Tips on how to write an extract.

Submitting extracts is compulsory. Abstracts will be assessed on a pass/fail basis. You are asked to
write the extract in 4 parts (4 deadlines). Extracts should be submitted on Nestor as typed or hand-
written document (as you prefer)

Below you will find an example of an abstract summarizing three pages of textbook.

Very important when writing the abstract is to structure it: provide small headings (such as
“experiment involves”; “nomenclature” etc. under which different parts fall. This helps you
understand how different things relate to each other and how the material is structured. I would
recommend to use indentation (as in the example below) to have this structure reflected in the lay-
out of your extract.

Note that you need not (and indeed should not) write complete sentences and paragraphs. So do not
copy sentences from the book (except for definitions), but use your own condensed sentences.

It is highly recommended to draw pictures (a good picture says more than a thousand words). Draw
these yourself (drawing and writing promote memorizing and you are much more aware of the
details when you draw / write these yourself).

Do not underestimate how much time it take to write an extract. From my student days I recall that
10-15 book pages per day is as much as I could manage. So when planning your studies: count the
number of pages in the book and divide it over the number pages you can do per day…

On the positive side: once the extract is written you will find you will have understood and
memorized most of the material already, so preparing for the exam then requires a much much
smaller effort!

Please submit your extract as a single pdf file, if possible. There are online tools to merge separate
files (for example https://smallpdf.com/). You can also paste the files/pictures in word and save the
document as pdf.

Good luck!

Sijbren

SEE NEXT PAGE FOR AN EXAMPLE OF AN EXTRACT