BIOL10010: FAQs for the Written Practical Report

BIOL10010: Written Practical Report –

Frequently Asked Questions, with answers

Further information regarding the Written Practical Report can be

found on Canvas (see below).

Contents
Where do I start? .............................................................................................................................. 2
Where do I find instructions? ........................................................................................................... 2
Where do I find the Resources? ...................................................................................................... 2
Where do I find the data? ................................................................................................................. 2
Developing a coherent report .......................................................................................................... 3
Hypothesis / Aim ............................................................................................................................... 3
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Methods / Materials .......................................................................................................................... 3
How to structure the Methods section ............................................................................................. 4
Presenting the data........................................................................................................................... 5
Interpreting the Results .................................................................................................................... 5
Do your findings agree with previous studies? ............................................................................... 6
Implications of findings ..................................................................................................................... 6
Appropriate literature ........................................................................................................................ 7
Finding appropriate literature – conducting a literature search .................................................... 7
In-text citations .................................................................................................................................. 8
Referencing ....................................................................................................................................... 8
Word count ........................................................................................................................................ 8
General advice ...................................................................................................................................... 9
Writing concisely ............................................................................................................................... 9
Need more guidance? .................................................................................................................. 9
Becoming motivated and making progress on your assignment ................................................ 10
Plan .............................................................................................................................................. 10
Yet to start? ................................................................................................................................. 10

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BIOL10010: FAQs for the Written Practical Report

Where do I start?

The Written Practical Report builds on Practical 2; you will need to revisit Practical 2 to
complete the Written Practical Report.
To make a start:
• access the Instructions and Marking Rubric on the Practical Report Canvas
page (available on the BIOL10010 Canvas page: Assignment / Practical Report).
• watch the videos ‘Using data’, ‘Plotting data using Excel’, ‘Writing scientifically’,
‘Referencing’ on the Practical 2 – Practical Report Canvas page (available on
the BIOL10010 Canvas page: Modules / Week 4 / Practical 2 – Practical Report,
or navigate to the Practical 2 page and click ‘Next’ at the bottom of the page).
• revisit the Practical 2 page and your practical notes.
• read the questions posted by students (and answered by members of the
BIOL10010 teaching team) on Campuswire.

Where do I find instructions?

The Instructions and Marking Rubric are available under Assignment / Practical
Report on the BIOL10010 Canvas page.

Where do I find the Resources?

The Resources – e.g., Instructional videos, and ‘Writing Science Laboratory Reports’ –
are available under Modules / Practical 2 – Practical Report, or navigate to the Practical
2 page and click ‘Next’ at the bottom of the page.

Where do I find the data?

You will collect the data using Virtual Biology Lab; refer to the notes for Practical 2 (see
the Practical 2 Canvas page), especially the section guiding you to complete the
relevant activity. As you finalise your data, remember to refer to the notes from
Practical 2, and the Marking Rubric and the Instructions (available on the
BIOL10010 Canvas page: Assignment / Practical Report).

You need to decide which data to include. To help you to decide,

1. Return to your Aim / Hypothesis.
You should select data that allows you to address your Aim, and test your
Hypothesis. See the video titled ‘Using data’ (available under Modules / Practical
2 – Practical Report).

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2. Follow the Instructions and Rubric (available on the BIOL10010 Canvas page:
Assignment / Practical Report).
The Marking Rubric states how the assignment will be assessed, and you will
need to select data to be able to answer the Discussion questions.

Developing a coherent report

Scientific reports should have a narrative; the ideas or themes should flow through all
sections of the report. The Introduction should introduce the 'problem' – what was
studied and why is this important? – and finish with an Aim / Hypothesis.

From here, everything should relate to the Aim / Hypothesis. The Methods should
outline the materials and approach used to test the Aim / Hypothesis, the Results
should present findings that address the Aim / Hypothesis, and the Discussion should
explain the findings considering the Aim / Hypothesis.

When assessing your work, we will check that the Aim / Hypothesis is clearly stated and
that the report addresses this Aim / Hypothesis. For more support see the video titled
‘Writing Scientifically’ (available under Modules / Practical 2 – Practical Report).

Hypothesis / Aim

You need to pose an Aim / Hypothesis.

A Hypothesis is what we will test, and your Hypothesis statement should be testable
and include a prediction. An Aim is what we hope to achieve – what will we learn from
our study/experiment? See the video titled ‘Using data’ (available under Modules /
Practical 2 – Practical Report) for further support.

Introduction

The Introduction should introduce the ‘context’; think about the big picture and present
this to readers. Next, introduce the 'problem' – what was studied and why is this
important? – and finish the Introduction with your specific Aim / Hypothesis. As you
introduce the context and problem, use scientific literature (i.e., journal articles or
‘papers’) to support your claims and acknowledge this this work using in-text citations.

Methods / Materials

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Readers should be able to use your Methods to repeat the study. As accurately as you
can, report the methods that you used and use sufficient detail so someone can use the
same approach. A very small number of marks is awarded to the Methods (see the
Marking Rubric), so provide the necessary detail (see the Instructions) whilst minimising
the number of words that you use.

To write a concise Methods, you may choose to refer readers to the Practical 2 notes,
instead of outlining the steps taken (e.g., ‘To conduct this study, I used the approach
outlined in Practical 2: Activity 2…’). If you use this approach, remember to include an
in-text citation and add the Practical manual to the Reference list. You should also
describe the specific approach that you used: the genotype you selected against and
the relative fitness. In the Methods, describe that you used the Virtual Biology Lab
website to conduct the experiment; remember to include an in-text citation and add the
details of the website to the Reference list too. Instructions and the Marking Rubric are
available on the BIOL10010 Canvas page: Assignment / Practical Report. Refer to
Practical 2: Activity 4 to see the appropriate experimental approach. Use Re:cite or
https://library.unimelb.edu.au/recite to see how to appropriately reference the practical
manual and website. Information about referencing can also be found on the
BIOL10010 Canvas page under Modules / Library Resources.

How to structure the Methods section

In scientific reports, we report the method and materials using full sentences. Your
Methods section might be several sentences long; try to be as concise as possible,
whilst describing the method and materials so the study can be repeated. To see the
typical approach used, refer to a Methods section in a published scientific article. You
will find, the author(s):
• use past tense,
• use full sentences,
• describe / name the materials used within the sentences (not as a list, as you
might see in a recipe),
• provide specific, but not too much, detail about the approach used.

Before writing the Methods, check the Instructions. If limited marks are attributed to
writing out the method, keep the Methods very brief and use the word count towards
other sections (see the Marking Rubric and Instructions, available under on the
BIOL10010 Canvas page: Assignments / Practical Report). See Methods/Materials
above for some specific guidance.

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Presenting the data

In science, we only present a given data set once, either as a Figure or Table. Choose
if a Figure or Table best represents and summarises your Data. Please refer to the
videos titled ‘Using Data’ and ‘Plotting data using Excel’ for guidance (available under
Modules / Practical 2 – Practical Report), and the Instructions (especially the section
‘Task description’) and Marking Rubric (available on the BIOL10010 Canvas page:
Assignment / Practical Report). The Rubric outlines how your work (including the
Results) will be assessed.

Data should be selected to address, and presented in a way to reflect, your Aim /
Hypothesis. The videos (described above) will assist you to do this.

Interpreting the Results

When presenting the Results, interpret the data in response to your Aim / Hypothesis;
keep your Aim / Hypothesis in mind. Refer to the Instructions (especially the section
‘Task description’) and Marking Rubric (available on the BIOL10010 Canvas page:
Assignment / Practical Report).

When we conduct a statistical test, e.g., a chi-square analysis, we need to consider the
p-value* to interpret the results. This will help us to address the Results criterion in the
Rubric.

If the p-value is less than 0.05 (or p < 0.05), the results are significantly different. We
need to summarise our results in a sentence (or two), e.g., ‘There was a significant
difference in x between A and B (χ2 = [include your chi-square value here], df = [include
your degrees of freedom here], p = [include your p-value or range of p-values here]; Fig
1).’ In this statement, x is the phenomenon we are testing, and A and B are the two
groups we are comparing. You might need to change the phrasing to reflect your
experimental design. ‘Fig 1’ refers readers to the relevant figure, in this case Figure
number 1.

If p < 0.05 for the Written Practical Report, we reject the null hypothesis that the
population is in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium.

If the p-value is greater than 0.05 (or p > 0.05), the results are not significantly different.
We need to summarise our results in a sentence (or two): ‘There was no significant
difference in x between A and B (χ2 = [include your chi-square value here], df = [include
your degrees of freedom here], p = [include your p-value or range of p-values here]; Fig
1).’ In this statement, x is the phenomenon we are testing, and A and B are the two
groups we are comparing. You might need to change the phrasing to reflect your

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BIOL10010: FAQs for the Written Practical Report

experimental design. ‘Fig 1’ refers readers to the relevant figure, in this case Figure
number 1.

If p > 0.05 for the Written Practical Report, we accept the null hypothesis that the
population is in Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium.

By including the chi-square value, df, and p in brackets, readers can reconstruct the
results table; there is no need to include a table showing your workings. By including
the p-value we provide evidence for our claim: that the two scenarios that we are
comparing are significantly different or not significantly different.

*The p-value relates to a probability. If p < 0.05, there is a very small probability (i.e.,
less than 5% chance) that what we observe is due to random chance; what we
observed is likely a true effect or difference, and that the groups/scenarios we tested
are statistically different. If p > 0.05, there is a very high probability (i.e., more than 5%
chance) that what we observed is due to random chance. It is unlikely that there is a
difference; the groups/scenarios we tested are statistically the same. Above, we
provide suggested phrasing to describe each of these scenarios; you are welcome to
adapt the appropriate statement for your Results.

Do your findings agree with previous studies?

You will address this question in the Discussion (see the Instructions available on the
BIOL10010 Canvas page: Assignment / Practical Report). In the Discussion, you need
to answer the Discussion questions (see the Instructions), and briefly summarise the
key findings (i.e., what did the data show?). You will then interpret the Results, using
the findings of other studies / research.

From readings scientific articles, what did you learn? Did this research find a similar or
different result to you? How did they explain their results? Try to use these arguments
or this evidence to explain your Results. This is how you will address: 'do your findings
agree with previous studies?'. You may decide to address this when answering the
Discussion questions.

Implications of findings

The way you answer the Implications of findings question will depend on your (1) Aim /
Hypothesis and/or interpretation of the (2) Results. In the Conclusion, you should
address: ‘how does selection enhance the effects of other forces of microevolution?’
Refer to the Instructions (available on the BIOL10010 Canvas page: Assignment /
Practical Report).

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BIOL10010: FAQs for the Written Practical Report

Appropriate literature

For the Written Practical Report, read and cite published journal articles (‘papers’ or
‘scholarly articles’). Reword what is presented in these scientific articles - use your own
words - and include in-text citations (see the Instructions available under Assignment /
Practical Report, and Library Resources available under Modules on the BIOL10010
Canvas page). You will cite relevant scientific articles in the Introduction and
Discussion.

Use two or more journal articles ('papers') as references. If you can, cite journal articles
- primary sources - instead of books - secondary sources. Be sure to meet the
referencing criteria (see the Rubric, available on the BIOL10010 Canvas page:
Assignment / Practical Report).

Finding appropriate literature – conducting a literature search

Databases facilitate efficient literature searches. Web of Science is a platform for

searching different databases by providing quick, powerful access to the world’s leading
citation databases. It allows access to over 20,000 of the highest impact journals
worldwide, including Open Access journals, conference proceedings and book data.
You will find current and retrospective coverage in a number of areas including the
sciences.

You can access Web of Science here:

https://cat.lib.unimelb.edu.au/record=e1000043~S31. This link will ask you to sign in;
login as a student first. You can search specific Titles / Authors, or conduct a more
general search via Topics. It may take some time before you find appropriate search
terms that will return relevant journal articles; keep trying. You can also access Web of
Science from the Library homepage: https://library.unimelb.edu.au/.

For help using Web of Science, use Library Resources under Modules on the
BIOL10010 Canvas page, or visit the Tutorial 2 Canvas page – we made a video to
guide you to find a journal article on reclassification using Web of Science. Apply a
similar approach to find relevant literature for your Written Practical Report.

You may choose to use Google Scholar, but Web of Science will provide a more
comprehensive search. Once you are logged in to the Library page, you will have
greater access to articles in Google Scholar. Use Google Scholar after Web of Science.

If you accessed Library Resources (see above) and still have difficulty conducting a
literature search, please speak with a librarian via 'ask a librarian' chat during working

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hours. The ‘Ask a librarian’ chat window is available at the bottom of this page:
https://library.unimelb.edu.au/contact_the_library.

In-text citations

When we present an idea or material, in-text citations allow us to acknowledge the

author(s) and/or the source of the material.

You will need to conduct a literature search, i.e., read published journal articles
('papers') that address the topic. Start by reading the Abstract. If the content presented
in the Abstract seems relevant, download the article and read further. Rephrase any
relevant information in your own words and use in-text citations in your Written Practical
Report.

You will include information from scientific articles in the Introduction, to provide
background for the study and to introduce the ‘problem’, and in the Discussion, to help
to answer the Discussion questions and when explaining your Results (e.g., what did
previous research find? Did this research produce similar or different results compared
with our study?).

See Library Resources for guidance on using in-text citations and Instructions for the
format required. (Library Resources are available under Modules on the BIOL10010
Canvas page, and the Instructions are available on the BIOL10010 Canvas page:
Assignment / Practical Report.)

Referencing

Any in-text citations need to be summarised at the end of the document in a list of
references (‘References’). The list of references needs to be formatted in a specific way
and according to the type of referencing used (e.g., APA). See Instructions for more
information, and Library Resources for guidance. (Library Resources are available
under Modules on the BIOL10010 Canvas page, and the Instructions are available on
the BIOL10010 Canvas page: Assignment / Practical Report.)

Word count

You need to adhere to the word limit (see the Rubric, available on the BIOL10010
Canvas page: Assignment / Practical Report). A few things do not count towards the
word count: in-text citations, the reference list, tables (should you include one), axes
labels and titles in figures, and table headers and figure captions. In science, it is best

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to write as concisely as possible. For this BIOL10010 Written Practical Report you will
not be penalised for writing less, as long as the criteria (see the Rubric) are addressed.

General advice

Writing concisely

As scientists, we strive to write clearly and concisely to (1) maintain a reader's interest
and (2) communicate effectively, as writing underpins our success in many ways, e.g.,
grants/funding applications to receive money to conduct our research, written abstracts
to be selected to present our research at conferences, and journal articles - so our work
is accepted and we have a wider/global scientific readership.

Writing well is not easy and not enjoyed by many (ask most tutors, demonstrators and
academics!), but is such an important skill. Here are some tips on writing concisely:
• Write in the active voice.
• Write a document twice as long, and then cut it back. Include only what is
essential and exclude anything the report can do without. Editing works best
when you step back from your work (e.g. have a day or two's break from writing,
or a tea/coffee break when you're working to a tight deadline) and can review
your work subjectively.
• Try to be as specific as possible. In doing so, we use fewer words and get our
point across concisely. When editing your work, ask yourself: how, why? This
will often flag any points that need expanding. Some of this is a matter of
practice – writing and editing your own work – and some of it is familiarity with
the content – the more confident we are, the better we can judge what we must
include. As you progress through your undergraduate training, confidence in
subject matter will come from reading journal articles.
More generally, read and write as much as possible; we all improve with practice. Read
journal articles, news articles, novels, ... anything and do it frequently.

Need more guidance?

Academic Skills is a free university service that provides assistance regarding writing
(and many other things too). Resources are available from their website:
https://students.unimelb.edu.au/academic-skills.

Jan Pechenik has written a great book - 'A short guide to writing about biology' - which
may help. There are many editions, and some are available from the library.

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Becoming motivated and making progress on your assignment

Plan

Planning is really important and holds us accountable for our progress. If you are yet to
create a plan, do it now or set 5 minutes aside to make a plan today .

Yet to start?

1. Access the Instructions and Marking Rubric, see Assignments / Practical Report.
2. Write your Aim / Hypothesis.
Consult the Rubric and Instructions in Canvas: Assignments / Practical Report.
Hint: the Discussion questions and the Rubric will help you to select data.
3. Write your Methods.
Consult the Rubric and Instructions in Canvas: Assignments / Practical Report.
4. Prepare your Results.
Consult the Rubric and Instructions in Canvas: Assignments / Practical Report,
and watch the videos (see Modules / Practical 2 – Practical Report, or navigate
to the Practical 2 page and click ‘Next’ at the bottom of the page). Hint: the
Discussion questions and the Rubric will help you to select data.

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