Exjobb--Från Idé till Rapport Jürgen Börstler Umeå University SWEDEN

Mål u Självständig genomföra ett större “jobb” u Arbeta vetenskaplig u Tillämpa kunskaper u Förvärva nya kunskaper u Presentera resultaten muntlig och skriftlig

Moment u Hitta ämne u Tränga in i ämnet u Speca själva exjobbet u Planera arbetet u “Forska” u Hålla kontakt med handledaren u Genomföra arbetet u Beskriva ansats, arbetet och resultat u Vetenskaplig fördjupning u Skriva rapport u Presentera exjobbet

Frågor u Hur noga måste specen vara (vem ansvarar) u Hur planeras ett exjobb u Hur går man till väga u Hur forskar man u Hur skrivs en rapport o Vetenskaplighet o Organisation av innehållet o Citat och referenser o Bedömningskriterier u Hur presenteras ett exjobb

Specifikation av exjobbet u Uppdragsgivaren och exjobbaren ansvarar u Måste vara tillräcklig detaljerat, så att alla inblandade förstår vad exjobbet går ut på u Måste finnas i i skriftlig form u Måste godkännas av o Exjobbaren o Handledarna o Examinatorn

Hur planeras och genomförs ett exjobb u Ta hjälp av din handledare u Utan planering har du ingen koll på framgång u Gör gärna en riskanalys u Följ upp planeringen u Håll planen up-to-date u Håll regelbunden kontakt till handledarna u För fram problem tidig u Se till att du få handledning (externa exjobb) “Ett steg i taget”

How to Do Research u Select a topic of interest u Collect information u Read through the information u Gather notes o Identify the references o Write summaries using your own words o Add critical comments and explanations o Keep track of your own ideas and thoughts o Relate to other information u Archive and structure your material (annotated bibliography) u Narrow down your subject

What is an Annotated Bibliography? è Commented reference section Bibliography: A list of writings relating to a given subject. To annotate: To furnish with with critical commentary or explanatory notes. è See Zobel´s textbook for more examples D.F. Beer (ed.): Writing and Speaking in the Technology Profession: A Practical Guide, IEEE Press, A miscellany of articles on different aspects of technical writing and oral presentations. Not all of it is valuable but the various viewpoints are interesting....

Where and How to Get Information u Get and read publications o Check the university libraries catalogues o Check available literature databases o Check references of publications o u Ask an expert o Fellow student o Supervisor o Mailing lists / news-net u Inquiries / interviews u Experiments / prototypes

What is Scientific Character 1 u Statements are motivated and/or provable u Statements can be established in literature u Many-sidedness o Discuss assumptions / approaches o Ask questions o Exemplify u Careful distinction between o Facts and interpretations of facts o Your own original ideas and those of others o What you have done and others have done

What is Scientific Character 2 u Discussion of related work u No “blind” trust o Critically evaluate facts o Check the original sources if possible o Even the “gurus” make errors (sometimes) è Do not take anything for granted u Integrity o No plagiarism o No exaggeration o No “commercials” o Critically discuss even your own material è Be honest and serious

How to Write the Thesis u Review, revise, and extend and your archive u Analyse the topic o What are the key problems? o Why are those problems and for whom? o Who is your target audience? u Make an outline of your paper u Writing supports understanding o Write down your thoughts o Edit and reedit o Do not hesitate to redo even big parts completely u Productivity is low (1-2 pages per day)

Drafting the Thesis u Introduction o Describe the key problems on appropriate levels u Contents organisation o List section- and subsection headers o Write at least one paragraph for each section- and subsection o Select references o Make outlines of figures and examples o Introduce “hooks” for “more to come” u You need not write “straight forward” u Maintain a list of open questions u Make a schedule / to-do list

Example Outline u Title and author u Abstract u Introduction u Survey u Results u Summary and Conclusion u (Future Work) u References u (Appendices) MAIN PARTS headings and subheadings according to YOUR TOPIC

References versus Citations u To give evidence for something u To present your sources of information u To distinguish between the original ideas of other’s and your own ones u To show that you know the area of research u To honour someone Research in cognitive science shows the importance of detailed and situated narratives ([Carrol et al 94]). “Recent theory and methodology in cognitive science clearly reflects a growing and broadening awareness of the importance of detailed and situated narratives.” ([Carrol et al 94]).

u No common standard o [1], [2], [3], … o (Björk, Knight, and Wikborg 88), (Carrol et al 94), (Zobel 97), … o [BKW 88], [Car + 94], [Zob 97], … o... u Required information in reference section o Authors o Title o Publication o Date o (Pages) Format of References [2]J.M. Carrol, R.L. Mack, P. Robertson, M.B. Rosson: Binding Objects to Scenarios of Use, Journal of Human- Computer Studies 41, 1994, [Zob 97]J. Zobel: Writing for Computer Science, Springer, 1997.

u Reliable sources o Refereed publications o Books o Technical reports o Sales brochures u Original sources u Accessible sources o Published material o No confidential material u Be very careful with web references o Reliability o Stability o Credibility What to Cite and Reference? high reliability unreliable

Writing Style 1 u Be objective and accurate u Have a simple, logical organisation u Have one idea per sentence / paragraph u Have one topic per section u Use short sentences with a simple structure u Avoid buzzwords and clichés u Motivate and explain (why, what, how) u Omit unnecessary information / details

Writing Style 2 u Explain all acronyms u Do not use short verb forms, like I’m, can’t, they’re, … u Do not write have/has got (har fått) u Do not use conversational opening phrases, like Well, You see, … u Be careful with singular and plural: o He/she/it is/was/has/does/... o They are/were/have/do/want/...

Contacting your Supervisor u Be prepared and take initiative o Prepare specific questions o Bring along current versions of your works... o... AND your supervisor´s latest comments u Take notes u Reflect on results è Use your and your supervisor’s time effectively

Preparing your Presentation u Design your overheads carefully o Use big fonts o Avoid cluttered overheads o Use colour carefully o Make a script for your talk o Do not use copies from your thesis u Use examples u Prepare for questions u You will need overheads for minutes u Test the readability of your overheads u Test the presentation equipment

Overhead Design u Do not use background graphics u Use dark text on transparent overheads u Use landscape format u Use big fonts; This example is 16-point; This one is 12-point only u Do not copy from books, papers, etc. u Highlight your main points only u Use only few different figures, graphics, icons, fonts, and colours together u Do not use red and green together, nor either of these together with brown or grey

The Presentation u Do not read your overheads! u Do not hide parts of your overheads u Do not try to prove that you know more than the audience (your audience is here to learn something) u Keep the time o Be prepared to omit some slides o Prepare some extra slides u Test your talk at least once

Literature o J. Bell: Introduktion till Forskningsmetodik, Studentlitteratur, o L. Björk, M. Knight, E. Wikborg: The Writing Process, Studentlitteratur, o L. Björk, Ch. Räisänen: Academic Writing, Studentlitteratur, o R. Johnson et al: Panel: How to Get a Paper Accepted at OOPSLA, Proceedings OOPSLA’93. o A. Snyder: How to Get Your Paper Accepted at OOPSLA, Proceedings OOPSLA’91. o K. Widerberg: Att Skriva Vetenskapliga Uppsatser, Studentlitteratur, o J. Zobel: Writing for Computer Science, Springer, o How to Give a Good Research Talk, SIGPLAN Notices 28 (4), Nov 1993.

For More Information u Ask your supervisor(s) u Discuss with fellow students u Read “old” theses u Read books and papers o See previous overhead o See links on our web page u Check the conference course’s web pages o