English language skills such as communication skills, presentation skills and job interview skills.

QUICK REVIEW 1 : Types of Report

Analytical vs. Informational

Analytical = involves analysis of the data that were derived from the data collection. Examples: Research report, Lab report & Market survey report.

Informational = purely based on information only no need to analyse data. Examples: proposal, field trip report & accident report.

FINAL EXAM "LIFE SAVER"

So you have no idea what's going to be out for your final exam and you want to ask me for  tips a.k.a "leak question"?, plus you are you so desperate to know what kind of questions will be in store for you? Well I have a solution for you....fear not my dear students.

Here are some clues:
1. Remember what are the assignments were all about? So you will be asked to APPLY on what you have completed in group assignments.
2. Remember the exercise that we have discussed in class? So read all about LANGUAGE OF REPORTS topics and the A.P.A from this blog.

Anything more? 
Well just focus on what you will have on table plus lots and lots of du'a..No worries my du'a is with you. Good luck!

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT TO MY BELOVED UWB20302 STUDENTS

Salam and Hi Guys,
( Section 10 & Section 29)
Please be informed that for this week you are required to complete your proposal as well as the questionnaire for me to check. Share those complete revised version of both the documents via Google Docs. If you failed to do so it will affect your research work to delay, so please make an appropriate action.




Love;
Misz F

What is referencing?

Check this out! Anything that you want to know about.

http://library.victoria.ac.nz/library/resources/guides/referencingstyles.html

APA Referencing Style

 

Check out these link for further info:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/136851683/Apa-Example 

OR

http://share.snacktools.com/5785BDF569B/fdpmg5fm

Research Question : Again

Please follow this link to reveal it.

http://www.libs.uga.edu/researchcentral/defining/creating.html

Thesis Statement : The What of Your Research

Thesis Characteristics

Whenever you are writing to explain something to your reader or to persuade your reader to agree with your opinion, there should be one complete sentence that expresses the main idea of your paper. That sentence is often called the thesis, or thesis statement. (Some other names it goes by are "the main idea" and "the controlling idea.") Based on everything you've read, and thought, and brainstormed, the thesis is not just your topic, but what you're saying about your topic. As you continue to write, read, and think about your topic, see if your working thesis still represents your opinion.

Put the Thesis as a Statement

Make sure your thesis is in the form of a statement, not a question. "Can we save the Amazon rain forest?" is an ear-catching question that might be useful in the introduction, but it doesn't express an opinion or perspective as the following statements do:

• "We can save the Amazon rain forest by limiting tourist presence, boycotting goods made by companies that deplete the forest's resources, and generally educating people about the need to preserve the rain forest in order to preserve the earth's ecological systems."
• "We cannot save the Amazon rain forest since the companies that deplete its resources in their manufacturing are so widely-spread throughout the world, so politically powerful in their respective countries, and wealthy enough to fight the opposition fully."

Source: http://www.esc.edu/online-writing-center/resources/research/research-paper-steps/developing-thesis/characteristics/

Research Question : The Introduction

Please click on this link to check it out.

http://writingcenter.gmu.edu/?p=307

A Good Research Topic

Useful Thought: 

1. Before starting to write, the author of the research paper should explore his interests. It is always useful to exploit one’s sea of knowledge that this is the topic that the writer portrays in the research paper. 
2. Further, the personal interest on behalf of the writer will motivate him to produce a piece of writing that was thoroughly researched and was not a victim of either procrastination or disinterest. 
3. A good research paper topic can be to assess the data availability. Research papers always include literature reviews. However, careful consideration needs to be made whether the secondary data is sufficient to cover the needs of the paper. 
4. The writer needs to examine the study material to evaluate whether his hypothesis or argument of the paper is being satisfied with the data. On the contrary, at time the secondary data becomes burdensome. 
5. Excess inflow of information tends to baffle the writer who becomes perplexed in choosing what material may be best suited to his needs. In the end, the inability to limit the affect of secondary research may lead the research paper topic to sound vague and incapable of directing towards a single minded research analysis. 
6. Whilst the process of choosing a good research paper topic one should be careful to arouse the reader’s interest. While it may be easy to decide upon a common topic, it may not be able to yield a favorable response. 
7. The individual who may be reading the research paper might have come across the topic several times and may seem to have lost interest. Thus, in the end the paper is subject to an adverse reaction. Like ‘too many cooks’ too many writers previously may have contributed towards making it a mundane topic. Thus the writer should be careful in repeating the mistakes of his predecessors. 
8. A research paper topic may seem extremely interesting to the writer may prove to be a subject of concern or bias to the reader. Therefore, before deciding upon a topic, the writer needs to assess what would satisfy the reader’s appetite for knowledge. 
9. By catering to the needs of the targeted audience, the writer will be successful in narrating facts that appeal to the reader and thus aid in developing a topic of appropriate concern for the research paper.
   
   Source:  http://www.termpaperscorner.com/blog/how-to-create-a-good-research-paper-topic/