Technical Writing

One written technical report, worth 5% of the final grade, is required for TECH 301. The

report must pertain to a recently developed metallic material or metallic process. The report must

be written to the Engineering & Design Department standard format #X. The body or content of

the report needs to be one (1) to one and one-half (1-1/2) pages in length. Remember to use proper

grammar and correct spelling.

Due Date: By the sixth (6th) week of the quarter.

General Guide to Research

When you are doing research for a writing assignment, there are a number of places you

might go to get usable information for your report. Traditionally, the library has been the

primary source, but over the years, this has changed to the Internet. Regardless of where you

go to get information, you need to ask yourself three questions when you are looking at that

information; is it appropriate, is it accurate, and is it current.

 The first thing to consider: is it appropriate for use in your writing assignment. Some of

the information that you may find may be very interesting and appealing, but it may not

really pertain to the topic that you are working on. You will need to look at the scope of

your topic and make the decision: does this information really belong in what I am

writing?

 The second thing you need to be aware of is that not everything you read on the Internet

can be considered totally accurate or totally unbiased. This is why it is very important

that you look for more than one source for your information. This gives you the

opportunity to compare sources and allows you to make a more balanced decision on

whether to use the information for your writing assignment. If you are looking for data on

newer materials and processes, you need to realize that information that you get from an

.org site might not be the same as a .com site. In fact, some of the information may be

contradictory. Some sales-based sites may only be interested in selling ‘their’ product or

method. In some areas of development, there will always be some sort of controversy, if

not about a materials possible usage, then possibly about which processes are best to be

used with them.

 The third point you need to consider is whether the information is current. In some areas

of research, our knowledge base is rapidly changing and what was considered to be

understood as being accurate as little as 5 years ago may not be correct today. A 15-year

old study on solar cells may give us a reference from which to compare to current

technology, but it will not pass for making an informed statement on today’s situation.

After You Have Found Your Information

We must remember to give credit where credit is due. When writing a report, if you are

quoting information directly from a source, be sure to remember to place it in quotations (“ ”).

Follow this up with placing a reference to your source either after your quote or in a reference

section at the end of your project. This helps the instructor to know which words are yours, and

which words are your sources. When you turn in work that has been copied wholly or partially

from any reference or source, and you have not referenced your sources, you are asking the

instructor to grade someone else’s work, not your own. This is considered plagiarism. This is

also considered a violation of EWU’s Academic Integrity policy. For further information,

please refer to the Student Academic Integrity Policy located at http://www.ewu.edu/x4326.xml

 Always back up opinions with found information. Then cite your sources.

 Do not copy and paste information in to a document without quotations and citation.

 Make information flow in a way that is easy to read and understand.

 Shoot for a five-paragraph paper.

 First Paragraph Topic and Thesis– Make the reader interested. State a

highlight and the problem

 Information Support, Second paragraph trough fourth– Information

should support you opinions and statements.

 Final Paragraph, conclusion- This is a clear conclusion of the discussed

topic. This paragraph should state the pros and cons of the topics end

desired result

Writing your research paper in this format will insure a high score!