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Communicating in Geography
and the Environmental Sciences Third
Edition Iain Hay. Oxford
University Press, Melbourne. 2006. ISBN 978019551 7613 |
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Communicating in Geography
and the Environmental Sciences is a comprehensive source of
information on presentation skills for students of geography and the
environmental sciences. Chapters outline the ‘whys’ and ‘hows’ of essays,
research and laboratory reports, reviews, summaries, annotated
bibliographies, maps, figures, tables, posters, examinations, and talks. This
revised second edition includes new material on writing media releases and
revisions that reflect changed technology. The chapter on citing sources has
been revised substantially to offer guidance on dealing with electronically
based resources. There is also new material on passing online exams. Other
chapters have been revised to update, clarify, and simplify their messages,
but the general structure and tone of the first edition has been maintained.
Most chapters have been written around a four-part framework. First, the
means of communication is explained by answering such questions as ‘why
prepare a poster?’ or ‘why write a media release?’ This section is followed
by a broad conceptual statement of the key features assessors seek when
marking a particular form of communication. How to communicate effectively is
dealt with in the third part. A checklist of assessment criteria forms the
fourth and final part of most chapters. This book was written to provide
students with an insight into the expectations of the people for whom they
will be writing essays, giving talks, and drawing figures, enabling them to
prepare better work than might otherwise have been possible. |
Contents
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List
of figures |
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List
of tables |
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Acknowledgements |
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Introductory
comments |
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1 Writing an essay |
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Why write? |
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How do you write a good essay? |
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What are your essay markers looking for? |
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Quality of argument |
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Quality of evidence |
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Use
of supplementary material |
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Written expression and presentation |
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Sources/referencing |
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The matter of scholarship |
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2 Writing a repor |
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Why write a report? |
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What are report readers looking for? |
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General layout of a report |
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Preliminary material |
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Introduction – why did you do this study? |
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Materials and methods – how did you do this study? |
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Results – what did you find out? |
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Discussion
and conclusion – what do the findings mean? |
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References |
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Appendices |
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Written expression and presentation |
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Language of the report |
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Presentation |
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Writing a laboratory report |
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Setting out a laboratory report |
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3 Writing an annotated bibliography, summary
or review |
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Preparing an annotated bibliography |
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What
is the purpose of an annotated bibliography? |
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What
is the reader of an annotated bibliography looking for? |
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Writing a summary or précis |
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What
is the reader of a summary or précis looking for? |
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Writing a review |
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What
are your review markers looking for? |
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Some
examples of reviews |
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4 Writing a media release |
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Why write for the media? |
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What is a media release and what are users of
media releases looking for? |
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Targetting your release |
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Writing a media release |
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Media release format |
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Sending the media release |
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Doing an interview |
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Following up |
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Concluding comments |
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5 Preparing a poster |
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Why prepare a poster? |
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What are your poster markers looking for? |
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Designing your poster |
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Text |
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Colour |
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Tables, figures and photos |
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Acknowledging sources |
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6
Communicating with figures and tables |
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Why communicate graphically? |
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General guidelines for clear graphic
communication |
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Different types of graphs |
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Scattergrams |
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Line
graphs |
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Bar
charts |
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Histograms |
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Population pyramids or age-sex pyramids |
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Circle or pie charts |
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Logarithmic graphs |
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Tables |
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Elements of a table |
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7 Making a map |
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Elements of a map |
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Different types of maps |
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Dot
maps |
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Proportional circle maps |
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Choropleth maps |
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Isoline maps |
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8 Preparing and delivering a talk |
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Why are public speaking skills important? |
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Preparing to give a talk |
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Establishing the context and goals |
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Organising the material for presentation |
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Structuring your talk |
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Preparing your text and aids to delivery |
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Rehearsing |
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Final points of preparation |
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Delivering your talk |
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Coping with questions |
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9 Coping with exams |
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Why have exams? |
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Types of exam |
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Preparing for an exam |
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Sitting exams: techniques for passing written
exams |
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Specific advice for multiple-choice exams |
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Specific advice for oral exams |
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Specific advice for 'open book' exams |
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Specific advice for 'take home' exams |
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10 Referencing
and language |
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Glossary |
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References |
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Index |
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