Project management and Scientific writing

Lars Peter Jensen

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Agenda

• Management of people– Code of conduct/team charter

• Management of time and ressources• Exercise• Advises for report writing• Scientific writing• Peer Review

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Project Management

•Planning• Goals• objectives

•Organizing • People• resources

•Controlling • monitor• maintaining

•Change

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Agree on the goal, otherwise you won’t reach it!

-OR GET ON ADESERT WALK

The goal statement should be action-oriented, short, simple, straightforward, understandable, and clear to all.

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Objectives should be– Specific in targeting an objective– Measurable - Establish a measurable indicator(s) of

progress– Assignable - Make the objective capable of being

assigned to someone for completion – Realistic - State what can realistically be achieved within

budgeted time and resources – Time-related - State when the objective can be achieved,

that is, the duration. (George Doran

1981)

Project Management

• Management of people

• Management of time and other resources

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Be aware of your differences

YOU ARESTUPID !

WE DON’T KNOW

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Organizing people

• How do you want to divide the work:• First one first• Engagement• Divide and concur• Optimizing learning potential

How do you want to make use of

your supervisor

http://hubpages.com/hub/ORGANISING-Management-principles

Code of conduct – A tool for managing people

• Expectations and ambitions ?• Meetings – How often ? – What if somebody

is late ?• Organizing meetings , chairman, referee, use

of blackboard ? • Division of labor ?• What kind of response do you give within the

group ?• To what extent will we socialize together, and

when ?9

Code of conduct example

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Time management

http://www.primus.com.gr/images/library/timemanagement.gif

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• Project planning – what is it?• 50 % thinking ahead• 25 % communication• 25 % milestones

http://www.hexia.dk/

Planning at different levels

• Overview (long term) level:– Big tasks, few milestones

• Activity level:– Where you are right now– Detailed activity plan with many smaller tasks– Deadlines

• Daily level:– What are we going to do today

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1st Semester 2000 – P0 Project – Group 00792 – TETRaA System

P1 Planning

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Exercise: Make a time schedule

Your group is giving a diner party for 8 people (including yourselves) on the coming Friday.

You have decided to make a 3 course diner using the recipe’s below. Make a precise time schedule for shopping, preparing and cooking/baking the dishes, including who is to do what when.

The guests are invited to arrive at 19.00 and the first course is expected to be served at 20.00 sharp.

Lessons learnt making a time schedule?

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Lessons learnt making a time schedule?

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Break for 15 minutes

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Exercise 1

What characterizes a good written documentation of a project (the project report)?

Discuss this together 2-3

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What characterizes a good written documentation of a project report?

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Report structure

• Synopsis/Abstract• Fore word• Table of content• Introduction• 1. Part: problem analysis • Problem formulation and delimitation

2. Part: problem solving• Conclusion• References• Appendix

© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg Universitet26

A fast overview

• The report must have a logical flow => a good structure

• The report must contain all necessary information - and no more

• The report should not contain comments about the workflow/process

• The report must be consistent, both graphically and linguistically

• The reader should easily and quickly identify the report's relevance to their own qualifications / interests.

Billede: Algreen-Ussing, 1990 © SLP-gruppen, Aalborg Universitet

Main Chapters

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Step by step

The reader should be able to read the report step by step:

• If the receiver is only interested in results, read the introduction and conclusion. These must therefore be able to stand alone (unless otherwise indicated).

• If the reader becomes curious, read the main sections which he / she finds interesting. Each section must be able to stand alone - otherwise, references to earlier chapters must be indicated.

• If the receiver is further interested, read the rest of the main sections.

• If the recipient needs all details, also read appendices and annexes.

Algreen-Ussing, 1990© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg UniversitetBillede: http://taurus.vividnet.com/robin/img/stair.jpg

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Critical points in writing aproject report

• A precise synopsis• A telling table of content• Help the reader so the coherence and relevance

of contents is obvious• Interplay and balance between text and

illustrations• Making the disseminating scientific

© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg UniversitetBillede: http://eslus.com/LESSONS/WRITING/29

Good advices for the synopsis

• It shall be short and concise• The problem must be bent in

neon• The primary methods included• The main conclusion included• The logic shall be clear

© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg Universitet30

Good advices for the table of content

• Consider the number of chapters in relation to the project's total number of pages

• Consider the clarity in the TOC - have you divided the chapters into too many levels?

• Consider the information value – are the headlines understandable so that the reader can get an overview just by reading them?

© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg UniversitetBillede: http://www.shikoku.ne.jp/web/support/trouble/gif/hint.gif31

Help the reader all the way

• Make a readers guide in the foreword that explains which chapters can be read separately

• In the introduction, each chapter can be introduced and the links between them made visible – e.g. by a diagram showing the structure of the report

• Although the structure of each chapter is logical the reader should be presented for the purpose, what the content is and how the text is structured

© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg UniversitetBillede: http://www.fablevision.com/northstar/make/peteicons/follow.gif32

Readers Guide

• This report is made by first semester students at AAU and touches many subjects, some of which are only briefly discussed, but the most of them are explained in full. We dive into the gaming technology over the last years and try to give a basic understanding of how the development has shaped the technologies of today. The possibilities of these technologies are discussed later in the report and we try to make a connection between the state of the art and the commonly available ones. Some psychology is discussed in this report but it is self explanatory and requires little to no prior knowledge of this subject. We have done this because we thought that the reader should have a basis of knowledge concerning the target group of our product and the possible uses of this. Our report should give an overview of the gaming industry and the use of edutainment, and how these could be combined for the use in schools.

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Kapitel 2:Semiotik og

transmission - tokommunikationsskoler

Kapitel 3:Jakobsons model- et udgangspunkt

Kapitel 4:Kommunikativ kontekst i

et læringsteoretisk lys

Kapitel 5:Ned på jorden med

Kommunikationsteorien

Kapitel 6:Når "virksomheder"kommunikerer - tre

organisationsperspektiver

Kapitel 7:Når temaet er miljø- tre perspektiver påmiljøkommunikation

Kapitel 9:Analyse af

miljøkommunikationen i20 grønne regnskaber

Kapitel 10:Analyse af

miljøkommunikationen i otte

elektronikvirksomheder

Kapitel 11:Analyse af

miljøkommunikationen ii, fra og til Grundfos A/S

Kapitel 12: KonklusionResultater, metodereflektion, svar på problemformuleringen og perspektivering

ProblemformuleringHvordan og på hvilket grundlag kan miljøkommunikation indgå som en integreret det af

virksomhedernes miljøarbejde

Modellering Præcisering Praksis

Kapitel 8:Elektronikbranchen som

ramme formiljøkommunikationen

Diagram of the structure of a project report

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The interaction between text and illustrations

• Remember Captions and No.• Remember a reference to the

figure• A figure must be explained if

it is not self-explanatory• There must be the same logic

in words as in the picture

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Credibility

THAT IS:• personal ideas / observations must be stated• assessments should be presented with the

assessment criteria and the basis for assessing• project boundaries must be stated clearly• project's methods must be transparent• conditions for the conclusions must be stated• be sure that possible. political, religious or moral

standards appears as such

© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg Universitet

Algreen-Ussing, 1990

Billede: http://www.intrexon.com/v10_images/Scientist.gif36

Appropriate Language • Simple• Precise• Concrete • Neutral• Sensible • Logical • Understandable

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Avoid speech language

Restrict foreign words

http://3b.img.v4.skyrock.net/3b7/ausette59/pics/1220360926.jpg

http://blogs.sun.com/daveedstrom/resource/NotUnderstand.jpg

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How to write

Before writing (the group):• Preparation: receiver, message, outline• Brainstorm: e.g.. Post-it

Writing (individually):• Go for it : write without criticism – one headline at a time (in

arbitrary order)• Structure – structure the writing, creating overview and

consistency• Edit – make the writing easy to read

After writing (the group or others) Review

Exercise 2

What characterizes scientific communication/dissemination?

Discuss this together 2-3

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What characterizes scientific communication/dissemination?

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Scientific writing

• Refer to sources in accordance with recognized standards• Remember to consider the source credibility• Remember to seek evidence for claims• Remember to argue for your choice• Remember to explain the methods used• Remember to reflect on applied theory and methodology• Remember that we do not see / look at - but examine, treat e.g.• Remember that we do not think and believe, we assume (if

necessary) without scientific evidence and concludes when we have sufficient evidence

© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg UniversitetBillede: http://public.lanl.gov/kmh/writinghardwork.jpg42

Scientific Integrity

© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg Universitet

The quotations comes from lawfully published texts

The quotation is in accordance with "good practice“

It is quoted "to the extent determined by the purpose“

The author of the text is credited and acknowledged

A quote is legal under copyright law, if: (Ministry of Culture, 2006)

Billede og dowloadmulighed: http://www.kum.dk/sw37771.asp43

Remember references :http://library.murdoch.edu.au/Getting-help/Referencing/

• The Chicago method (Jensen, 2001a:21)

• Literature is the listed alphabetic:

Jensen, Hans (1999a): ” Elektroniske System, AAU Forlaget, Aalborg

By numbers [2]

Literature is the listed by numbers:

[4] Hans Jensen, Elektroniske System, AAU Forlaget, Aalborg 1999a

© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg UniversitetBillede: home6.inet.tele.dk/aamsk/husk_z.gif

We have to know all possible information's to be able to find the quoted source:• Books: Author(s), year, title, publisher, ISBN or ISSN no.• Journals: As above + name of journal, number and date• Internet: URL and date for downloading• Persons: Name, title, company

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Zotero as reference manager

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Plagiarism and fraud quotation

© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg Universitet

Missing source (plagiarism) This quote is too long This quote is wrong credited The quotation is corrupted (quote fraud)

Conditions that can make the quote illegally: (Ministry of Culture, 2006)

Billede: http://www.bibliotek.horsens.dk/forboern/laesetipsbb/billeder/krimi_sm.jpg46

Plagiarism is illegal…

© SLP-gruppen, Aalborg Universitet

"Plagiarism is totally unacceptable and will result in rejection of the report and exclusion of students from Aalborg University, if discovered in a report handed in "

From the study regulations for all educations at Aalborg University:

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Why is Peer review a good idea?

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Peer review

Why ? • To evaluate the work • To find mistakes and to identify if

something is missing• To check whether it is understandable

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How to perform Peer review?

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Peer review

How and When ? • Written or oral • At a group meeting• After everybody have read the writing and

have prepared individual comments to it

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Peer reviewValuable criticism • Be kind – be motivating for the group

member, avoiding offending• Be concrete – providing alternatives and

suggestions • Be constructive – aiming at improvement • Be critical – professionally but not

personally

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Peer reviewElements: • Misspelling, misprint and other corrections in the

proofs. (might be noted directly in the document)

• Logical errors, misunderstandings, poor formulations, technical mistakes etc. that makes the understanding difficult or impossible for the reader.

• Good points, well structured, clear overview, interesting angle, well documented, clear illustrations etc.

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