PHY198S

Physics at the Cutting Edge (2020-21) -- PHY198S

Advice on writing your final project Presentation Slides and Individual Report

[Before you read this, please ensure that you have carefully read all of the course computing webpage.]

The easiest way to demystify the process of writing of a scientific document is to realize that you are telling your target audience a physics story. This general principle is true both for your Presentation Slides (5 minutes) and for your Individual Report (5-8 pages, not counting title page or references).

Your work will earn high marks if you do a great job of two things: (1) getting the physics right, and (2) explaining it at a level accessible to the target audience of PHY152 student peers. In my grading, I give equal weighting to these two factors.

A metaphor I like to use in this context is that you are a mountain guide (the author/speaker) taking a group of hikers (your readers/listeners) on a guided trip going up a mountain (learning about a given topic). Ahead of time, you conscientiously check their general level of experience (background knowledge), and on the day of the hike (when you give your presentation/report) you begin at the trailhead (a level that is already intellectually accessible to them). Then you lead them up the mountain by showing them the best route up (gradually giving them more knowledge), bit by bit (section by section), as the altitude gets higher and higher (as the knowledge builds on foundations from previous sections). Then when you get to the top (conclusions), you help them see how gorgeous the view is (emphasize the key physics ideas they can now appreciate) -- which they can later remember as a lovely memory and also with photos (your document).

At a more mechanical level, a physics document normally has the following parts.

Title
This is both descriptive and brief.
Abstract
This is a teeny summary of your story. For a report/article, it is a succinct paragraph of prose, and it goes on the title page. For a presentation, it is usually given as a brief outline after the title slide; since your talk will be very short this is probably best combined with the Introduction.
Introduction
This is an invitation to your readers to learn with you. Explain why they should care about your topic.
Technical Sections
In these parts, at a technical level appropriate to your audience, you describe the key components of your physics story in logical order. For example, if understanding concept A is a prerequisite for understanding concept B, explain A before B.
Conclusions
This is the climax of your story. Tell them the key takeways you want them to remember, to carry with them on their future intellectual journey.
References
Cite your sources carefully -- all of them. Showing scrupulously fair citational care is a hallmark of a good scholar.**

Many first-year undergraduates start trying to write a report by writing the above sections in order. I recommend a different strategy, which is informed by over twenty years of teaching undergraduate and graduate students how to write about physics.

  1. Write the Conclusions section first. Doing this first is smart, because when you then shift to writing the earlier sections that build up to the Conclusions, you will have your end goals super clear in your mind.
  2. Then write the Technical Sections. These are the gradual steps building up their physics understanding towards the Conclusions, and they must be done in logical order. Add your citations to the References section as you go.
  3. Only write the Introduction after you have done the above steps -- then it will flow really naturally from your brain and fingers.
  4. Then write the Abstract.
  5. Last of all, write the Title.

** Why is academic citation culture such a ... thing? Isn't this just some silly archaic formality, like academic regalia? Not at all! Citing the sources we learn from is an absolutely foundational aspect of academic culture, and it is at heart a very human activity -- it is about giving credit where credit is due. (Don't be that asshole who lazily steals ideas/explanations without crediting the thinkers who created them!) Citing our intellectual ancestors and peers is how we build up the fabric of the academic literature in a given discipline over time. Academic researchers build our reputations partly through how many citations we get and our fairness in giving them to others. As you become more knowledgeable along your academic journey, you will learn more about the general and specific literature in your chosen field(s) of study, so you will be able to do a better job of citation.