SUBJECT: Help for students on constructing graphs and tables
DATE: 5/97
 
 
I teach a non-majors biology course and I have noticed that the
students have a difficult time knowing how to construct tables and
graphs. In particular, they are not familiar with how to organize
the data in a meaningful and easily understood manner. Does anyone
know of a place on the Internet that provides a description of how to
construct tables and graphs for lab reports?
 
From: JERRY JOHNSON <JJOHNSON@wbc.edu>
 
 
I don't know about an internet site, but I strongly recommend either
McMillans' text "Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences" (Bedford Books
of St. Martin's Press) and the one by Ambrose and Ambrose "Handbook of
Biological Investigation" (Hunter Textbooks Inc) Both give loads of
examples. The advantage of the A&A text is that it covers an intro to
statistics. McMillan is a bit more thorough in its treatment of tables and
figures.
 
 
Liane Cochran-Stafira
Dept. of Ecology and Evolution
The University of Chicago
1101 East 57th Street
Chicago, Illinois 60637-5415
phone: 773-702-1930
fax: 773-702-9740
e-mail: lcochran@midway.uchicago.edu
 
 
Again, this is not an Internet source, but a book I recommend:
 
Pechenik, JA. 1997. A Short Guide to Writing about Biology. Addison
Wesley Longman, NY.
 
Chapter 3 on writing lab reports has a section on graphs and tables -
explanations and examples.
 
We require this book for our introductory majors course in Biology.
 
--------------------------------------------------------------
Kristina A. Ernest Phone: 509-963-2805
Department of Biological Sciences FAX: 509-963-2730
Central Washington University E-mail: ernestk@cwu.edu
Ellensburg, WA 98926
 
 
 
I have some basic graphing instructions on my web page. It is nowhere near
as comprehensive as you'll find in books, (because it is specialized for
my students) but it is free. Follow the Lab Report link on my web page,
and check the Results section. I'll be updating my entire web site this
summer, so please send me your comments. Thanks!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Frank R. Hensley, Ph.D. Biology 111/112 Web page:
Dept. of Biology UNC-Greensboro http://www.uncg.edu/~frhensle
FHensley@uncg.edu
910-334-5391 x23
 

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