MAE 202 Writing Guide

A Guide for MAE 202 Reports in Mechanical Engineering

By James Canino, Pavan Karra, Kendall Teichert, and Sarah Young

Fall 2021
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Introduction to this Guide

During this semester, you will complete your MAE 202 design project and write the
accompanying report. Writing is an extremely valuable skill for an engineer. This guide is
intended to help you as you draft sections of your report. You MUST read the section entitled
“Report Writing Essentials.” The rest of the writing guide is set up with the layout of your report
and is to be used as a reference as you write each section.

Report Writing Essentials (Must read before writing)

Various aspects of writing your report are giving here with emphasis on common mistakes.
Areas that have seemed particularly difficult for students will be tagged with a (COMMON
MISTAKE) note. The goal of the report is to communicate what your group accomplishes,
effectively and professionally.

Audiences and Purpose

It is important to understand that your report is meant to be read and understood. There are
several parts of the report that are written for different audiences. Keep these audiences in mind
as you write your report. The types of people that may read your report include:

General Manager: The general manager may have designed systems like this before and is
primarily going to be interested in your technical content as a way to approve the project.

Vice President for Engineering and Production. This person has experience in management
and engineering, and has overseen many projects. Primarily the VP wants a general overview of
what you are doing, how you are doing it, and why. While he can understand the technical details
in the body of your report, he will rely on the general manager to evaluate that in detail.

The Customer. This is a lead at the organization, or an individual, for whom you are developing
your product. What he or she probably will not be is an engineer. The end customer’s primary
interest is in the executive summary, the requirements, and conclusions. However, because real
money is involved, he or she will also want to be able to at least follow the more technical
sections of the report. You need to work to make the entire report as readable and accessible as
possible without sacrificing technical accuracy.

Because many different people will read your report, for a variety of different reasons, you
need to make sure that things are well documented and clearly explained.

Guidelines for Writing

The following are some rules of thumb for drafting the text of your report.
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Voice (Common Mistake)

You should use passive voice: “the motor was selected,” NOT active voice: “we selected the
motor.” As you are editing your reports, if you see “I,” “we,” “us,” or “our,” reword the sentence
to eliminate those pronouns.

Tense

 Use past tense to describe anything you did or discovered while working on this project.
For example, “Ducts without spiral seams were chosen to ensure the airflow exits the
duct with only an axial velocity,” and “A total of 18 butterfly dampers were used within
the flex ducts to help achieve a balanced system.”
 Use present tense to describe anything that was known prior to your work on the
project. For example, “Evacuated tube collectors consist of a series of tubes that are
mounted in parallel. This type of collector is comprised of glass tube casings that
encompass individual pipes in a vacuum.”

Vocabulary and Sentence Structure (COMMON MISTAKE)

Technical writing is about communicating complicated concepts clearly. To accomplish this, use
short sentences, use only necessary, simple vocabulary, and avoid unnecessary repetition.

Paragraphs

You might recall the document design principle of chunking. Chunking is simply breaking
information into small units, or “chunks,” to help your reader understand it more clearly.

Each paragraph of your report is a chunk. It should only include one idea. Whenever you can
break a paragraph, you should. This creates more white space on the page and makes the text
easier to read.

Numbers and data

Stringing many numbers together in a sentence is confusing for most readers. When you must
present many numbers, using short paragraphs and sentences will make the information clearer.

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers suggests the following rules for presenting
numbers:

 Use numerals (1, 2, 3 etc.) when the number is greater than ten.
 Spell out the number (one, two, three, etc.) when it is less than or equal to ten, or when
it is the first word of a sentence.
 In general, try to avoid beginning a sentence with a number or an abbreviation.
 Always abbreviate units of measure.
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Formatting Headings and Subheadings

As you can see from this document, MS Word has a built-in heading and subheading creation
feature that you should utilize. You can find heading formatting options in the “Home” ribbon.

In general, remember:

1. Make your headings descriptive. Headings and subheadings are designed to make your
report easier to read – that is, they should let the reader know what is contained in the
section.
2. Use parallel structure. If one heading is “Justification of Design Decisions” another
should be “Justification of Area Selection,” and NOT “Justifying the Area Selection”
3. Capitalize all major words. Don’t capitalize articles (a, an, the), coordinating
conjunctions (for, and, but, nor, or, yet, so), or prepositions (to, into, in, on, etc.)
4. Don’t include a subheading directly underneath a heading. This is simply
unnecessary.

Integrating Tables and Graphics into Your Report (COMMON MISTAKE)

You may remember from Technical Communication the graphic design principle of proximity.
Proximity simply means that graphics are placed as close to the corresponding text as possible,
so that readers can easily understand their relationship to each other.

There are a few other things to remember to make sure the relationship between text and
graphics is as clear as possible:

 Explain your graphics in the text. Think of graphics as supporting your main argument.
In your text, you want to direct your reader to look at the figure, and then explain what
the figure is showing and how that relates to your argument.
 Refer to figures in the text by number. This report will go through a number of revisions.
It’s likely that tables and figures will not stay in the same place during each draft. Saying
“See Figure 1” is much clearer than “see the figure below.” This format is the accepted
one for technical writing.
 If possible, keep figures on the same page as the explanatory text. See the notes about
proximity at the beginning of this section.
 Label your figures with a title and number. There is no point in listing them in the List
of Figures if your reader can’t find them when they turn to the proper page. Figures are
always labeled under the graphic. An example of an appropriately titled figure is shown
in Figure 1. Additionally, when referencing a figure in the body of the report do not
include the title.
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Figure 1. 2015-16 Basic Utility Vehicle Design from Trine University

 Label your tables with a title and a number. Tables are always label above the table. An
example of an appropriately titled table is shown in Table 1. Additionally, when
referencing a table in the body of the report do not include the title.

Table 1. Selection Matrix for Power Concepts for the 2015-16 AIAA Design Build Fly Project

Citing Sources in Your Report (COMMON MISTAKE)

Just like in English papers, any external sources you use in your text must be cited.

What to Cite:
 Any ideas, quotes, data, or any other matter got from an external source.
 Graphics. If you did not create a particular graphic yourself, it must include a citation.

Citation Style:

You must use Chicago style that uses endnotes rather than parenthetical citations. For help with
citations go to http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/ and search for the citation style you want to
use. You can also bring your paper to the Writing Center at any time.

Every cited source should be identified clearly in the text of your report and refer to complete
bibliographic information in a bibliography or works’ cited page at the end of your report.

Remember a bibliography is not sufficient. You must reference any ideas, quotes, data, picture,
etc. that you have taken from outside sources. If you did not create the content yourself then you
must cite it.
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MAE 202 Sample Report Template

That means use this as a starting point for your report

Team Names

Date Turned in

This page should be a single page, and include the following information:

1) Report name
2) ALL group member names
3) Date submitted (You could put the date the final report will be submitted)

The title page should NOT have a page number on it.

NOTE:

Anything in this document that is colored LIGHT BLUE needs to be updated

Anything in this document that is RED are notes to you but need to be deleted before you turn it
in.
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Abstract (Sometimes called Executive Summary)

The Abstract is placed after the title page and is placed on its own page (that means that you do
not put anything else on this page except the abstract). The page numbering for the front matter
is given in roman numerals and starts with “i” on this page. The title page does not count as a
page in the numbering.

The Abstract is a basic overview of the content and findings of the paper. As such it is generally
written last, after all the findings and work have been done. It should include the following:

 The problem you are addressing and why

 An overview of your proposed design, focusing on information that will be most
important to your audience.
 Final recommendations.

There is no set order in which the information above must appear in the Abstract. A person
should be able to know the basic message of the paper by reading the abstract. The audience for
the abstract is higher management, and others that might want a quick understanding of the key
points of the report.

This should be written and laid out such that it is a few paragraphs, typically a page or less.
There are generally not any subheadings in the Abstract, but just a condensed version of all the
key points of the report (in paragraph form and generally not in a bulleted list).

NOTE: On the next page is the Table of Contents, Table of Figures, and List of Tables. Notice
the formatting. If done right these tables can be automatically generated by Word. If you have
questions on that ask.
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Table of Contents
Abstract (Sometimes called Executive Summary)...........................................................................i
Table of Figures...............................................................................................................................ii
List of Tables...................................................................................................................................ii
Customer Needs and Requirements.................................................................................................1
Design Summary (Design Iteration 1).............................................................................................2
Concept Generation (Design Iteration 1).....................................................................................2
Concept Selection (Design Iteration 1)........................................................................................2
Detailed Design Discussion (Design Iteration 1).........................................................................3
Testing and Validation (Design Iteration 1)................................................................................3
Design Summary (Design Iteration 2).............................................................................................3
Concept Generation (Design Iteration 2).....................................................................................4
Concept Selection (Design Iteration 2)........................................................................................4
Detailed Design Discussion (Design Iteration 2).........................................................................4
Testing and Validation (Design Iteration 2)................................................................................4
Design Summary (Design Iteration 3-Final)...................................................................................4
Concept Generation (Design Iteration 3-Final)...........................................................................4
Concept Selection (Design Iteration 3-Final)..............................................................................4
Detailed Design Discussion (Design Iteration 3-Fianl)...............................................................4
Final Demonstration (Design Iteration 3-Final)...........................................................................4
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................5
Appendix A: Grading Rubrics.........................................................................................................6

Table of Figures
Figure 1. 2015-16 Basic Utility Vehicle Design from Trine University.........................................5

List of Tables
Table 1. Selection Matrix for Power Concepts for the 2015-16 AIAA Design Build Fly Project. .5
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Customer Needs and Requirements

The subsection on customer needs is to explain in some detail, the problem you are trying to
address in the rest of the report.

FALL 2021: For this semester you will include the final group selection matrix for your topic
and describe how the topic was chosen and how the partner organization/company was selected.
Your partner organization is considered your customer. The specific needs for the customer need
to be presented (and will be given in the response letter from the customer/professor)

Once the customer needs are well explained, a subsection describing the requirements that
address those needs will be presented. Remember that requirements need to have three things:

1) Measurable
2) Specific
3) Relate back to customer needs (all customer needs should be accounted for)

Many of the customer needs and technical requirements are given in the project assignment, you
will need to figure out how present them in an organized way, and add any others that are
necessary for your project.

Note: It is not acceptable to simply refer to the assignment or copy and paste the
assignment into your document. You should rephrase the assignment demonstrating that
you fully understand the project requirements.

There are two main reasons for this section:

1. To create a contract between yourself and the customer. In the work world, a problem
description does not come pre-written from a professor. Instead, it grows out of
discussions between you and the customer. It is very important that you document those
conversations and have a clear record of what you and the customer agreed to.
2. To create historical data for the company. You may not stay at a company forever –
it’s likely that you won’t. After individual engineers have moved on to other positions,
folks at a company need to be able to access records of what their predecessors did and
why they did it. Your problem description will become part of that record. That’s why
it’s important to practice writing good ones now.

Your customer needs should be explained in your own words and should not be copied from the
contest rules. You might wonder, “Why do I have to explain the task to my professor since he
wrote the contest rules?” Refer to the two same two reasons listed above.

A Few quick checks:

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1) Did we present our group topic selection matrix and is does the location of it flow
with the text that we wrote (i.e. we didn’t just copy it in and expect the reader to
know what it was without explaining it)?
2) Did we then explain our customer and how the topic relates?
3) Did we write the customer needs in words that the customer would use?
4) Did we translate the customer needs into engineering requirements that are specific,
measurable, and relate back to the customer needs?
5) Did we make sure not to mix up the needs and requirements?
6) Did we include ALL requirements for the project (even including the due date)?

Design Summary (Design Iteration 1)

For each iteration of your design (recall you are required to perform at least 3 iterations) you will
have a Design Summary section. The design summary section will have FOUR SUBSECTIONS:
Concept Generation, Concept Selection, Detailed Design Discussion, and Design Testing and
Validation.

You might be tempted to place the Concept Generation and Selection heading immediately
following the Design summary heading. Resist this urge. You should never have a heading
immediately followed by another heading. Therefore, make sure to start each Design Summary
with an introductory sentence or paragraph.

Concept Generation (Design Iteration 1)

This is a subsection of the Design Summary and is used to explain ALL the different concepts
that were generated for consideration. It may be easiest to break your overall idea into
subsystems, and generate/select concepts for each of those. You MUST have at least 5 different
subsystems/aspects for your overall design and each subsystem/aspect must have at least 3
VIABLE concepts. You may want to include your display area (the props etc.) as one of the
subsystems. For each concept you should include:

1) A description of the concept

2) A figure of the concept (unless it is universally understood what the concept is)
3) A reference IN THE TEXT to the figure BY NUMBER (e.g. blah blah blah as seen in
Figure 3)

A Few quick checks:

1) Did we include 5 different subsystems for our design?

2) Did each subsystem include at least 3 VIABLE concepts?
3) Did we adequately describe each concept?
4) Did we include a picture (even a hand sketch) of any concept that is not universally
known/understood?
5) Are all figures numbered and referenced in the text number (e.g. see figure 1)
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Concept Selection (Design Iteration 1)

This subsection of the Design Summary is used to fully document the reasoning behind the
concepts that are selected. For this class you are required to break your project into several
subsystems. For EACH subsystem, you must include:

1) A description of what parameters you used to develop your selection matrix

2) A description of how you determined your weightings for the selection matrix
3) The selection matrix
4) A short recap of what concept was selected based on the selection matrix

Remember that each figure and table in the report needs to be reference by number in the text
and fully described in the text. Always put the figure or table as soon after the reference to it as
reasonable. NEVER have a table or figure that is not fully explained in the text of your report.
ALWAYS have captions for your figures and tables.

A Few quick checks:

1) Did we include a selection matrix for each subsystem?

2) Did we explain in the text what the selection matrix was before it was presented?
3) Did we explain why we choose the numbers we did (weightings and scoring)?
4) Did we give the final outcome in the text for each matrix?
5) Are all tables numbered, and referenced in the text by that number (e.g. see table 1)
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Detailed Design Discussion (Design Iteration 1)

This subsection is used to fully explain the overall design and construction of the selected
concepts.

 First and foremost, it is critical that you should write several paragraphs discussing the
design and how you plan on manufacturing the design.
 Be sure to include a CAD model and/or a picture of your design from multiple angles.
The reader should be able to fully understand your design from the multiple pictures and
CAD images you present. At least some parts must be presented as a CAD drawing.
 You MUST include the following items in your design summary WITH an appropriate
discussion of each item:
o Usually you would include a full bill of materials in table. For this class give a list
of any non-kit parts fabricated and or purchased with the cost associated. Also
give a count of the “essential structural” kit parts used and the “fabricated” parts
and the percentage fabricated parts.
o An explanation of how this design will satisfy the requirements stated earlier.

A Few quick checks:

1) Did we write about our design, detailed enough that it is clear what is being made
(including how we will manufacture the parts)?
2) Did we include CAD drawings of the parts that were fabricated, and hand drawings
of those still to be CAD drawn?
3) Did we include a “Bill of materials” for purchased and fabricated parts?
4) Did we include a count of the essential structural parts vs. fabricated parts?
5) Did we include a description of how this overall design would meet each of the
requirements discussed in the Needs and Requirements section?
6) Did we include a full picture of the current iteration that clearly shows the current
progress?
7) Did we explain how our design relates back to our message and why we made the
choices we did?

Testing and Validation (Design Iteration 1)

Your superiors want to know that the product you’ve created has been rigorously tested and
meets all applicable design requirements. Testing is used to validate that your design can meet
the requirements and therefore the customer needs. To that end, you must include the following
for EACH test setup that you use:

 An explanation of the test setup

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 The requirements that are to be validated by that test

 The results of the test, and if they are negative, what needs to happen next
 A discussion of requirements that still need to be met
 A sketch or photo of your experimental setup.

As always, make sure that this section is clear and easy to follow. Use headings and subheadings
to divide different sections, and use short paragraphs to ensure that there is optimal white space
on the page.

A Few quick checks:

1) Did we write what tests we were performing and the results of the test such that
someone else could reproduce it if they had our robot?
2) Did we repeat our tests to make sure they were valid?
3) Did we relate each test back to specific Requirements?
4) Did we report what Requirements were met and which still needed to be addressed?
5) Did we show pictures of the testing/test setup so that it is clear what was done?

Design Summary (Design Iteration 2)

This begins the section on the second iteration of your project. This will include changes that
need to be made as a result of the testing from the first design iteration, as well as additional
aspects not yet address. For the second design iteration, again give a brief introduction to the
design summary before moving into the subsections.

Concept Generation (Design Iteration 2)

Concept generation for design iteration 2 will likely be shorter than for design iteration 1.
Include here only major concept changes that you need to make in response to things learned
during design iteration one.

A Few quick checks:

1) Did we explain what would need to be changed from the first design iteration and
why? (e.g. it didn’t work, or it wasn’t included yet)
2) Do we only explain the things that are changed or added? (you don’t need to repeat
things reported earlier in the previous iteration)

Concept Selection (Design Iteration 2)

For each new set of concepts generated, you must include a selection matrix, as discussed in
class, which lists AT LEAST 3 concepts to be compared for that subsystem. Remember to
include the weighting of the various parameters.

A Few quick checks:

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1) IF we had new concepts, did we document those and compare them to appropriate
items from iteration 1 to show our path forward?
2) If we had no major design changes, but are just continuing with fabrication and
testing, do we explain that here and move on?

Detailed Design Discussion (Design Iteration 2)

This subsection will give all the updates to the design that have been made during design
iteration 2. Again, remember to include a written description, CAD models/pictures, bill of
materials, and the percentage of manufactured parts.

Testing and Validation (Design Iteration 2)

The testing and validation section will be similar to design iteration one but with revised and
additional testing. Remember that you are trying to validate that you can meet all the
requirements stated in the beginning of the report.

Design Summary (Design Iteration 3-Final)

For the section design iteration, again introduce the design summary before moving into the
subsections.

Concept Generation (Design Iteration 3-Final)

Concept generation for design iteration 3 will likely be shorter than for design iteration 1 and 2.
Include here only major concept changes that you need to make in response to things learned
during design Iteration one.

Concept Selection (Design Iteration 3-Final)

For each new set of concepts generated, you must include a selection matrix, as discussed in
class, which lists AT LEAST 3 concepts to be compared for that subsystem. Remember to
include the weighting of the various parameters.

Detailed Design Discussion (Design Iteration 3-Fianl)

This subsection will give all the updates to the design that have been made during design
iteration 3. Again, remember to include a written description, CAD models/pictures, bill of
materials, and the percentage of manufactured parts.

Final Demonstration (Design Iteration 3-Final)

Here give an overview of the final demonstration. Explain what requirements were met and what
requirements, if any, were not met.

Conclusion:
The conclusions section is a chance to give a brief recap of all that was talked about and the
overall findings for the project. A few points to remember are:
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 No additional information should be introduced in the conclusion. Think of it as a

condensed version of your most important findings for a very busy boss.
 State clearly whether or not you have achieved your aim. If you have not achieved your
aim clearly, state why and what future advancements might make it possible to achieve
your aim.
 Discuss what modifications you would make to your design if you had more time and
money.
 While a design report in industry would not necessarily contain what you have learned,
although it might, this is the one place where we make room for academia. Part of the
academic purpose of this section is for you to reflect on your work. What do you know
now that you wish you would have known at the start of the project? What advice would
you give to future MAE 202 students?

References:
See the section on Citing Sources in Your Report for more information on correctly citing your
references. Again, a bibliography is NOT sufficient, you must give the citations in the text.
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Appendix A: Grading Rubrics

Appendices can be added to provide additional information that the reader my find useful but is
not critical to the report. For example, data sheets for instruments, computer code, or other
supplemental material (e.g. a flyer, or handout that was used in the presentation). Here the
grading rubric is included, although this would not be included you’re your report

Grading Rubric
A rubric is a document that explains how you will be graded. Your paper will be graded on 7
different criteria. These criteria are the bolded table titles shown below. For example, you will be
graded on the Customer Needs/Requirements criteria of your report. Each criteria of the report
will be grade on 4 levels of performance: Excellent (E), Satisfactory (S), Poor (P), and
Unacceptable (U). The levels of performance are graded out of 5 points. So, you earn 4/5 points
(and 80%) if you receive an S level of performance.

CUSTOMER NEEDS AND REQUIRMENTS: Are the customer needs and requirements
complete and well documented? _______/10%

E (5/5) 1) Customer needs are fully described

2) The customer needs are appropriate for the project
3) Requirements are derived from the customer needs and are measurable
4) The requirements are complete. No other requirements would be necessary to justify
design selections
S (4/5) One of items outlined for an “E” are not completely described or the requirements are not
measurable
P (3/5) Two of the items outlined for an “E” are not completely described or one item is missing
U (0/5) You have failed to meet the minimum requirements for a “P,” outlined above. There are
serious and pervasive errors. Talk to your instructor immediately.
CONCEPT GENERATION: Were multiple concepts investigated for all major subsystems?
__/10%

E (5/5) At least three feasible concepts were generated and well documented for all major
subsystem
S (4/5) At least three feasible concepts were generated and well documented for most (>80%)
subsystem
P (3/5) At least three feasible concepts were generated and well documented for the majority
(>60%) of subsystem
U (0/5) You have failed to meet the minimum requirements for a “P,” outlined above. There are
serious and pervasive errors. Talk to your instructor immediately.
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CONCEPT SELECTION: Are strong justifications provided for all selected concepts?
_______/10%

E (5/5) Concepts are selected based on good engineering judgment which is related back to your
design requirements or customer needs. The reason for selecting a particular subsystem or
component is discussed in detail. Relative weights in concept selection matrices are justified
and are reasonable. Selection Matrices are well formatted.
S (4/5) Concepts are selected based on good engineering judgment which is related back to your
design requirements or customer needs. The explanation of the selection is poor leaving your
technical manager with the impression that things were done correctly, but without
assurances.
P (3/5) One or two of the subsystems concepts selected are not appropriate. Your technical manager
will have to override your design section(s) and require you to redo part of your design, or
considerably improve your documentation.
U (0/5) You have failed to meet the minimum requirements for a “P,” outlined above. There are
serious and pervasive errors. Talk to your instructor immediately.
DETAILED DESIGN: Was the final design presented fully, and accurately? _______/20%

E (5/5) 1. Each design is discussed in detail with references to appropriate figures that contain
CAD drawings of your design.
2. Bill of materials is provided for each design.
3. A discussion of how Your design relates to your message.
S (4/5) Each design is discussed with references to appropriate figures that contain CAD drawings
of your design but not to the requested level of detail. A cost breakdown and bill of materials
is provided for each design. The required design calculations are included but have a
minor technical error.
P (3/5) Two of the four elements listed for an “E” are missing.
U (0/5) You have failed to meet the minimum requirements for a “P,” outlined above. There are
serious and pervasive errors. Talk to your instructor immediately.
TESTING AND VALIDATION: Was the design tested in such a way as to prove that all
customer needs and requirements have been met? _______/20%

E (5/5) 1) Testing has shown that all requirements have been met
2) Testing data is presented in a meaningful form so that an expert will be able to verify
your claim that the requirements have been met
3) The data is reduced correctly and compared to your theoretical calculations
4) The tests are well described such that an expert could reproduce the test if required
(Note this is not the same that as the test procedure. Think of this as a summary of how
the tests performed.)
5) The test procedures are included in the document (these should be in an appendix, not
the body of the report.)
S (4/5) One of the 5 elements listed for an “E” are missing or poorly explained/done or the testing
validated >80% of the design requirements
P (3/5) Two of the 5 elements listed for an “E” are missing or poorly explained/done or the testing
validated > 50% of the design requirements
U (0/5) You have failed to meet the minimum requirements for a “P,” outlined above. There are
serious and pervasive errors. Talk to your instructor immediately.
Writing: Is the report well written? _______/30%
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E (5/5) There are virtually no errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and/or word choice.
Sentences are simple, direct, clear, and concise. Sections are extremely well adapted
to its audience, obviously taking into account their reasons for reading and their level
of expertise. Document is professionally designed. Front matter, headings, and
subheadings are well designed and help the reader understand the organization of the
report. Related information is placed as close together as possible. All figures and
graphics are labeled and (if necessary) cited appropriately. All figures and graphics
are explained thoroughly in the text and referenced by title.
S (4/5) There are few errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and/or word choice.
Sentences are simple, clear, and concise with only a few lapses. The sections are
well adapted to its non-expert audience, with a few lapses. Document makes a strong
attempt at professional design. Front matter, headings, and subheadings are well
designed and help the reader understand the organization of the report, with only a
few lapses. Short paragraphs create good white space on the page. Related
information is placed close together, with a few lapses. Figures and graphics are
almost always labeled and (if necessary) cited appropriately. Figures and graphics are
almost always explained in the text and referenced by title.
P (3/5) There are a number of noticeable errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, and/or
word choice which do not interfere with understanding. There are frequent awkward
constructions, overly wordy sentences, and/or repetitious phrasings. A non-expert
audience will have serious difficulty understanding the section. It is frequently
confusing, convoluted, and unclear. Document attempts professional design. Front
matter, headings, and subheadings are present and sometimes helpful for
understanding organization. There is an attempt to use fonts, font sizes, and styles to
signal levels of importance, though there is much room for improvement. Related
information is sometimes placed close together, though there are a number of
mistakes (i.e. headings appear alone at the bottom of a page or a graph is explained
on a different page than the one on which it appears). Figures and graphics are
sometimes labeled and (if necessary) cited appropriately. Some graphics and figures
are explained in the text and/or referenced by title.

U (0/5) You have failed to meet the minimum requirements for a “Poor,” outlined above.
There are serious and pervasive errors. Talk to your instructor, your writing liaison or
a Writing Center consultant immediately