Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Types of writing in Marine Science
Students in the marine science field will be subject to numerous types of science classes not only limited to those in their field of study. This approach is to show students all sides of the science field to better understand how everything is connected. In classes, such biology and marine science it is normal to do research topics related to what is being covered in class such as cells or how life systems can interact between each other. Probably the most common topic in this field to be argued about is creation or evolution, and in this case, students would use scientific data to back up their belief. This is also one of the only topics in science where the bible may be referenced as a source. In classes such as chemistry or physics, a formal lab report is expected upon completion of a lab and will include completing an experiment, collecting data, and clearly describing the events, expectations, and outcomes.
Organization of Marine Science Writing
In the field of marine science, writing is done in the same way that any other professional subject would do. Most writing is in the format of either a research paper or lab write up, and will include numerous types of graphs and charts to visually display data, as well as contain items such as an abstract, a thesis, data section, conclusion, sources, and a hypothesis. An abstract refers to the opening of this type of writing style that contains background information to an experiment or any other data that may be needed to understand the rest of the article. Because it is a scientific field most topics are related to research found through experiments and are used to get information out to other professionals.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Citation Style!
Marine Science use the citation style of APA. APA includes a title, an abstract, main bodies, and references. Marine science will use APA for things such as experimental reports. The basics to APA is first finding a point of view. First person is rarely used in APA unless the writer is a senior scholar and deserves it. You should use third person. You do not want to misrepresent information and confuse your readers. You should be as specific as possible and be cautious of your word choice. APA is not like writing a literary paper. Do NOT use poetic expressions or language. Using APA you must try to stay clear of biased forms of language.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Mr. Green 2
Since Mr. Green gave me loads of information I decided to break the blog posts into two.
The last two questions I asked Mr. Green were
What counts for good writing? He responded:
"One must demonstrate a clear understanding of the research objectives, methodology, existing literature on the subject matter, and be able to collect, analyze, and discuss results. This all must be done in such a manner that is fresh, and contributes to the existing body of scientific literature. It must pass through a rigorous peer-review process, where editors and reviewers pick apart every detail of a manuscript and will reject or ask for revisions, and won't publish the article until it is accepted by each of the reviewers. This can be a demanding process, but it is a mechanism that ensures sound science and quality writing."
Lastly I asked him how the writing was organized in this field. He said :
"Typically, co-authors of a paper (or research project) will work together on report and manuscript preparation. Some authors will take charge of statistics, while others are in charge of generating figures and tables. However, in the end, all contribute to writing a solid article that adequately represents their entire body of work. Most papers have at least two authors, but there are times when a single scientist will publish a paper with their name only."
It was interesting to see the differences between writing in marine biology and writing for composition classes. He was such a great help!
The last two questions I asked Mr. Green were
What counts for good writing? He responded:
"One must demonstrate a clear understanding of the research objectives, methodology, existing literature on the subject matter, and be able to collect, analyze, and discuss results. This all must be done in such a manner that is fresh, and contributes to the existing body of scientific literature. It must pass through a rigorous peer-review process, where editors and reviewers pick apart every detail of a manuscript and will reject or ask for revisions, and won't publish the article until it is accepted by each of the reviewers. This can be a demanding process, but it is a mechanism that ensures sound science and quality writing."
Lastly I asked him how the writing was organized in this field. He said :
"Typically, co-authors of a paper (or research project) will work together on report and manuscript preparation. Some authors will take charge of statistics, while others are in charge of generating figures and tables. However, in the end, all contribute to writing a solid article that adequately represents their entire body of work. Most papers have at least two authors, but there are times when a single scientist will publish a paper with their name only."
It was interesting to see the differences between writing in marine biology and writing for composition classes. He was such a great help!
Monday, April 6, 2009
For my blog I was given the assignment of finding the librarian in charge of research for Marine Science. Like most people I was surprised to hear that we had a librarian in control of assisting students solely in this field. Fortunately a walk to the library solved my dilemma and I was given the contact information that I needed. The person I came into contact was Danielle Rosenthal who is in charge of this department. She made it very easy for me to learn about the library's services to students and sent me the link to the library website covering all the essential materials a student may need. http://fgcu.libguides.com/content.php?pid=14635&sid=98158 is the link to the sites home page is the beginning of a long list of places to go for information. From the home page links for the library's catalogs, databases, print and e-reference books, writing/research help, and a tutorial page. After reviewing the website it is easy to see that the information that any student could need is readily accessible and well put together. It is unfortunate to know, that there is a lack of students who don't even know about these resources that are available to them, and in many cases can save them long hourse of trying to deduce their research to relevant and reliable material.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Mr. Green
When hearing that we had to interview a teacher, I knew just who to speak with. I spoke with Mr. Green, my biology of Southwest Florida class. He was very helpful and provided me with a ton of information on how he has his students write.
When I asked him what type of writing he had his marine class do he said.
"For an undergraduate Marine Science course, I find it very important for a student to be able to understand the scientific method. One way I can assess this is by requiring students to write a formal lab report that includes the following sections: Introduction, Objectives and Hypotheses, Procedure, Materials and Methods, Data and Observations, and Conclusion. As for style, a student must demonstrate an ability to write directly and not in a passive voice. Next, I encourage students to keep Nature Journals to record all of their observations from class activities. This is an ideal way to have a true one-on-one conversation with the student and allow for creativity to shine through. For the classes I teach, I am not big on Term Papers, but I generally require a Final Project that summarizes the entire course. There is a fair amount of research and writing involved, but I feel it is accomplished in a fun way that relates to each student's Major. "
I still have the journal he made us write after every field trip we went on.
Then I asked him what sort of style he used. He said;
"I am most defintiely NOT the world's greatest writer - especially when it comes to writing and preparing manuscripts for publication. However, as a scienctist, I must follow the template put forth by certain journals. This template would be similar to the lab report wrtie-up I explained in the previous question, but does vary somewhat from one journal to the next. Having said that, it is important to articulate my objectives, data collection techniques, statistical analyses, results and conclusions in a highly professional manner, should I want to have my work published in a reputable journal. "
I also asked him what is different with this style then a composition style.
"Much of the creativity is lost when writing for the sciences. It is more of a direct style, and you cannot use the "fluffy" adjectives that make other writing styles more fun to read and comprehend. Unless one is highly interested in the research you are presenting, they probably won't be too interested in a science article. Certainly, it would take the right person to read, understand, and enjoy an article about energy flow in an Everglades foodweb by investigating the Carbon and Nitrogen stable isotopes of an ampipod! However, all of us can read and enjoy a novel, say a mark Twain novel, for instance, because the writing style is "friendlier" to the masses. "
When I asked him what type of writing he had his marine class do he said.
"For an undergraduate Marine Science course, I find it very important for a student to be able to understand the scientific method. One way I can assess this is by requiring students to write a formal lab report that includes the following sections: Introduction, Objectives and Hypotheses, Procedure, Materials and Methods, Data and Observations, and Conclusion. As for style, a student must demonstrate an ability to write directly and not in a passive voice. Next, I encourage students to keep Nature Journals to record all of their observations from class activities. This is an ideal way to have a true one-on-one conversation with the student and allow for creativity to shine through. For the classes I teach, I am not big on Term Papers, but I generally require a Final Project that summarizes the entire course. There is a fair amount of research and writing involved, but I feel it is accomplished in a fun way that relates to each student's Major. "
I still have the journal he made us write after every field trip we went on.
Then I asked him what sort of style he used. He said;
"I am most defintiely NOT the world's greatest writer - especially when it comes to writing and preparing manuscripts for publication. However, as a scienctist, I must follow the template put forth by certain journals. This template would be similar to the lab report wrtie-up I explained in the previous question, but does vary somewhat from one journal to the next. Having said that, it is important to articulate my objectives, data collection techniques, statistical analyses, results and conclusions in a highly professional manner, should I want to have my work published in a reputable journal. "
I also asked him what is different with this style then a composition style.
"Much of the creativity is lost when writing for the sciences. It is more of a direct style, and you cannot use the "fluffy" adjectives that make other writing styles more fun to read and comprehend. Unless one is highly interested in the research you are presenting, they probably won't be too interested in a science article. Certainly, it would take the right person to read, understand, and enjoy an article about energy flow in an Everglades foodweb by investigating the Carbon and Nitrogen stable isotopes of an ampipod! However, all of us can read and enjoy a novel, say a mark Twain novel, for instance, because the writing style is "friendlier" to the masses. "