WEEK 3: BLENDED LEARNING 1

Information Retrieval
& Management
Task 1: Proposing Title of Report

a. You are to produce one (1) research topic which is problem-based to your lecturer online
b. Search for at least 5 appropriate online articles (journal articles, e-books etc.) to serve as supporting evidence
and to be used as previous studies in your proposal.

Task 2: Testing Knowledge and Familiarity of Language Used in Report Writing Learnt in WEEK 2

a. To reinforce the knowledge that you have acquired in Week 2, you are to read online articles given at the following
links.
b. Answering questions related to the use of tenses in various components in a report in Practice 1 (Appendix 1)
Useful links:
https://www.unlv.edu/sites/default/files/page_files/27/GradCollege-erbTenseScientificManuscripts.pdf

http://services.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/471294/Using_tenses_in_scientific_writing_Update_051112.pdf

http://berks.psu.edu/sites/default/files/campus/VerbTense_Handout.pdf

http://www.sussex.ac.uk/skillshub/?id=373
 WEEK 5: BLENDED LEARNING 2

Survey Questionnaire Development: Writing Effective Items

Task 1: Practising Writing Survey Questionnaire Items (Group Work)

a. Study the article entitled ‘Constructing Survey Questionnaires’ at the following link
https://opentextbc.ca/researchmethods/chapter/constructing-survey-questionnaires/

b. Attempt Question 2 in the Exercise Box at the bottom of the article.

c. Discuss your answers via online communication with your lecturer.

All the Best!

 WEEK 9: BLENDED LEARNING 3

Presenting the Findings

Task 1: Present /Report and Interpret Results (Group Work)

a. Download and study the article entitled ‘Reporting Research Findings’ at the following link:
www.nus.edu.sg/celc/research/books/cwtuc/chapter04.pdf.

b. Write one result/ finding of your study and interpret the result/ finding using the similar language structure as found in
the article. Once done, post it via online forum for immediate feedback from your lecturer.

Task 2: Discuss Results/ Findings

a. Go to RMIT University Learning Lab at the following link:

https://emedia.rmit.edu.au/learninglab/content/resultsdiscussion#custom-collapse-0-discussion.

b. Study the sample on how to write discussion of findings as shown in the article.

c. Write one discussion of your finding. Once done, post it via online forum for immediate feedback from your lecturer.
Appendix 1

Week 3: Blended Learning 1, Task 2

Practice 1

This task aims to ensure a full understanding of language used in a report. Discuss your answers with your lecturer in the next class.
Please provide correct tenses/ appropriate reasons in the Answers Column:

No. Questions Answers

1. The verb tense chosen for the abstract should be based on the section of the text to which each (1)
sentence corresponds.
a. What are the three most commonly tenses used to produce the abstract?
(2)

(3)

2. What tense do we use when we want to describe details in Background of the Study?

3. Why do we use the present tense when we refer to figures and tables in the report?

4. What tense do we use when we write the Methodology Section?

5. Why do we normally use the passive voice in the Methodology Section?

6. Sometimes two tenses can be found within the same sentence: “Because no enzymatic
activity was detected [past tense] in the absence of magnesium, our results indicate
[present tense] that magnesium is [present tense] absolutely required. Why is the present
tense appropriate to be used in the second part of the sentence?
Please go to the following links to find the answers:
https://www.unlv.edu/sites/default/files/page_files/27/GradCollege-erbTenseScientificManuscripts.pdf
http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/general/lit-reviews/3.2.xml
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/skillshub/?id=373
http://services.unimelb.edu.au/__.../Using_tenses_in_scientific_writing_Update_051112.pdf

Another useful link: Academic Phrasebank - The University of Manchester at http://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk