G-Unit
In the G-Unit, Patricia Gray will be teaching students about writing in the sciences. There are two major evaluations in this unit: annotations and a scientific article. Annotations are worth 10% while the scientific article is worth 15%. You must pass Gray Unit to pass the course (since Bio 2290F/G is an essay course).
Traditionally, students do the most poorly on this unit. I can offer two reasons: firstly, some students don't follow basic instructions that Gray lectures about in class. Learning about scientific writing may bore some students. By not paying attention, students end up neglecting some easily-preventable mistakes. Also for many students, this is the first time they have written a scientific article from scratch. No doubt, the task may seem daunting at first. However, by breaking up the article into little sections and starting early, you will have some time to have others look it over. Note that the assignments and guidelines change every year so formatting/styling it with an upper year's article might not be the best idea. Although I did not look at an upper year's marked essay (this was Gray's own advice), I ended up doing extremely well.
Tips
1. Start your annotations and scientific article early. Set mini-deadlines for yourself about which sections you will finish writing by a particular date.
2. Follow the style guidelines. It's amazing how many people don't follow the basic instructions presented in the guidelines. These are marks that can be easily earned - or lost.
3. Ask people to look over your work. Although Professor Gray and the TAs cannot formally edit your work, you can make an appointment to ask them specific questions about your article. I found Professor Gray very helpful and I would suggest speaking to her about your article.
4. Read your article out loud to see if the wording actually makes sense and flows well.
5. Be very specific about everything you mention in your article. Define variables and key terms or simplify them so that they can be easily understood. Do not assume that your reader knows what you did for your experiment. Ideally, the reader should be able to take your article and be able to repeat the experiment you did.
Reviewing your Article
Western Undergrad is offering to look over your article and give you feedback for free. If you are interested in taking up this offer, please contact one of our editors. UWO also offers numerous help sessions with writing (http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/writing/)
Traditionally, students do the most poorly on this unit. I can offer two reasons: firstly, some students don't follow basic instructions that Gray lectures about in class. Learning about scientific writing may bore some students. By not paying attention, students end up neglecting some easily-preventable mistakes. Also for many students, this is the first time they have written a scientific article from scratch. No doubt, the task may seem daunting at first. However, by breaking up the article into little sections and starting early, you will have some time to have others look it over. Note that the assignments and guidelines change every year so formatting/styling it with an upper year's article might not be the best idea. Although I did not look at an upper year's marked essay (this was Gray's own advice), I ended up doing extremely well.
Tips
1. Start your annotations and scientific article early. Set mini-deadlines for yourself about which sections you will finish writing by a particular date.
2. Follow the style guidelines. It's amazing how many people don't follow the basic instructions presented in the guidelines. These are marks that can be easily earned - or lost.
3. Ask people to look over your work. Although Professor Gray and the TAs cannot formally edit your work, you can make an appointment to ask them specific questions about your article. I found Professor Gray very helpful and I would suggest speaking to her about your article.
4. Read your article out loud to see if the wording actually makes sense and flows well.
5. Be very specific about everything you mention in your article. Define variables and key terms or simplify them so that they can be easily understood. Do not assume that your reader knows what you did for your experiment. Ideally, the reader should be able to take your article and be able to repeat the experiment you did.
Reviewing your Article
Western Undergrad is offering to look over your article and give you feedback for free. If you are interested in taking up this offer, please contact one of our editors. UWO also offers numerous help sessions with writing (http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/writing/)