Puzzling Over IMRaD (30-45 min)
IMRaD stands for Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Miller goes over this in chapter 11, and this organization is generally the template for a lot of data-driven writing found in genres for more specialized audiences: academic papers, technical reports, grant proposals, etc.
Activity:
In groups of three (I’ll count you off), you will all receive a chopped up technical report and a chopped up academic paper. Put it back together and let’s see what we get. After about 10 minutes, submit what you think is the correct order by letter to correspond to Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion (e.g., B, C, A, D). Write it on a separate piece of paper (this will be seen by another group. If correct, your team gets 5 points. If incorrect, your team gets 0 points.
Then, each group of three will review the other order that their counterpart group received to see if they agree. They can agree with that order to receive 2 points, or challenge the order to receive 5 points. If they challenge and are not correct, they will receive 0 points. If they agree with that order and that order is wrong, they will receive 0 points.
After doing both articles/reports, as a group, talk about how you made these decisions based on what in the text led you to believe it was an Introduction, a Methods section, a Results section, and a Discussion section. What sorts of things happen organizationally? What kinds of sentences appear?
Activity 2:
After trying it all out, look at the full articles (on CourseWeb) to think about how data are talked about differently and used for different purposes in each section:
- Different kinds of sentences?
- Different word choice?
- How is the section structured? When do the data come in?
- What do the data do in each section? How do they serve the overall argument in that section?
- How do data in section serve the overall argument of the whole report?
With your group, make a document that answers these questions–with examples from texts! at least one per section–for each section of IMRaD.
Work on Project (20-30 min)
Let’s get on it to consider advanced calculations, genre, etc.
Next Time
Methods chapter
Work on project