CONCLUSIONABSTRACT

COMMON SUBHEADINGS SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS – restate the

important findings IMPLICATIONS OF THE STUDY LIMITATIONS/RESTRICTIONS RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER

RESEARCH (for academic research reports) For more practically oriented reports,

recommendations for action may be appropriate

FINAL REMARKS (IF DESIRED)

Cross check all your conclusions with your research questions/objectives

Make sure all of the research questions and objectives have been answered to the best level (complete and convincing) that your analysis can provide.

Implications VS Significance: What’s the difference

Ensure that ALL the sources you have cited in your entire report are listed in the reference section using a consistent reference style.

Make sure all the information required for full citation in this list is COMPLETE and ACCURATE.

It ain’t finished until it is finished

………………

Your writing must be coherent from beginning to end.

Ch 1 Ch 2 Ch 5

Lastly, write your abstract. See your text book for the general structure of the abstract.

Then compile your whole paper carefully with a table of contents, appendices, and whatever listings that are required by the university.

Identify the sentences that convey information about:

1. Background of the study/related literature2. Research objectives3. Methodology4. Results/findings5. Conclusion 6. Significance of the study7. Limitations8. Implications 9. Suggestions for further research

Reading about energy: The effects of text structure in science learning andconceptual change

Irene-Anna N. Diakidoy,a,* Panayiota Kendeou,band Christos Ioannidesc

a Department of Education, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, CY-1678 Nicosia, Cyprusb Department of Educational Psychology, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, USAc Department of Technology Education, University of Piraeus, Greece

AbstractThe present study investigated the effects of text structure in the acquisition of the conceptof energy and the overcoming of specific preconceptions associated with it. Cypriot sixth-gradestudents read either a simple expository text that presented factual information or a refutationtext that also explicitly addressed two common preconceptions and proceeded to refute them.Both texts were used as adjuncts to the standard science instruction that is typically providedin the Cypriot elementary school. Students who read the refutation text outperformed studentswho read the expository text and students who received standard instruction only. In contrast,the influence of the expository text was negligible and generally comparable to that of standardinstruction. The implications of these results for the instructional use of refutational textstructures were discussed. 2002 Elsevier Science (USA). All rights reserved.

Keywords: Refutation text; Conceptual change; Science learning; Learning from text

IS ENGLISH NEEDED IN A MALAY WORKPLACE?SU-HIE TING

University of QueenslandAbstract

Research has indicated that support staff are less likely to speak English in the workplace (e.g. Morais, 1990; 1998; Nair-Venugopal,1997; Tiong, 1996). The present study examines whether support staff need to use English in a predominantly Malay organisation, and how they cope with the English language demands of the workplace. The questionnaire and interview results show that communicating inEnglish with the public posed a problem for the support staff although the nature of their work did not require them to read or write in English. They found ingenuous ways of coping with the situation, but their work performance was affected. The findings suggest that it is worthwhile to give greater emphasis to the teaching of English oracy skills in school to students who may enter the workforce as supportstaff so that they have a sufficient command of English for basic communication.

RELC Journal 2002; 33; 137DOI: 10.1177/003368820203300108