Writing

Learning to write and articulate what you have learned and accomplished is an essential skill that I wish to reinforce in two ways this semester.  At the end of each workshop you will be asked to write a half page summary of what you have learned and the impact that it has on hydrologic modeling.  You will then use this information to write a 7-10 page summary at the end of what you have learned about GIS and hydrologic modeling, lumped parameter modeling with HMS, quasi-distributed modeling with HMS, and physically based modeling with GSSHA.  The intended audience is your immediate supervisor who you can assume understands hydrology, but not the modeling tools you will be learning

The second paper will summarize the team modeling study of your choice.  Both papers will be due at the end of the semester.

These are the major areas and weights I generally give to written papers.

Ideas and Originality(50%)

Focus on clear, interesting, accurate information or details.  Keep it simple and support your ideas with appropriate experimentation.  Your project/paper should have a focus and develop an important idea or point about modeling.  You should provide some kind of insight to your reader.

Organization (10%)

Make sure that your writing has effective beginnings and endings and a logical sequence of ideas.  Take a little time to make sure that your paper flows logically.

Word choice (10%)

Use language effectively so that your writing adds to the focus or point and effectively carries the intended message.  Avoid over use of words like "very."  Review your paper and make sure that the language is correct and powerful.  Don't be afraid to break out a thesaurus and search for new words which may carry more impact in your writing.

Graphics (15%)

Use appropriate graphics to give meaning to your report.  Organize the coverages and other data in WMS so that the best possible meaning is conveyed.  Don't overuse graphics though and rely on them to the exclusion of important descriptions.

Voice (5%)

Your paper should have a proper tone.  Your audience should be other engineers at about your same level (beginning) understanding of hydrology, GIS, and hydrologic modeling.  I'm not too particular about whether you use first person, third person, passive voice, etc. but be consistent and make sure that it fits with your intended message.

Convention (10%)

This is the miscellaneous item and to encourage creativity.  Your paper will be better if you are yourself and you try to make it interesting.  You can be effective by following some "template," but don't be afraid to get of the beaten path and use a little style.  Be sure that it contributes to your message and does not detract.