MbShea@PWP@English@UMCP

Have a Christmas cabbage!

For those looking for these fun follow-up posts, this is the closest I could find that connects to Terps.  Keep balancing as you walk through finals.  Be sure to leave an offering at the several Testudos on campus. I am pulling for you. 

Belsnikle!  German-language counties see him as a Santa helper.

Also shown is Swedish Dala horse.  Writing craft reminder? Foreign language words are italicized in English. :)

Two writing craft techniques you should review, use in your final Assignment 3 submission, and keep in mind for the future.  You have seen the first topic before.  Posted here with purple lead word-->

NEW! (It/empty subjects) and how to handle numbers 

FIRST: Link to Empty Subjects Google doc (you have seen before but requested by two of you.

Additional idea (new to you) about it(s) in a paragraph. Rule of three (again!; body paragraphs in three; people can remember sets of three)

Percey used the F54 Pipetting Stiletto at his bench. The F54 Pipetting Stiletto performs two actions at once: puncturing the nuclear membrane and delivering the desired solution of metal ions.  This pipetting tip is attached to an electron microscope screen, which permits both viewing and recording of the piercing action.  It is fast becoming....

What does "it" refer to in this para?  The pipetting stiletto?  The electron microscope?  The recording or the piercing action or the recording of the piercing action?

COMPARE!

Percey used the F54 Pipetting Stiletto at his bench. The F54 Pipetting Stiletto performs two actions at once: puncturing the nuclear membrane and delivering the desired solution of metal ions.  This pipetting tip is best used when placed at a 45 degree angle against the test tube...... The F54 Pipetting Stiletto system is fast becoming the preferred instrument for....

TLDR?  Repeat your key idea three times before you succumb to using it.

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NEW writing craft idea on how to manage numbers, numerals in your science and technical writing.

From The Mayfield Handbook, Section 9.5 (copy/paste aka a type of direct quote)-->

Numbers

Unless you are following a style guide that specifies otherwise, observe the following guidelines in using numbers.

• In general, use Arabic numerals instead of words in scientific and technical writing for both cardinal and ordinal numbers:

• 
  

   

3 subroutines	6 braces	61 amino acids
the 3rd subroutine	the 6th brace	the 61st amino acid

•  

  ---

  In some scientific and technical styles, however, write out numbers between one and ten and two-word fractions that do not follow an integer:

•  

  ---

   

three subroutines	six braces	61 amino acids
1½ hours	one-half hour

•  

  ---

  If you need to begin a sentence with a number, spell it out. It is better, however, to reword the sentence, if possible.

   

• ---

  Thirty-two workstations were provided by the university.
  The university provided 32 workstations.
  

  ---

  If one number immediately follows another in a sentence, spell out the one that can be expressed in fewer words. Try, however, to express units of measure in arabic numerals. Another solution is to reword the sentence.

   

• ---

  We then prepared eight 20 ml samples.
  We then prepared 8 samples of 20 ml each.
  

  ---

  Always spell out the pronoun one:

   

• ---

  In protecting the privacy of individuals, one must always consider all the possible ways data can be accessed and used.

  ---

  Use numerals for dates, time of day, pages, figures, and notes:

   

•  

  ---

  5 August 1994
  1 p.m.
  page 43
  Ref. 6
  Figure 43
  

  ---

  Use arabic numerals followed by the percent sign, (%), to express percentages, except when the number begins a sentence:

   

 

---

Only 3% of the systems crashed during the test period.
Three percent of the systems crashed during the test period.

---

 

(Some of the formatting is wonky.  Sorry about that.  You can go directly to the guide linked above.  You may also want to remember this guide for future technical writing needs.)

Happy Friday!

Stop by, if you wish, at the 9-9:50 or the 11-11:50 hours.

Preview of next week: Transitions, meta-discourse including counting out, and strategic voice.  All of these sample/mentor sentences can help you tighten the prose to cohere or flow for your reader.

Before we look at Patel's work on food additives, let's review a few key definitions. (Good first sentence for your definitions paragraph. Is meta discourse because of before we look and let's review; Sentence also uses we and  let's (let us); this meta discourse invited the reader to join you, the writer).

You can read more about polyphenols and oxidative stress at the open pages of the Nutrition Society of the US. (Here the metadiscourse of reader address uses you; also, you can see the opportunity for both a referral link as well as a good way to end the definition paragraph with a recommendation for more background reading, if needed.  Here, you accommodate the different needs of your audience.)

Let's turn now to Suarez's use of bioplastics in 3-D printing applications for oyster restoration. First, Suarez describes....(This is a good way to leave definition work and start on your body paragraphs.  AND, importantly, you begin your counting -ut metadiscourse to alert your reader to a specific take away. This continues, with your second body paragraph --> new topic of ankle joints).

A second key take-away from Cummings' analysis of ankle joint morphology concerns wear and tear on patellar (kneecap) interior surfaces. (You counted out/signaled that this is a second point from your article.  You can can use other meta discourse (next, in addition): 

A next methodological insight from from Patel concerns benthic bioindicator species....

In addition to Cumming's ankle morphology work is the important biomarker of damaged collagen leakage into interstitial spaces. 

The first two points from Mozafari's cardiac perfusion study strongly support her conclusion concerning injectable medications administered in the field, while enroute by ambulance. (The counting-out metadiscourse technique can also help you in subsequent paragraphs, for example, your anallysis/critique where you would focus on two previously described body points).

Most bioretention specialists will appreciate the specific findings about nitrogen uptake by hedgerows. This knowledge is important for farmers seeking mixed benefits from using plants as flexible "green tech": windbreaks, shade for energy conservation, screening from neighbors, and for sinking nitrogen into the soil, out of the airshed. (At the end of your review, you may address who would care about this knowledge or what disciplines use the knowledge.  Here, these are biotention experts and farmers.  Identifying who cares can be part of your conclusion paragraph(s).)

Detail on VOICE!  Let's think about voice.  Here is a google slide set on Active/Passive Voice in science style. Some people think that you must also use passive voice constructions in science. Not so!  

We can also think about how to use first person voice in your review to make clear when YOU are analyzing the work of the researchers/authors. You can use first person voice in science but you must be deliberate and selective. Read this summary of what David Schultz (atmopheric scientist) of Eloquent Science says.

Some sentences, first up is how to use third person to present work of the researchers.

Quantitative PRC, a standards-calibrated PCR routine, helped researchers establish the differences with seven treatment groups.

Thomas Brock, discoverer of Thermus aquaticus, is largely ignored as central to PCR creation.

Alan Alda, "Hawkeye" from Mash, is now a widely-acclaimed science communicator. 

Researchers then built an aluminum model of a spherical cow (not a joke here) to study energy input-throughput for dairy cow economics.

Controlling for distribution differences in the seven treatments requires transforming box plots into violin plots (violin shapes permit visual inspection of the distributions). 

Hapeman and her colleagues used ananometers (wind speed detectors) to document air turbulence near the top of the hedgerow.

The Vegetated Emissions Buffer (VEB) is a type of hedgerow installation to manage a number of farm attributes, including ammonia odor reduction.

The best tree species to withstand high ammonia and poultry litter dust is Austree Willow (Salix andromeda X austria)

Now, your voice, in first person (good for analysis work and meta-discourse to turn between points, demonstrated earlier):

 As a biochemist, I am interested in their activation energy criteria for selecting likely reaction pathways.

I am confused about the use of the one-tail ANOVA test for this study.  

One of the most memorable aspects of this observational study is the use of prison data sets.  I wonder about consent, even though a footnote attests to this.  This study made me research more about the ethics of informed consent for vulnerable populations.  I recommend reading... and .....

Preview for post-Thanksgiving: sometimes we place small definitions within the body paragraphs.  Think of them as nested definitions.

 Kary Mullis -- often high on LSD -- invented PCR in the early 1980s, near Berkeley, CA.

Ghost peppers -- 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce -- feature Scoville units in the low millions.

Marie Curie -- two-time Nobel Prize winner -- died of radiation-induced blood cancer.

CAUTION: dashes are exciting and should be used for, well, exciting information. I submit that that these three examples are exciting.

Wednesday serves up some much needed rain! More this evening.  Gardener, tree take-down crew, and plant scientist rejoices. Ok, more on writing about statistics and the logos of numbers.

I WILL POST THE OPTIONAL yet highly recommended) ER WRITING TASK  TODAY, circa noon.  You must complete by Monday evening, 11:45.  Then I open up the OPTIONAL ER REVIEWING TASK.  What this means is that you can see what others do but are not required to respond to others. How is that for going into the T-G week?

Using a p-value test (conditions): The primary and surprisingly common mistake here is the p-values to not fit your experiment design or the underlying distribution of the data. Another way to say: can mean that your data set does not fit the related statistical model; this means that the poor values might mane you picked the wrong test for your study design. Fix? Consult a statistician in the study design phase and perhaps in the data analysis phase.  For example, 

What is a p-value/significance testing anyway? (If you focus on p-values in your final document, I would place this key definition FIRST.) 

P-values do not measure the probability that the studied hypothesis is true (though thinking this is helpful), or the probability that the data were produced by random chance alone. Instead, p-values really look at the null hypothesis utility. 

In class, we will talk a bit about scale of vision.  At high altitude, we can think of p-values and this testing in this way. However, technically, we have the step of accepting or rejecting the null hypothesis.

Human judgement matters more than p-values. P-values are part of an exacting critical analysis. Scientific conclusions, by researches and readers, as well as business and/or policy decisions should not be based solely on desired aka low p-values.

Ethics matter! Proper, robust, and intellectually responsive inference-making requires full reporting and transparency. P-hacking manages to slip through because researchers are not fully honest in their full data set choices and the timing of those choices.

Pause between p-values and power: Statistics help us make meaning.  Meaningfulness is not assured by significance testing. A p-value rooted in significance testing does not signal or confirm the importance of a result. Related: a p-value does not measure the size of an effect 

By itself, a p-value does not adequately nor responsibly measure evidence quality; likewise, a p-value can not confirm the intellectual integrity of  a study design, supporting model/theory or even the research hypothesis.

Let's talk about power. Many of us look at sample size and conclude the robustness of a finding based in part onn a larger sample size. What is large any way?  Depends on research context and even a discipline.  You want to ask in the future after you look at sample size this question.  How does power work here?  Did the researchers even report this important statistical quality?  From Editage, this short piece pairs nicely with this definition on statistical power (three-minute YouTube explainer by a biostatistian) will help you.
 

Bottom line: I want you to think about these ideas.  Write in the way that you can.  I will NOT assess the content for you.  Hint: if you plan to use this piece as a writing sample for grad school, either take the stats analysis paragraph out or consult with a mentor in your field.

Happy Friday, Terps. See you today, 

• 9-9:50
• 11-11:50

Did you know that -- according to science -- holding a warm beverage in your hands comforts? Read this round up of science at the open access UK Guardian article. Related, is thisauthoratative summary of peer-reviewd research (2008) from Science Daily. In this SD piece, consider this quotes;

Holding the hot cup, Williams hypothesized, would prime the subject to have a more positive appraisal of a hypothetical person they read about once they reached the testing room. And according to his data, Williams was right: People who had briefly held the hot coffee cup perceived the target person as being significantly "warmer" than did those who had briefly held the cup of iced coffee.

 

Today, I will post your Friday ER WRITiNG TASK.  Here is what I want in that assignment:

1. Select one or two of the seven openings and draft a rought first paragraph.  Options:
   1. Include your ABT statement OR
   2. Let the ABT statement be a separate paragraph (number ttwo).
2. From the ABT statement, selects some terms that you want/need to define in a definition parargraph that is part of your review.  You can list them in bullet form, with some short definitional phrases: Samples-->
   1. Before we look at these water quality findings,, let's review quickly the following terms:
      1. podulized soils and hydrosols
      2. spring-time field events (warming soil and warming water) and nitrogen speciation
      3. nitrogen speciation and, related, nitrogen-phosphorus coupling.
3. Idenfify in phrases, your possible three or four points from the body of the paragraph.
   1. Nitrogen speciation can be controlled in part by winter rye cropping
   2. Nitrogen motility begins before the spring-time event, which might mean we need microclimate markers
   3. Farmers can be induced for earlier rye cropping by technical advice and USDA stacked payments.

You have a grreat deal to think about but 1) we have been discussing these elements and 2) you can use phrases and bullet points.  We are gathering ideas and sorting what should be in the article review.

Now, some additional resources on ABT statements.  First up, Randy Olson's TedMed talk.  Warning: Randy drops the F-bomb early on.  Incidentally, he has a potty mouth, more generally.

Randy ran an ABT workshop for UMD graduate students.  Here is a Google slide set of the ABT statements written then. Note: without the "google" here, did you wonder if that link was a MW PowerPoint set or even PDF?  If you are on a small device, you may not want an automatic down load, right?  ABC aka aways be curating (your referral links).

 Dr. Suess, of course, from The Cat in the Hat Comes Back

Happy Friday and your protected time to manage your work! I am available online today between

9-9:50 and 11-11:50.

Task reminders:

Friday night 11.45PM post an Eli Review Writing Task. Link sent by ELMS mail/calender,

Monday night 11.45PM, post your Eli Review Review Task.  

We focus on beginnings, ABT use, possible definitions for revision into a paragraph, and preview of your three points.  Here is a visual that describes the ABT advantage in reader thinking, courtesy of environmental scientist Keisha Bahr (Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)-->

By Keisha Bahr, Bahr Lab, TAMU, CC

Sources on this three-part visual based on lines.  Hint, hidden writing craft lesson.  I am curating the links in such a way that you do not need to even click in the links.  Counter intuitive, right?  We build ethos with well-done, audience-sensitive, authoritative sources. You do not need to click into any of these items save for my six-slide set.  The other curated links are optional BUT BUILD ETHOS whether you look, listen, assess or not. See how that works?  I also take up the prose about how to deal with stuff taken down on the internet. 

I have summarized ABT+IMRAD thinking (now taken down slide set) by Keisha Bahr. Here is my extract and annotation (six-slide set in Google). This visual approach to ABT will  help you with your work this weekend) for us to use next week.  Where did Dr. Bahr's original 68-slide presentation go?  So many rich and wonderful documents go poof regularly online.  Now, her presentation is primarily available in book form, available at Amazon in both Kindle ($2.99) and paperback ($4.99) options. This book, The Narrative Gym for Science, is also co-authored by Marlis Douglass, PhD, who is a conservation biologist at the University of Arkansas. The primary audience of this book about ABT/sci comm is graduate students and post docs.  You are close that that audience.

Here is a 40-minutes video/podcast (Apple platform) called ABT Time Ep 44 (series is part of Randy Olson's media work all under ABT AGENDA), featuring a discussion aabout ABT, with Marlis, Keisha, and Randy.

BLUF?* We need to deepen our understanding of ABT as a structure to guide critical thinking and careful, concise writing. For critical reading, you can think about how NOT encountering an ABT or similar writing construction in your technical reading harms your uptake of complex information.  Yes, you can judge others!  And, you can see how these less-than-optimal paragraphs serve as cautionary tales.  In other words, learn from their mishaps. Mentor texts are not always exemplars.  Mentor texts are the occasion, too, of partly good stuff. You can envision the better version. 

*BOTTOM LINE UP FRONT (cousin to and precursor of TLDNR, which is too long, did not read; but you already know that!)