Phys1160 Essay Questions
PHYS1160 Essays
Essays should be between 1500 and 2000 words. The word limit should include the text, figure captions, footnotes, but not the reference list (we are happy to see lots of references). You will lose marks for going over or under the word limit. You are welcome to include pictures. However try to ensure that they help to illustrate the argument presented in the essay and are not mere adornment. Your essay should be written for a well informed but non-specialist audience. The style used in popular science magazines such as Scientific American or New Scientist would be a suitable guide. You are not writing for experts, so if you use technical jargon you will need to explain it. Essays are expected to show evidence of researching the topic beyond the material presented in the lectures and textbook. The sources you use (websites, journal articles, books) should be referenced. You should consistently use one of the standard reference styles. One style is to number references sequentially in the text and include a numbered list of references at the end of the essay. An alternative is to mark references in the text using author and date e.g (Sagan, 1987) or Drake et al. (1965) and list references at the end of the essay in alphabetical order. If you use text from another source make it clear that it is a quote by placing it in quotation marks and giving the reference to the source. However, you should not make excessive use of quotes. The essay should be in your words and present your views on the subject, not just an account of what other have said. Using text from other sources without attribution is plagiarism and is not acceptable. Your essay will use the TurnItIn system for submission that includes an automatic test for plagiarism. Your submission will be checked against a large database of material and tested for matches. Make sure that what you submit is your own work and that any material from other sources is placed in quotation marks and the source
Essays should be between 1500 and 2000 words. The word limit should include the text, figure captions, footnotes, but not the reference list (we are happy to see lots of references). You will lose marks for going over or under the word limit. You are welcome to include pictures. However try to ensure that they help to illustrate the argument presented in the essay and are not mere adornment. Your essay should be written for a well informed but non-specialist audience. The style used in popular science magazines such as Scientific American or New Scientist would be a suitable guide. You are not writing for experts, so if you use technical jargon you will need to explain it. Essays are expected to show evidence of researching the topic beyond the material presented in the lectures and textbook. The sources you use (websites, journal articles, books) should be referenced. You should consistently use one of the standard reference styles. One style is to number references sequentially in the text and include a numbered list of references at the end of the essay. An alternative is to mark references in the text using author and date e.g (Sagan, 1987) or Drake et al. (1965) and list references at the end of the essay in alphabetical order. If you use text from another source make it clear that it is a quote by placing it in quotation marks and giving the reference to the source. However, you should not make excessive use of quotes. The essay should be in your words and present your views on the subject, not just an account of what other have said. Using text from other sources without attribution is plagiarism and is not acceptable. Your essay will use the TurnItIn system for submission that includes an automatic test for plagiarism. Your submission will be checked against a large database of material and tested for matches. Make sure that what you submit is your own work and that any material from other sources is placed in quotation marks and the source