About writing a diploma work and giving a successful presentation

About writing a diploma work giving a successful presentation and

J. Pamin

Chair for Computational Engineering, Faculty of Civil Engineering,

Cracow University of Technology

Kraków, 2019

Scope of seminar

 Diploma procedure (1st cycle)

 Instructions on writing a diploma work

 Structure of thesis

 Bibliography

 Useful expressions and other hints

 Attention! Plagiarism

 How does one present her/his work

 Recap of fundamental logic

Guidelines can be found in web pages www.wil.pk.edu.pl and www.cce.pk.edu.pl Diploma subject form

Thesis title page

Academic System of Thesis Archiving (Akademicki System Archiwizacji Prac ASAP)

1^st cycle diploma exam and thesis defence See Poradnik Samorządu Studentów PW

http://bcpw.bg.pw.edu.pl/Content/1524/PoradnikPisaniaPracyDyplomowej.pdf

Diploma procedure

Thesis topic form

Students must choose the

topic of the diploma work in 6th semester at the latest.

They ought to fill in the form of selection of diploma work title and have the Polish title

formulated (summary of the work in Polish will be required).

Supervisor submits the diploma subject form to be

approved of by the Chair Head.

Students enclose the diploma subject form as the second

page of the thesis copy

submitted to the supervisor to be archived.

Title page

 University and chair names

 Degree program, diploma profile

 Thesis title in English and Polish

 Author's name and surname

 Supervisor's name and surname

 Grade obtained

 Place, year

ASAP system

 The procedure of checking the thesis text for plagiarism is given on the web page of the department and at

antyplagiat.pk.edu.pl

 After the thesis is accepted by the supervisor, the student uploads his thesis in PDF format to ASAP system (additional information needed, e.g. summary) and states that it is

her/his own independent work

 The supervisor approves of the thesis in the system, appoints a reviewer, the document is sent to be checked for plagiarism

 The supervisor evaluates the so-called similarity report and, if nothing raises her/his suspicion, states that the work does

not violate the copyright law

 In parallel the reviewer reads the thesis, decides with the supervisor about the grade, prepares her/his opinion and makes it available to the student

Sources of further recommendations

1. M. Węglińska, Jak pisać pracę magisterską, Poradnik dla studentów, Oficyna Wydawnicza Impuls, Kraków 2004

2. J.W. Niemantsverdriet, How to Give Successful Oral and Poster Presentation, EFCATS, Eindhoven,

www.efcats.org/Give+Successful+Presentations.html

3. www.wikipedia.org

4. B. Raphael and I.F.C. Smith, Fundamentals of Computer-Aided Engineering, Wiley, Chichester, 2003 (additional reading)

Contents of Reference [1]

 Definitions of fundamental notions in scientific writing

 Structure of thesis and its parts

 Remarks on title - should be concise, precise, unambiguous, representative for thesis contents

 Remarks on objective/aim/purpose statement - theoretical or practical

 Remarks on considered problem which requires solution

 Remarks on general concerns - scientific/engineering field

 Research methods and tools

 Formal and language aspects

Typical thesis structure

 Assignment page (optional)

 Contents list

 Introduction (possibly preceded by preface)

 Overview / state-of-the-art chapter (presentation of research field and relevant literature)

 Problem to be solved (author's assignment): basic notions, theory, hypotheses, research methods, organization of work, data available, results to be achieved

 Presentation and analysis of results, observations

 Conclusions (theoretical, practical)

 List of references

 Summary, appendices (optional)

Structure of typical chapter

 Introduction - particular problem to be solved

 Presentation of (data and) results

 Evaluation and interpretation of results

 Observations and conclusions

 Summary (optional)

Every figure/table must be referred to and described.

Conclusion of thesis

 Author's final remarks on whole work, recollection of plans, description of what has been achieved

 Optionally references to literature, general concerns,

particular problems addressed, objectives, methods and tools used - whatever comments one considers useful or interesting

 Statement of main results, discoveries (e.g. “there is a relationship between...”, “this model/method gives better results...”) and ensuing conclusions

 Optionally suggestions of future work

References

 List of books, articles and other documents (theses,

reports, standards, web sources) ordered according to a certain criterion

 For each reference author(s), title, place and year of publication must be given, publisher if relevant

[5] O.C. Zienkiewicz and R.L.Taylor, The Finite Element Method, Fourth Edition, McGraw-Hill, London 1989.

[6] de Borst, R. and Muehlhaus, H.-B., Gradient-dependent plasticity: Formulation and algorithmic aspects,

Int. J. Numer. Methods Engng, 35, p. 521-539, 1992.

Useful expressions

 Verb forms: passive preferred (e.g. “it has been found that”

rather than “we have found that”), simple present tense is preferred (e.g. “the plate under uniform loading is

analyzed” rather than “has been”), past tense only when reporting on particular research that took place in the past

 Connecting words, implication statements: firstly,

secondly, then, finally, moreover, therefore, hence, as a result, this is the reason why, it has been observed that, one can conclude that, ...which leads to the conclusion that

 Each symbol used in equations must be explained

 Presentation of figures/diagrams, e.g. “in Fig.5 this and that is shown/presented”

Attention! Plagiarism [3]

 Definition of plagiarism is not unambiguous, but its sense is clear: it is a theft of someone's intellectual property

Stanford: "use, without giving reasonable and appropriate credit to or

acknowledging the author or source, of another person's original work, whether such work is made up of code, formulas, ideas, language,

research, strategies, writing or other form"

Yale: "use of another's work, words, or ideas without attribution", including "using a source's language without quoting, using

information from a source without attribution, and paraphrasing a source in a form that stays too close to the original"

Princeton: “deliberate use of someone else's language, ideas, or other original (not common-knowledge) material without acknowledging its source"

Oxford: “use of a writer's ideas or phraseology without giving due credit";

Brown: "appropriating another person's ideas or words (spoken or

written) without attributing those words or ideas to their true source"

Never forget to write the source of

used materials and cited information

How to give good oral presentation [2]

 Based on manual by J.W. Niemantsverdriet from

Eindhoven University of Technology: „develop your own presentation style, but try to avoid commonly made

mistakes”

 Audience attention

 Structure of presentation

 Ten steps to successful presentation

 Instructions on slides

 Time discipline

Audience attention [2]

Audience waits for motivation and background information

Why does the audience stop listening?

 Lecturer thinks everybody knows a lot about what he/she presents

 Presentation structure is improper

 There are too few illustrations, they are unclear or described too fast

 Presenter uses complex/hermetic language

 Presenter reads, speaks monotonously, too fast or too slow

Think who is in the audience

Speak facing the audience or standing with your side towards people present

Efficient presentation [2]

How should presentation be arranged

 General description of the problem presented

 Objective, subject and methodology of research

 Model 1, results and observations

 Model 2, results and comparisons

 Conclusions, discoveries, plans

Draw attention, but let the audience relax if the presentation is long

Ten steps to successful presentation [2]

 Start preparation early

 Formulate your message in one sentence

 Select and order results to be presented

 Think the introduction over and train it

 Formulate precise and convincing conclusions

 Most important are informative drawings/figures

 Desing clear-cut slides

 Communicate, do not show off

Time and general principles [2]

 Measure your time while training, do not save time during introduction and conclusion

 Sufficient command of the English language is a must

 You may not speak longer than allotted time - there is

nothing worse than when the chairmen forces you to finish your presentation before conclusions

 Realize what message you would like to convey to the audience and decide in what way it is the best to do it

Post scriptum: fundamental logic [4]

 Three types of inference: deduction, abduction, induction Bar with Young's modulus E, cross section A and length L,

under tensile load P exhibits extension u=PL/EA For a given bar we have:

two facts: P and u

one causal rule (if cause then effect): if P then u

Inference type Given info Inferred info Deduction Cause and rule Effect

Abduction Effect and rule Cause Induction Cause and effect Rule

Post scriptum: fundamental logic [4]

 Deduction is the only proper inference type in open world

 Abduction and induction require closed-world hypothesis (all facts and rules are known for a given problem)

If we know the rule and deformation u is observed, in open world we cannot say that u is caused by load P

(abduction)

If we only observe load P and deformation u we cannot formulate the rule “if P then u” (induction)

Other facts in open world may justify another rule

 If one assumes that the only relevant pieces of info are the two facts P and u, and one rule, then abduction and

induction become valid.

Post scriptum: engineering tasks [4]

 Engineers operate in open world - are expected to identify creative solutions

 Simulation:

cause+structure→effect structure→behaviour (analysis)

 Diagnosis:

effect+structure→cause

 Synthesis:

required behaviour→structure

 Interpretation of information:

structure+behaviour→behaviour models

Creative Thinking – An Essential Skill for the 21st Century