Report and Presentation Guidelines
Report
At the end of the project you should produce a short summary report detailing your outline plan for the extended exercise, how you attempted the task, and your main results and conclusions. Include any predictions you made, a comparison of these predictions with experimental results, and your suggested explanations for any discrepancies. The report should focus on the technical content of the work (assumptions, predictions, results and any anomalies). There is no need to include detailed descriptions of equipment and methods; and remember that you are writing for a technical audience, so make the content appropriate. The report must be written up individually.
The report should be a maximum of 3 pages (if typed) or 4 pages (if handwritten). This is in addition to the plan you wrote before starting the exercise (1 side maximum). You may use up to one additional page for an Appendix (e.g. listing new Matlab code, additional secondary data - NOT main figures, which should be included in the main text). NB. Do not exceed the page limits. All experimental results and analysis should be in your lab book, which should be submitted as well. Complete the coversheet (on the back of your handout - spares online) and attach to your report, indicating the topic area that mostly covers your extended exercise. Reports are due in to the postbox in the South Wing Mechanics lab by 4pm on the final Wednesday of the 4 week lab period in which you do the Integrated Coursework.
Presentation
Your presentation should pick one or two key points and focus on these. It will be easier to write the report first, then pick out the key points and figures for the presentation. You will give the presentation as a pair, and you will be assessed primarily on presentation quality and on how well you organise the time between you (each lab group member is expected to give about half of the presentation).
The presentations take place in the final week of the project. In the presentation, each pair has 10 minutes to present a summary of their work and key results, including a couple of minutes for questions. Divided the time more or less equally between you. Some general tips for presentations include:
- Graphs - make sure the axes of any graphs used are labeled; in Matlab, for example, lables can be added with the commands xlabel('LABEL TEXT HERE') and ylabel('LABEL TEXT HERE'). There is also a button in the plot window to access a graphical plot editing screen.
- Use of slides - while most groups choose to use electronic slide presentations, not all do. If you are using slides, don't try to fit in too many - a useful rule of thumb is to use about 1 slide per minute (as well as introduction slides etc.)
- Introduction - say who you are at the beginning of the talk. Remember, however, that 8 minutes is not a long time for a talk, so don't spend too long giving general background information; we want to hear about your work, and what you (as a pair) have done.
© Cambridge University, Engineering Department
Last updated 12/10/2012 by hrs@eng