Assignments

Writing Assignments

There are a total of four writing assignments, which vary in terms of their genre, length, and complexity. They include: a critical review; a science essay for the general public; a prospectus for the science essay; and a proposal. Together, these assignments are designed to give you experience with different genres of scientific and technical writing and a foundation for eventually mastering the specific kinds of writing associated with your field and future profession.

“Main” writing assignments (250 words = ~1 page):

A critical review (≥1250 words, to be revised)
A prospectus for a science essay (≥250 words; to be revised if requested by instructor)
A researched science essay for the general public (≥2250 words, to be revised)
A proposal (≥1250 words, option for revising)

There will also be some informal in-class writing and responses to the readings.

Deadlines

First versions must be handed in by the due date. Revisions are due one week from the day you receive comments on the first version. All assignments must be completed in order to receive a passing grade in the course.

Oral Presentations

There will be one formal oral presentation. In addition, you may also have the opportunity to help lead a class discussion of an essay or article.

Conferences

MIT students were required to meet with the course instructor and/or the writing advisor, Louise Harrison Lepera, to discuss their work and progress in the class. Student were also strongly encouraged to meet with either the instructor or writing advisor to address questions or ideas about the writing assignments.

Resources

Writing with Sources (PDF)

Presenting Your Proposal: Guidelines for an Effective Presentation (PDF-1.4MB)

Due: Session 5

Length: ~1250 words

For this assignment you will write a critical review of an exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science.

The purpose and target audience of your review: Who are you writing for and why?

Here’s the scenario:

Imagine there’s a journal devoted to the topic of communicating science—let’s even imagine that the journal has that very title, Communicating Science. The journal caters to a broad audience of scientists, science teachers, students interested in STEM fields, and science writers. The editors of this journal are planning a special issue on the topic of communicating science through museum exhibits. You have been invited, as an MIT student, to contribute to this issue by submitting a review of a Boston Museum of Science exhibit. You may choose to write about any exhibit you want.

The purpose of the review is to provide an analysis and assessment of this exhibit, showing how it succeeds or falls short in engaging and conveying scientific ideas and information to its target audience.

Format and Content of the Review

The review should be written in the form of an essay.

It should include:

A brief overview of the Boston Museum of Science and your views about the role of science museums
A more detailed description of the exhibit you’re focusing on (e.g., its topic, content, design, aims, target audience(s))
An analysis of the exhibit’s strengths and weaknesses
An assessment of the overall success of the exhibit in achieving what you see as the designers’ intent

Organizing the Review

The review should have a discernible introduction (providing context and a framework for critique); body (consisting of your description and analysis of the exhibit); and a summary/conclusion (underscoring the main idea of your review).

You may use section headings to highlight key points. The paper should be either 1.5 or double-spaced, using a standard 12 pt. font and standard margins. It should also include a descriptive title.

Evaluating an Exhibit: What Should You Consider?

Consider the exhibit in light of the ideas discussed in the Semper article, “Science Museums as Environments for Learning,” as well as your own ideas about science museums.

Here are some questions to consider:

What is the topic of the exhibit and what is its basic purpose?
Is this an appropriate topic for a science museum?
Who is its target audience (or audiences)? How can you tell?
Are the scope and depth of the exhibit’s content appropriate for the target audience(s)?
What forms of media are used to present information? Are they effective? Why or why not?
How is the exhibit organized (e.g., historically, topically, thematically)? Does the method of organization seem logical and clear?
What do you notice about people visiting the exhibit and their responses to it?
Does the exhibit actively engage the audience? If so, in what ways? If not, why?
Is the exhibit aesthetically appealing?
Are there gaps in the coverage of the topic?
Is the content accurate and up to date?
Are aspects of the exhibit confusing?
Do you have ideas about how the exhibit could be improved?

Take notes! You can even take pictures!

Using and Citing Source Material

If you draw on any idea, concepts, or facts from the Semper article, be sure to cite them and include a complete bibliographic reference to the article at the end. You are not expected to do additional research or consult other sources of information for this paper.

Suggestions for the Process of Writing

Thinking and planning are important (and often underappreciated) aspects of the writing process. You’re likely to find that the actual writing will be easier if you devote plenty of time to thinking about and sketching out your ideas and key points.

Using your recollections and notes, list the key points that you want to include in your analysis. Identify a central unifying theme for your review. Then you’ll be ready to sketch out the organization of each section and to see how the sections fit together into a coherent critical review. (The structure might change as you’re drafting the piece.)

And remember that you will have the opportunity to revise the essay after receiving feedback on the first version.

For your researched science essay for the general public.

Due: One day after Session 10

Length: ~250 words (1 page)

The first stage in writing your science essay for the general public will be to develop and draft a prospectus. A prospectus is a valuable tool for writers, as it can help them develop their ideas and a feasible plan for a writing project. You will write a first version, meet with either me or the Writing Advisor to go over it, and then—if necessary—submit a revised version that shows you have a well thought out plan for the essay.

Your prospectus should describe each of the following in at least one paragraph:

The general topic of your essay and why you have chosen it.
The aspect of the topic or perspective you plan to focus on, and why.
Your target audience and the kind of journal or magazine you might envision this essay appearing in.
The basic purpose of the essay.
What you envision as the biggest challenges you’ll face in writing about this topic for a general audience.

It should be formatted as shown below, including the title and each of the bold-faced words or phrases as section headings:

Prospectus: For a science essay for the general public

Topic

Focus

Target Audience

Purpose

Main Challenges

Use a standard 12 pt. font for the main text and 1.5 spacing of text within each section.

You should treat your prospectus as a guide for your science essay, rather than as a rigid “blueprint”. Some things may change, not only in response to comments on your prospectus, but even later through your research and drafting of the essay.

Due: Three days after Session 14

Length: ~2250 words (~9-10 pages)

For this assignment, you will write about some aspect of science, engineering, mathematics, or technology for a general audience. Through this assignment, you will gain experience in:

Researching a topic through a variety of published (and other) sources (more about this below); and
Presenting a relatively specialized and technical subject in a way that is accessible, informative, and engaging to a general audience.

Picking a Topic

Your first task will be to find a topic that interests you, and that you think could be the basis for an intriguing and informative essay for people who have little or no previous acquaintance with this subject. If you are involved with an Undergraduate Research Opportunities Group (UROP), you could write about something related to that. However, there are endless other possibilities. Another suggestion for finding a topic would be to browse the website of a department you’re interested in and check the links to research labs and groups in that department. Read about the research that’s going on in those labs and groups until you find something that especially interests you.

Shaping Your Topic: Defining Your Focus, Purpose, and Audience

Next, you will need to consider the specific focus, purpose, and target audience of your essay. What aspect of the topic do you want to concentrate on? Is that compatible with the length of the piece? Why do you want to write about this? What do you want the reader to “take away” from your essay? Who do you envision as your readers? Are your topic and purpose suitable for the audience? Remember that the notion of a “general audience” should be viewed as a continuum: some “general audiences” are more “general” than others! Although they may overlap, the audience of Discover magazine is not the same as the audience of Technology Review. Where would you imagine your essay appearing? What assumptions will you be making about your readers? Will you be writing for a very general audience or a more narrowly defined general audience?

You should not approach this as a general “report” on some aspect of science or technology. The essay should reflect your own ideas about what aspects of a scientific topic are interesting and likely to appeal to your audience, and about how to present that information in a way that your readers will find interesting, engaging, and informative. Two essays on a similar topic could be very different in their scope, focus, purpose, and style, for example.

Researching Your Topic

With these preliminary ideas about your essay, you will be ready to begin researching your topic. One way to do this is to search for a variety of articles on your topic. Another valuable source of information might be a person here at MIT who is involved in research in the area you’re writing about. You could go and visit a lab or group that is carrying out that research and talk with someone who’s involved in the work. You may find that your initial ideas about the focus and purpose of the essay will undergo some changes and refinement as you research your topic.

Style and Format

Decisions about the conceptual structure, style, and formatting of the essay are largely left to you as the writer. (*But note the guidelines for basic formatting below.) You can choose, for example, whether to use section headings to highlight main ideas and distinct sections of the essay. You can also decide whether to include illustrations.

The essay should be formatted using a standard 12 pt. font (for the main text), 1.5 or double-spacing, and standard margins (~1 inch).

Using and Citing Sources

You can use either of two citation styles that are most common in scientific and technical academic writing. These include an in-text parenthetical author-date citation style or a number-indexing style. Each of these systems of citation will be covered in class, so there is no expectation that you are already familiar with them. We will also discuss how to incorporate source material into your own work and principles for when to cite sources.

The essay must include a Bibliography of sources cited in the text. You can also include a list of Additional Sources or Recommended Readings for your audience.

Example Science Essays

“Fukushima and the Bogey-man” - Rosie Sugrue

“Who’s Better and Who’s the Best?” - Keren Gu

“The Origin of Mass” - Sam Moore

“Modular Self-Configurable Robots” - Vincent Kee

Due: Three days after Session 19

Length: 1250 words (5 pages)

In this assignment, you will develop an idea for a summer short course to be offered at the Boston Museum of Science. You will then write a formal proposal, outlining your idea. The purpose of this assignment is twofold:

To think about ways of communicating scientific ideas and information to a specific age group through various media
To become familiar with the purpose, audience, format, and style of a proposal

Here’s the imaginary (but realistic) scenario for this assignment:

The Boston Museum of Science is seeking to expand its Summer Science Short Course Program for pre-college age kids. The National Science Foundation is collaborating with the Museum in this endeavor, as part of its mission to promote science education, by guaranteeing funding for ten projects for the summer of 2017. Thus they are soliciting proposals for science short courses. Any current college undergraduate is eligible to apply. If your proposal is selected, it will be funded by an NSF grant. In addition, you will be awarded an NSF Undergraduate Summer Teaching Fellowship: either $2,000 or $3,000, depending on the length of the course.

Guidelines

1 or 2 weeks (Mon-Fri)
½ day (9-12) or full day (9-12 & 1-4)
Max 20 students
Any age/grade level (pre-college)

Assume the following:

Appropriate classroom/lab space is provided
Basic, standard equipment is provided: e.g., computers, microscopes, high quality amateur telescopes
Local field work/field trips are an option

You can request:

Other equipment
Materials
Teaching assistants (≤2, undergraduate)

The proposal should include the following sections, in the following order:

Title page
Abstract (~100 words)
Specific Aims (≤250 words)
Background & Significance (≤500 words)
Proposed Project (≤1000 words)
Budget
Bibliography (if needed)
Appendix (if needed)

Important:

The body of the proposal consists of the four sections: Specific Aims, Background & Significance, Proposed Project, and Budget. Those sections should be numbered 1-4. (You could also decide to subdivide the Proposed Project section, as shown below, depending on whether you think that works well for your proposal.) The other sections are not numbered.

Specific Aims (∼⅛)
Background & Significance (∼¼)
Proposed Project (∼½)
- 3.1 —
- 3.2 —
Budget (∼¼)

The headings should use this exact wording, and they should be highlighted in a larger font than the font than the regular text. The Abstract, and the optional Bibliography and Appendix sections, should not be numbered. Remember that the Budget section must include a table that’s preceded with some text that briefly summarizes and justifies the requested funds.

The title page should look like this. You should give the proposal an engaging and informative title, followed by the phrase identifying it as a proposal.

Title: A Proposal for a Boston Museum of Science Summer Short Course

Submitted by:

Submitted to: NSF

Date:

Developing and Writing the Proposal

Decide on a subject and age group for your short course
Develop a sketch of your preliminary idea
Conduct any necessary background research
Write up a draft of the Proposed Project section first; then work on the other sections. Write the Abstract last.
Finally, revise and edit the whole document

Who is Your Audience? What is the Purpose of Your Proposal?

Assume that your audience is a National Science Foundation review board that includes an NSF administrator; 3 or 4 college professors from various fields of science and engineering, with an interest in K-12 science education; 2 or 3 middle or high school science teachers; and a representative from the Boston Museum of Science. Your goal is to convince the review panel to select your proposal. To accomplish that goal, your idea must be well thought out. Moreover, you must show that it’s well thought out by communicating very clearly the content, design, and value of the course you’re proposing.

These will be the Criteria for Selection:

Scientific and educational value of the course topic
Potential interest in the topic
Feasibility: likelihood of achieving the stated aims
Suitability: appropriate fit between the content and age/grade level

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Science Writing and New Media: Explorations in Communicating about Science & Technology