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School of Materials
Induction – week 3
Today’s session
• Effective and appropriate communication– Emails and nettiquete – Facebook
• Active listening
• Academic writing– Evidence-based formal writing– Referencing – Academic malpractice - including plagiarism
Can you follow instructions?
• This test has been devised to establish how well you can follow instructions. There is a strict time limit of 1 minute. You will need one sheet of paper.
1. Read everything before you do anything.2. Put your name in the upper right hand corner of the page.3. Draw one small square in the upper left hand corner of this
paper.4. Put an x in this square.5. Sign your name at the bottom of the page. 6. Put an x in the lower right hand corner of this page.7. Draw a triangle round this x. 8. Now that you have finished reading carefully, carry out only
instructions 1 and 2.
Communication
How do we communicate?• orally - using words• in writing - using words• visually – using diagrams and our bodies
Communication involves two people (or more):• sender receiver
Oral communication• Face to face conversations• Meetings• Interviews • Presentations• Lectures
Visual communication• Drawings• Diagrams• Body language
Written communication• Text• Emails• Letters • Notices• Essays • Reports• Dissertations• Lab reports• Theses
• Misunderstandings occur when the receiver doesn’t understand the message the way the sender intended it to come out:– because the sender doesn’t communicate what they
intend. – because the receiver hasn’t fully understood the
communication.
• The sender will communicate some things consciously but will also communicate some things unconsciously.
• What the sender wants to convey is based on:– wishes, desires, hopes and thoughts.
• How these intentions are sent and perceived are influenced by:
– perceptions, priorities and past experiences.
• Communication produces effects in the receiver.
• The receiver interprets the signals they have been sent and this interpretation produces feelings.
• The receiver will make judgements about the sender’s intentions.
• How they receive the message will be influenced by their perceptions, priorities and past experience.
• The same sender can lead to different effects in different receivers.
What is important to the sender in terms of the type of information they send and receive may not be as important to the person they are communicating with.
How you communicate to others can be the source of mutual understanding and positive action - or a source of frustration and misunderstanding.
No matter how good the sender is at communicating the receiver needs to actively participate.
Barriers to effective communication
When sending
• Lack of a common language.
• Using inappropriate language
• Lack of clarity.• Lack of continuity/logical
progression.• Not knowing the receiver.• Having negative attitudes
and feelings.• Being distracted by noise.
When receiving
• Lack of a common language.
• Hearing/reading what you expect to hear/read.
• Pre-judging the source.• Having different
perceptions.• Having different intentions.• Ignoring non-verbal
communication.• Being distracted by noise.
Gateways to communication
• Using a common language.• Being clear.• Using a logical framework.• Having positive attitudes and feelings.• Minimising distractions.• Allowing opportunity for feedback.• Allowing communication to flow in two directions.• Reducing any physical barriers.• Avoiding or limiting interruptions.
Oral communication
• Face to face conversations• Meetings• Interviews • Presentations
• Should be appropriate• Is as much about as how you say something as what you
say• Is affected by appearance and body language
Visual communication
• Drawings• Diagrams• Body language
• Should be appropriate• Clear
Written communication
• Text• Emails• Blogs• Facebook• Letters • Notices• Essays • Reports• Dissertations• Lab reports• Theses
• Should be appropriate in style – formal or informal
Emails and netiquette
• Accessing your emails
• Ensuring your inbox can receive emails
• Emails to and from students and staff
• Communicates your private and personal life. But to whom?
Academic writing
• Academic writing is written by scholars for other scholars on topics of interest to the academic community. Academic writing has to be written in a formal style and referenced correctly.
• Academic writing should add to knowledge, give greater understanding or look at an area of academic interest in a new way.
• Academic writing is an important part of learning, thinking and understanding as Booth, Colomb and Williams (1995) said "... we write so that we can think better, remember more, and see more clearly".
Reading
• You cannot write well until you learn how to read well. Reading well involves reading regularly, reading widely, and reading critically.
• Reading critically is about questioning, considering other points of view and reflecting.
• You have think as you read.– What is the central idea/point that is being made?– What evidence is there for what is being said?– What other points are made in support?– Are any arguments valid, persuasive, convincing and if
so, why ?
A structure for academic writing
• main heading – the paper title and the people involved with their affiliation and contact details;
• abstract – stating concisely what you set out to do, how you have done it, what you found and what this means;
• introduction - clear statements about what you have done and why you have done this – essentially the aims and objectives of the work being written about;
• theory or methodology section – this explains what methods and procedures were used; you should also state and justify any assumptions, so that any results can be viewed in the proper context;
• results section - illustrative examples of the main results of the work;
• conclusion - listing the main findings from your investigation;
• further work - should contain any recommendations and thoughts about how the work could be progressed; other tests that could be applied, etc.
Academic writing
• Academic writing should present the reader with an informed argument.
• It is not enough to state your opinion, you need to give evidence for any claims you make.
• You are expected to explain how you came to hold any your opinion.
• And this is done by providing the reader with good reasons and good evidence.
Including references
• Academic work must be referenced (or cited) correctly.
• Academic work should be built on the work of others but any sources of material used have to be referred to in the text and listed in the references.
• Failing to acknowledge work you have used is
plagiarism!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and one of the worst crimes in the academic world.
• Referring to the work of others is not just about giving the people whose work you use the credit they deserve but it also allows your work to be evaluated.
• Your references show evidence of background reading and the content and any arguments and conclusions you make need to be supported by reference to other published work.
• Each citation requires a reference at the end of the work; this gives the full details of the source item and should enable it to be traced.
• The reference list of works cited is included at the end of an academic paper, in alphabetical order by author.
• The reference list also includes additional details such as the title and publisher.
• Keeping accurate records of your references is sound academic practice and citing references properly in your writing is a skill that should be mastered.
• Academic work will often also include a bibliography; this lists additional relevant items that have been used but not directly referred to in the text. Including a bibliography shows that you have read widely beyond the items you have cited.
• There are several different systems for referencing work by others. A general guide to the Harvard and Numeric referencing systems is available via the John Rylands Library website at http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/eresources/citerefs/
Academic malpractice
As well as plagiarism there are other forms of academic malpractice:
• Collusion is any agreement to hide someone else’s individual input to collaborative work with the intention of securing a mark higher than either you or another student might deserve.
• It is also collusion to allow someone to copy your work when you know that they intend to submit it as though it were their own and that will lay both you and the other student open to a charge of academic malpractice.
• Collaboration is a perfectly legitimate academic activity in which students are required to work in groups as part of their programme of research or in the preparation of projects and similar assignments.
• If you are asked to carry out such group work and to collaborate in specified activities, it will always be made clear how your individual input to the joint work is to be assessed and graded. Sometimes, for example, all members of a team may receive the same mark for a joint piece of work, whereas on other occasions team members will receive individual marks that reflect their individual input.
Cheating
• The University has no sympathy for those who cheat. It is not fair to other students and those who do cheat do not give themselves a fair test of their ability and only end up cheating themselves.
• The penalties for cheating are severe.
Fabrication or falsification
• You should ensure that you always document clearly and fully any research programme or survey that you undertake, whether working by yourself or as part of a group.
• Results or data that you or your group submit must be capable of verification, so that those assessing the work can follow the processes by which you obtained them.
• Under no circumstances should you seek to present results or data that were not properly obtained and documented as part of your practical learning experience. Otherwise, you lay yourself open to the charge of fabrication or falsification of results.
In conclusion
• Communication is not easy.
• It needs to be appropriate.
• It needs to be clear to be effective.
• Effective communication takes effort.
• Academic writing is formal and requires evidence.
• Any work you use that has been done by someone else requires to be referenced.
• Academic malpractice must be avoided at all costs.
