UNIVERSIDAD PEDAGÓGICA Y TECNOLÓGICA DE COLOMBIA

VICERRECTORÍA ACADÉMICA
INSTITUTO INTERNACIONAL DE IDIOMAS
guía para el desarrollo de clases virtuales

Professor: _________________________________________________

SUBJECT LEVEL WEEK TOPIC

English VI 6 AND 7 Understanding and

answering questions

about a specific text

Preparation on how

to write an abstract.
OBJETIVES:

 To practice on academic writing for professional development.

 To learn about the writing of an abstract, its structure, and characteristics through practice.
 To develop reflexive competences in the specific field of formation of the students.
WHAT WE WILL DO IN THE CLASS:

 Students will explore the main characteristics of an academic abstract

 They will learn about the requirements for a good abstract.
 They will build an abstract step by step, understanding every component of it.

PART 1: INITIAL REFLECTION

Take some time to write down some ideas about what you previously know:

Make sure you answer the questions: What is an abstract? Have you ever written an abstract? What do you know about writing an abstract?

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The abstract is a writing that synthesizes the main ideas of a text or document it must be objective, clear and consistent.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
It is usually a fundamental study technique: it allows us to verify that we fully understand the text, since we can choose which its main ideas are and which
disposable ideas are.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The steps are:

Read the original text, underline important ideas and transcribe and write a new text.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

If I have written abstract, on topics and texts of my interest and my career.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
 PART 2: PRESENTATION OF THE TOPIC
Writing an abstract is a form of
2.1 Six Principles of Technical Writing
technical writing. In order to better
Principle One: Use Good Grammar understand the rules and guidelines by
Your readers expect technical documents to be written in standard English. Certain grammatical which we write abstract, we should first
errors can cause your reader to misinterpret the information. However, because technical familiarize ourselves with technical
documents must be precise and accurate, readers expect documents to be professional, writing. If you take a technical writing
polished, and flawless. workshop; the materials will address
numerous areas; some are very specific
One grammatical rule to is to stick to subject-verb agreement.
while others are more general in
Note the choice of verbs below:
nature. A good starting point is to look
at six principles of technical writing.
One employee is absent.  Two employees are absent.
Employee in the first sentence agrees with is and employees in the second sentence agrees with
are.

The real challenge is when the subject is not as obvious. In the following sentences, identify the subjects and verbs:

Both of the levers is clearly marked.  Both of the levers are clearly marked.

You must decide if the subject is either or levers. If you selected either as the subject and is as the verb, you made the correct choice. A list of indefinite
pronouns that are always singular is listed below:
each, either, everybody, everyone, neither, one, anyone, anybody, someone, somebody, no one, nobody
The following indefinite pronouns are always plural:

both, few, many, several

Just to keep your life interesting, the following pronouns can be either singular or plural:

all, more, most, none, some

You may wonder how some pronouns can be both singular and plural. Review the following examples:

Some of the information is inaccurate.  Some of the figures are inaccurate.

Principle Two: Writing Concisely

In technical writing, clarity and brevity is your goal. Why take 32 words to express what could be stated in 14 or 15? The dictates of effective technical writing
suggest that the average length for a sentence is 15-20 words. How do you achieve clarity and conciseness?

A large
One of the number
best ways is tooflook for multiword phrases that can be replaced by one or two words. Try replacing the multiword phrases below with a word or
two.
Prior to that time
Similarly, when you reorganize sentences, your readers don't have to walk through extra wordiness. How would you streamline the sentence below?
In the process of tabulating
"To obtain maximum performance from your computer, you should endeavor to follow the maintenance program furnished in the manual
As shown inyour
accompanying tablecomputer."
3

Exhibits
Experts have foundthethat
ability
there are two ways we lose our readers: using words with which they are unfamiliar and overly long sentences. By replacing wordy
phrases with shorter, you are doing your readers a favor.

Principle Three: Using the Active Voice

Imperative sentences, or command sentences, are written in the active voice. The active voice is more natural to people when they speak, but technical
writers often turn to the passive voice when writing technical documents. One of the main reasons you should use the active voice rather than the passive in
technical writing is the active voice more closely resembles the way people remember and process information.
Compare the following sentences:
NOTE: Though it is recommended that you avoid
Staff hours are calculated by the manager on the actual work load. using passive voice, sometimes it is necessary. In basic
active voice structure, we have a structure of subject
The manager calculates staff hours on the actual work load. verb and complement, where the focus is on the
subject preforming an action. If we wish to focus on
In the active voice sentence, the subject acts. In the passive voice sentence, something is done to the complement,
the subject. or the person/place/thing being
affected instead of the subject, we must employ the
Another reason to avoid the passive voice sentence is you run the risk of omitting the doer of the action.use of the
Note passive voice.ofFor
absence theexample:
"doer" inThe
the scientist
following
sentence: collected data using a double-blind study V.S. A
double-blind study was used. For more information
Documented practical examinations will be given for backhoes (excavators) of the same type regarding passiveoperating
with different voice andcharacteristics.
it’s uses, please turn to
the PowerPoint provided.
Principle Four: Using Positive Statements
Technical writers should word instructions as positive statements. Whenever possible, phrase commands in a positive manner. Compare the following:
 Negative: Do not close the valve.
Positive: Leave the valve open.

Telling your readers what NOT to do is a negative statement. It is also abstract rather than concrete. Your readers have to take time to think about what is true
(positive) so they can determine what is NOT true (negative).

***One exception to this rule is when a negative statement is clearer than a positive one. Keep in mind studies show it is almost 50% harder for your readers
to understand the meaning when you use negatives.

Principle Five: Avoiding Long Sentences

Short sentences are easier to understand than long sentences. For this reason, it is best to write your technical documents in short sentences. If you are asking
your readers to perform several actions, begin the step with an active verb. This highlights the action itself. Compare the following sentences:

Example of a sentence with multiple steps set apart:

Example of a sentence with multiple steps in a row:
For Forte applications, perform the following steps:
 Create an empty workspace. For Forte applications, create an
 Populate it with application sourceempty
code. workspace, populate it with
application source code, and compile
 Compile the workspace the workspace.

Another tip when separating steps into distinct bullet points is to make sure that the action verbs in each bulleted item are in the same tense. For example, if
the first step was worded, "Creating an empty workspace," then the next bullet would be, "Populating it with application source code," and the third bullet
point would be, "Compiling the workspace. “

Principle Six: Using Standard Punctuation

Your readers expect standard punctuation when they read your documents. Complicated or "creative" punctuation will confuse them. One suggestion is to
select syntax that minimizes the need for punctuation. You may wish to divide compound or complex sentences into shorter sentences to avoid excessive or
confusing punctuation. One example of this is deciding where to place your commas, periods, colons, and semicolons when using quotation marks.

Commas and periods always go inside the closing quotation mark.

Most corporations adopt the belief, "the

customer is always right."

On the other hand, semicolons and colons are always placed outside the
quotation marks.

Most corporations adopt the belief, “the

customer is always right”; however, this can be
difficult to stick with.

Many technical writing workshops focus on advanced topics, expecting participants to already be familiar
with the basic beliefs of good technical writing. While these six principles are a good starting point, you
may be surprised to see how often they are ignored. Challenge yourself to read and analyze other
technical documents and ask yourself: What makes some documents a struggle to read while others are
easy to comprehend? As you incorporate these and other sound writing techniques, your readers will
benefit.
2.2: The abstract
From Writing an abstract Understanding and developing abstracts. The University of Melbourne. Available on:
https://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/471274/Writing_an_Abstract_Update_051112.pdf

What is an abstract?

An abstract is a concise summary of a research paper or entire thesis.

It is an original work, not an excerpted passage. An abstract must be fully self-contained and make sense by itself, without further reference to outside sources
or to the actual paper.

It highlights key content areas, your research purpose, the relevance or importance of your work, and the main outcomes.

It is a well-developed single paragraph of approximately 150-250 words in length, which is indented and single spaced.

The function of the abstract is to outline briefly all parts of the paper. Although it is placed at the beginning of your paper, immediately following the title
page, the abstract should be the last thing that you write, once you are sure of the conclusions you will reach.

Why you write an abstract?

Abstracts are important for both selection and indexing purposes.

Selection: Abstracts allow readers who may be interested in the paper to quickly decide whether it is relevant to their purposes and whether they need to
read the whole paper.

Indexing: Most academic journal databases accessed through the library enable you to search abstracts. This allows for quick retrieval by users. Abstracts
must incorporate the key terms that a potential researcher would use to search.

Types of abstracts: Abstracts can be informative and descriptive.

Descriptive abstracts: describe the work being abstracted. They are moreTwo like an outline of the
examples work and are usually very short - 100 words or
abstracts:
less.
Informative abstracts: act as substitutes for the actual papers as all the key arguments and conclusions are presented; specifically, the context
and importance of the research, reasons for methods, principal results and conclusions.
Example 1: Abstract from http://research.berkeley.edu/ucday/abstract.html
Example 2: Abstract from http://research.berkeley.edu/ucday/abstract.html
 PART 3: COGNITIVE
In this example of an abstract you will identify 4 components that in general terms

This study examines first-year undergraduate Australian and international engineering

students as writers of academic texts in a multicultural setting at the University of Adelaide.
A questionnaire and interviews were used to collect data about students’ level of PURPOSE AND OBJECTIVE
metalinguistic awareness, their attitudes toward, expectations for, assumptions about and
motivation for writing. The preliminary results of the research show that students from METHODS
different cultures initially have different concepts about the academic genres and handle
writing with different learning and writing styles, but those with a more developed RESULTS
metalanguage are more confident and motivated. The conclusion can also be drawn that
students’ level of motivation for academic writing positively correlates with their opinion CONCLUSION
about themselves as writers. Following an in-depth multi-dimensional analysis of
preliminary research results, some recommendations for writing instruction will also be
presented

Let’s Give it a Shot!

Below is an example abstract. Using the information above, try to identify the corresponding parts of the
abstract below (purpose and objective/methods/results/conclusion).

Abstract
 Study skills and students’ satisfaction with their performance positively affect their academic achievement. The
current research was carried out to investigate the correlation of study skills with academic achievement among the
medical
Take andyou’ve
a break, pharmacy students
earned in 2013.
it! Stretch yourThis
legsdescriptive-analytical studyaround
out, drink a coffee, dance was conducted onWhen
a little bit. 148 students
you comeof basic
back, we
medical
are going sciences
to take a and pharmacy
deeper look atthrough convenience
the parts sampling.
of an abstract. Data were
Pay attention, collected
because by aend
at the valid
of and reliable
the guide you will be
questionnaire, consisting of two sections:askedDemographic information and questions
to write your own abstract. about daily study hours, study
skills in six domains, and students’ satisfaction with study skills. Collected data sets were analyzed by SPSS-16
software. In total, 10.9% of students were reported to have favorable study skills. The minimum score was found
for preparation for examination domain. Also, a significantly positive correlation was observed between students’
study skills and their Grade Point Average (GPA) of previous term (P=0.001, r=0.269) and satisfaction with study
skills (P=0.001, r=0.493). The findings indicated that students’ study skills need to be improved. Given the
significant relationship between study skills and GPA, as an index of academic achievement, and satisfaction, it is
necessary to promote the students’ study skills. These skills are suggested to be reinforced, with more emphasis
on weaker domains.”
PURPOSES AND OBJECTIVES
The introduction is a quick overview of the research. Sometimes it has the introductory sentence. It clearly shows what was intended with the
research and gives the reader an idea of what the article or paper is about.

The introduction shows:

1. Why did you study this topic? (brief justification)

2. The purposes of the research (objectives)

Activity
Imagine or remember a research study handled by you. You can also work on the following ideas in order to write down your abstract:

“The impact of social networks on students from school…”

“The influence of the Jersey Shore reality show on teenagers’ behavior”

Write an introduction considering the information provided below (two lines). You can follow the example:

The main objective of this article is to discuss and analyze the impact of social networks on education; they can contribute to the creation of
groups of students according to their educational interests, which contributes to the exchange of knowledge and recommendations.

Example: This article provides information about the corn grown in Colombia. In Colombia corn is grown in various agro-ecological conditions of
production. The bagasse is an organic reside resulting from the grinding of sugar cane (Saccharum Officinarum L.), used for the production of
jiggery, which can be used as an amendment and is a soil conditioner, as a rich source of phosphorus, calcium and nitrogen. The aim of the
research was to evaluate the effect of bagasse against the application of other organic sources and chemical fertilization in maize.
Vocabulary that we can use in our introduction:

 Discusses / deals with/analyses/considers/explains/describes/establishes/introduces ….. develops/ presents/provides/

2. METHOD
The method is a procedure, technique, or way of doing the research. It involves:

1. Material: what was used for carrying out the research?

2. Methodology: Answers to the question: how was the research developed?

ACTIVITY: Complete the following activities by using examples from prior knowledge or invent your own. If you have any
doubts, feel free to refer to the example and sample vocabulary listed below the activity.

1. Write the instruments, material and resources that would be used during the research
_For this work, information collection instruments such as the structured survey and interviews were used.
2. Explain the procedure used in the methodology
We began to evaluate the structure of the survey with 10 questions that would be applied to 50 people, the 5 personal questions of the
interview were established, which were applied to 10 people. The information was tabulated and the results determined.__________

Example: For this work, we used a completely random statistical design with four treatments and absolute control was established.

Vocabulary for Materials and Methods/Methods of Approach –

 Describing what was done and how it was done We started by investigating …..
 We designed a new technique for ……
 We used a new approach.
 These experiments were carried out to find out …..
 In order to verify the validity of the ….. method,
 We carried out several experiments.
  All the tests/measurements were carried out at room temperature.
 The (signals) were measured before and after …..
 To illustrate ….., a simulation was performed.
 The ….. analysis was performed in order to …..
 We checked for the presence of …..
 (The chemical structure of …..) was examined by (the ….. technique)
 A gradual change (in temperature) was observed. The increase in ….. was not
caused by/was not due to a decrease in …...

3. RESULTS
The results are the findings and outcomes from the analysis of the data.
The results section should answer the questions: What was found in the research?

Example: the results showed that applying Bagasse +Abimgra produced the greatest number of ears of corn, while the use of only bagasse
presented…

Activity
VOCABULARY FOR RESULTS
Imagine the potential results or data collected from the
Some of the phrases listed under Materials and Methods may also be suitable for the Results section,
application of hypothetical research. Write down the result
e.g. summarizing what was done, referring to diagrams, graphs, etc.
taking into account the information provided (examples and
 It has been found that ….. suggested vocabulary).
 The results showed that …..
 The Thecompatible
results thus obtained are results of the
withsurveys
….. showed that the majority of
 The overall measurement results arebetween
students summarized in Table
15 and II of age approve of the use
25 years
 As mentioned earlier/above,
of social networks in education and confirm that it is an
 The previous sections have shown that …..
excellent tool for the development of educational and class
activities.
4. CONCLUSIONS
The conclusions end the abstract and are arguments and statements based on the results. Concluding sentences can:

 Suggest something.
 Give a final thought or feeling
 Predict something.

ACTIVITY
Example: From the outcome of the investigation it is possible to conclude that
bagasse
Imagine thebecomes
potentialthrough time,
conclusion an important
from optionresearch.
the hypothetical as organicWrite
amendment,
down the
which would favor the production of corn, and an option as organic fertilizer.
concluding sentences (two lines) considering the examples and suggested vocabulary
Vocabulary for drawing conclusions
provided.
 From the research that has been carried
out/done/conducted/performed/undertaken, it is possible to conclude
that …..
 Independent Production:
In this section, we are going to see how much you have learned!
Below you will find an article about engineering. The original article comes with its own abstract, but I would like
you to try and recreate your own abstract after reading the article. Please remember to include all the important
parts of an abstract, which are listed above. Don’t worry if you have a tough time completing the activity, practice
makes perfect and that is what we are here for: to practice!

Introduction

Images shape the way individuals view the world, thus, understanding the image students have of engineers and engineering is extremely important. The public
has an incomplete understanding of engineers and engineering as a profession [1, 2]. In discussions about the public’s understanding of engineers, many
reference the “conventional” stereotype of engineers as train operators [3, 4]. Though this stereotype may exist among students as well as the public, few
investigations to date have focused on students’ ideas about engineers and engineering. The recent introduction of engineering into the K-12 curriculum in
Massachusetts has increased interest among educators in assessing students’ knowledge of engineering. Though we are surrounded by the products of
engineering in our everyday lives, students often don’t understand what engineers do [2]. Few students meet working engineers, thus students’ ideas about
engineering are formed from other sources, such as the media. In his review of the depiction of engineering in popular culture, Vaughan outlined the
degeneration of the image of the engineer in modern society from the heroes depicted in books such as Jules Verne’s Mysterious Island to the modern-day
caricatures in Revenge of the Nerds [5]. The depiction of engineering in the media is unstable and can vary widely depending on what the current headlines say
about emerging technologies.

The image of engineering is also negatively affected by its close association with science [4]. Thus, it is useful to look at the research in science for information
on potential reactions to engineering. Girls and boys develop ideas about science and who is qualified to be a scientist early in their education, often based
largely on messages they receive outside of the school walls [6]. In order to effectively address students’ ideas about science, it is important to understand the
nature of those ideas [7, 8, 9]. Similarly, in order to address students’ ideas about engineering, it is important to understand what ideas students have about
engineering.
The Impact of Images

Images are a powerful form of communication, thus exploring and understanding images has important theoretical and practical implications. Humans create
images in order to make sense of their everyday experiences [10]. A commonly accepted image can become metaphorical, equating one concept with another,
such as “nerd” and “engineer”. Once these images become part of a generally accepted vocabulary of popular culture, they transcend their origins.

While images always maintain some connection to people, places, things, or events, their generative potential in a sense gives them a life of their own, so that we
not only create images, but are also shaped by them. [11] (p. 21)

Though the concepts are theoretical, the implications are concrete. The messages students gather from years of socialization influence their attitudes about
science and math, their self-efficacy beliefs, their choice of coursework, and even their future career plans. Girls begin to form negative attitudes about their
abilities in science, especially physical science, as early as second grade [12]. Sex role stereotypes have negative impacts for both men and women. Men who
choose non traditional careers in nursing and elementary school teaching often are regarded with a critical eye. Similarly, women who continue onto careers in
non-traditional fields such as science and engineering are negatively stigmatized [13]. A student who is interested in engineering but does not want to be
considered a nerd may shy away from expressing her interest to avoid the negative association. Images associated with a field become part of the identity of the
people within that field.

The “Draw a Scientist Test” (DAST) has been widely used to assess students’ attitudes about scientists [7, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28,
29, 30, 31]. To help assess students’ ideas about engineering before intervention, we are developing a “Draw an Engineer Test” (DAET). The purpose of the
survey is to have students describe their knowledge about engineers and engineering through written and drawn responses. The questionnaire contains the
following five questions on one page: “In your own words, what is engineering?”, “What does an engineer do?”, “Draw a picture of an engineer at work.”

Methods

Teachers who work with the Center for Engineering Educational Outreach at Tufts University were asked to have their students fill out the one page
questionnaire as part of an in-class assignment. Teachers were asked to do this at the beginning of the school year, preferably before they began any unit on
engineering. Though specific information on ethnicity and socioeconomic status was not collected as part of this study, demographic information about the
participating schools indicate that this population of students represent a wide range of ethnic and socioeconomic diversity.
Students were given 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire. Respondents were encouraged to write what they thought about engineering and not be
concerned about whether their thoughts were correct. Teachers had the option to have a class discussion about engineering after the questionnaires were
collected.

Written responses to questionnaires were entered into a Microsoft Access database. Pictures were translated into words by the researchers. All responses to
the question were reviewed, and recurring themes were developed into codes. These codes were associated with each response, and queried for basic tallies.
Tallies were translated into percentages using Microsoft Excel.

Discussion

The results of this pilot study indicate that the students in this study have preconceived ideas about engineers and engineering. Many students, especially
younger students, think that engineers use tools to build buildings and fix car engines. Some of the students written responses indicate that this could be a
vocabulary problem. When asked to describe what an engineer does, some students wrote statements such as “Engineer has the word engine in it, so I guess
engineers must work with engines”. Children seem to equate engines with car engines, thus they relate engineers with car mechanics. Similarly, the word
“mechanic” is similar to “mechanical engineer”. Older students are more likely to think that engineers are involved in designing things such as buildings or
machines. When gender characteristics are included in students’ drawings, they are male characteristics, indicating that students think of engineers as men. The
traditional association of engineers with trains was not prevalent in this sample of students.

Student’s images and stereotypes about engineers and engineering are important, since perceptions of careers are closely linked to whether students feel they
can enter into those careers. The image that that all computer science majors are narrowly focused hackers, an image Margolis and Fisher refer to as “geek
mythology”, discourages students from studying computer science [32, 33]. The image of engineering as a “male” profession supports the idea that women can
not “do engineering” [4]; thus, female students are less likely to consider engineering as a career [34]. Perception of ability is important; among college
engineering majors, a student’s perception of her ability plays a more important role in determining persistence in the major than her actual ability [35]. Clearly,
though stereotypes and perceptions are “just beliefs”, they are powerful beliefs, and are worthy of investigation and analysis.

Use the space below, above the sources, to write the abstract for the
following article. Remember to include all the important parts of an abstract.
If you have any questions, refer to the guide and ask your teacher
 Abstract

Little research to date has focused on students' ideas about engineers and engineering. Images are a powerful form of
communication, so exploring and understanding images has important theoretical and practical implications, images associated
with a field become part of the identity of people within that field.

The objective of this article is to determine the conception that engineers have, to help evaluate students' ideas about
engineering, a "Test of drawing an engineer" (DAET) is developed, using a survey instrument where students answer ¿ What does
an engineer do? ?

The methodology used was to review all the answers to the question, and the recurring themes are developed in codes. These
codes are associated with each response and are mentioned in the basic counts.

With the results of this pilot study, it can be concluded that students have preconceived ideas about engineers and engineering,
think that engineers use tools to construct buildings and repair automobile engines, and that engineers are men.

PRESENTED BY: Yeimy Natalia Beltrán López

 Sources:

http://stelar.edc.org/publications/draw-engineer-test-daet-development-tool-investigate-students%E2%80%99-ideas-about-engineers

Writing an abstract Understanding and developing abstracts. The University of Melbourne. Available on:
https://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/471274/Writing_an_Abstract_Update_051112.pdf

Forero, F. E.,Serrano, P, A., & Almanza, P, J. (2014). Efecto de Enmiendas Orgánicas y Fertilización  Química en la Producción de Maíz (Zea Mays L.)
Revista Cultura Científica. No. 12 

https://www.adelaide.edu.au/writingcentre/learning_guides/learningGuide_writingAnAbstract.pdf
http://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0007/471274/Writing_an_Abstract_Update_051112.pdf