FYP Report Writing
Spend less time. Score better grades.
Ricky Chua ([email protected])
Forging Opportunities. Retracing Memories.
FYP Myths-Busted Workshop
Part 1 (Aug 2011):
◦ FYP Concept & Lit Review Tips
Part 2 (Feb 2012):
◦ FYP Report Writing
Part 3( Feb 2012):
◦ FYP Oral Presentation Strategies
Common Myths
FYP Report is:
◦ A complete of waste paper
◦ Nothing more than a requirement to graduate
◦ To show I did at least SOME work
◦ To show I did A LOT of work
Report should be:
◦ As thick as possible!
◦ As colourful as possible!
◦ As full of pictures as possible!
◦ As intellectual sounding (confusing) as possible!
◦ “cut and paste” from senior’s reports to save time
To tell the school in written form
why you deserve your Honours degree
ie. You know how to approach ANY problem with no known solution
Informal weightage of sections
Abstract
Introduction
Literature Review
Experimental
Results and Discussion
Conclusions
Recommendations
Bibliography
1%
1%
20%
2%
70%
4%
2%
2%
Literature Review (~6 to 10 pages)
What’s does your examiner want to see from the Literature Review?
◦ Read broadly
◦ Know what was done, what was not done, what could not be done in their time.
◦ What role does YOUR project play in this field?
Something totally unexplored?
Enhancing on someone’s work?
Combining ideas?
Literature Review
Common Mistakes
◦ Putting more references than appropriate
(kiasu syndrome)
◦ No analysis
◦ Plagiarism
◦ Not enough depth and breadth
◦ Incongruent (lack of focus)
Common Mistakes
Talking about EVERYTHING you did ◦ Pareto Principle! 80-20!
Shallow or no analysis of results
Wild/exotic/tantalizing conclusions without supporting evidence ◦ It’s ok to make educated guesses, but make sure you
say so!
Pulling “facts” out of nowhere as evidence
Poor presentation of figures
Inserting useless images
Poor grammar and spelling
Incorrect 100
20
0 20
25
Correct
Wrong use of axis
range misleads reader
to think there is
horizontal trend
Do make sure…
You discuss about EVERY result you
mentioned or displayed in the report
Your discussion ties in with your Lit
Review
The main focus of your diagrams are clear
You get someone to proof-read your
grammar and spelling
Your presentation is NEAT
Do make sure…
MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL
Your reader understands the POINT of the
discussion!
Remember: Negative results are still results
and (if relevant) worthy of discussion.
Professors Say…
Common mistakes
◦ Too much data is presented. Not enough analysis.
◦ Don't talk about what you have done; talk about what you have accomplished
Pet-Peeves ◦ poor formatting of reporting – shows no effort from
student
◦ obvious language errors - tells me that the report is not even worth the student's attention. Then why should it be worth mine?
◦ Photographs of Microscope, Probe Station, Evaporator (equipment in general).
Advice from the Professors
brush up on English language
Less is More - if a piece of data does not contribute to the SIGNAL, it just contributes to the NOISE.
An excellent report focuses on Analysis, Basic Scientific mechanisms, and asks more questions that it answers.
Prioritize data: “more” is not necessarily good, focus on fundamentals / basics.
Every report is a story - make sure the story has a central message and all that goes into the report support that storyline. If it does not, it does not belong there.
The Big Picture
An FYP Report is a STORY, and stories need to fulfill some levels of criteria
Put yourself in the examiner’s shoes and see how many of these levels does your report fulfill: ◦ Level 1: I need to understand what is written.
◦ Level 2: There must be a central theme that piques my
interest.
◦ Level 3: It makes me think! I ask curiousity-based questions (as opposed to interrogation-based questions).
◦ Level 4: It inspires me to take action!
Questions
What are the 2 most important sections? ◦ Lit Review and Discussion
Why do a Lit Review? ◦ To describe your role in this field
What is the purpose of discussion section? ◦ To provide data and analysis to support ONE
conclusion
How should the examiner feel after reading your report? ◦ Inquisitive and relaxed
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