5/3/2012
HOW TO WRITE A GOOD FINAL YEAR PROJECT THESIS By Prof. Dr. Mani Maran Ratnam School of Mechanical Engineering
What is a ‘thesis’? “a dissertation embodying results of original research and especially substantiating a specific view; especially : one written by a candidate for an academic degree” … Merriam-Webster
What is a ‘dissertation’? What is a ‘report’? “an extended usually written treatment of a subject; specifically : one submitted for a doctorate “ … Merriam-Webster
Contents of a thesis: Abstract Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Literature Review Chapter 3: Methodology Chapter 4: Results and Discussion
“a usually detailed account or statement” … Merriam-Webster
Writing the ‘Introduction’ A good ‘Introduction’ comprises the following sections: • Research background • Problem statement • Objective(s) • Scope of research • Research approach • Thesis organization
Chapter 5: Conclusion
1
5/3/2012
Writing the ‘Research background’ 1) Start by describing the background of the problem being investigated
3) Describe the method you will be using to solve your
2) Explain the problem being solved and the limitation of existing methods
4) State briefly how your method works
problem and highlight any closely related work done by other researchers
Writing the ‘Problem statement’
Writing the ‘Objectives’
• What is a ‘Problem statement’? - A statement that clearly spells out the gap in knowledge, i.e. a yet unsolved problem
Objectives should lead to measurable outcome Examples of good objectives: 1. To develop a new technique using laser speckle effect for measuring surface roughness. 2. To study the effect of morphological operation on the error in roughness values
2
5/3/2012
Examples of bad objectives:
More examples of good objectives:
1. To understand the effect of lubricant viscosity on the wear rate 2. To develop a C-code 3. To study the effect of fiber content 4. To fabricate a lens holder 5. To apply Monte Carlo method in optimization
Writing the ‘Scope of research’
Writing the ‘Literature Review’
The scope of research is a general outline of what the study will cover, e.g
• The objective of literature review is to prove that what you are going to do in your work has not been done before
In this research, metal surfaces that are machined using the milling process that will be studied. These surfaces are produced on a conventional milling in dry cutting. The speckle pattern is produced using a lowpower He-Ne laser
• Search the databases for related work discuss with your supervisor • Review at least the past 10 year’s work • Provide a critical review of the existing methods instead of just reporting what others have done • You may use figures taken from elsewhere in your literature review, but cite them properly, e.g.
Writing the ‘Methodology’ • Explain how you carried out your research • Include photographs as well as schematic diagram of the experimental setup
Figure 2. Rear view of the overall system setup (Source: Abdullah et al., 2009)
3
5/3/2012
• Sub-divide into sections explaining different aspects, e.g. material preparation, experimental setup, algorithms etc.
• Be as detailed as possible , e.g. (2)
• Be as detailed as possible , e.g. (1)
• Explain all the figures shown • Use proper captions for your figures • Write in the past tense
• Use flowcharts to explain algorithms:
REMEMBER: NEVER BEGIN A SECTION WITH A FIGURE
Writing the ‘Results and Discussion’ • Present your results using tables or graphs, or in some cases using both - use graphs when you want to show a trend - use tables when you want to show the values • Put repetitive data in the Appendix (and refer them in the text!) • Discuss the results – don’t just present them! • Compare with existing results, if available or possible, to show in what way(s) your findings are better • Label the axes clearly and use proper font size:
4
5/3/2012
• Tables should have proper headings:
Writing the ‘Conclusion’ • Review the objective(s) before writing the conclusion – have you achieved the objectives? • Write the main conclusion that answers the objective, e.g. A new method for measuring the roughness of reflective machine surfaces using laser speckle has been developed. The black-to-white ratio of the pixels in the binary images were found to have a linear negative correlation with the roughness data.
Writing the ‘Future work’ • Explain what more can be done in this project • What contribution can be expected from the extended work
(
Writing the ‘Abstract’ • Keep this till the end
(
((
• Should consist of the following: Brief problem statement, objective, methodology, results and conclusion.
(
(
(
( (
(
5
5/3/2012
Preparing presentation slides • Do not put too much text on the slides – limit to about four to five lines • Use suitable font size, e.g. font 28 • Use more pictures and diagrams to explain (remember your examiner will not visit your lab) • Choose colors that give good contrast to your text
• Examples of good and bad slides
http://www.ezslides.com/goodandbad.htm
http://quickbase.intuit.com/blog/2010/04/14/how-to-give-a-great-presentation/
Introduction • Moiré patterns generated by circular gratings have been applied in 2-D displacement measurement and fine alignment since the 1970s. y Line of symmetry of moiré pattern
Grating 1
φ ε
Grating 2 x
http://tutorialblog.org/4-tips-for-great-presentations-slide-composition/
(a) (b) Figure 1: (a) Circular gratings moiré pattern and (b) Eccentricity ε and angular offset φ of circular gratings.
6
5/3/2012
Presentation guideline and viva
Plagiarism issues:
• Do not spend too much time on research background and literature review • Focus on your own work – how it was carried out, what are your findings, what new knowledge can be gained etc. • If you have develop a new device, machine, setup etc. show pictures from several angles (include videos if necessary) • Answer the examiners questions directly
savvyeteens.wikispaces.com
Plagiarism issues:
“All of the following are considered plagiarism:
What is Plagiarism?
(http://www.plagiarism.org/)
(http://www.plagiarism.org/)
- turning in someone else's work as your own - copying words or ideas from someone else without giving credit - failing to put a quotation in quotation marks - giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation - changing words but copying the sentence structure of a source without giving credit - copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not (see our section on ‘fair use’ rules)”
“According to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, to ‘plagiarize’ means: - to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one's own - to use (another's production) without crediting the source - to commit literary theft to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source. plagiarism is an act of fraud. It involves both stealing someone else's work and lying about it afterward.”
… from the Internet …from student’s thesis
7
5/3/2012
…the easiest way to detect plagiarism
From student’s PhD thesis
From Internet
8
5/3/2012
edutopia.org
News clips$
The Star (15 Sept. 2009)
Star Education – 26 Nov. 2006
9
5/3/2012
Never do this in your thesis….
shoutmeloud.com
10
