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academic writer: organization: conclusions: answering questions

Answering questions
You may decide to conclude by answering questions you have raised in the introduction or main body of the paper. It may of course be impossible to give definite or precise answers to such questions. This is not a problem. A tentative tone is not a mark of failure. Many students think they have to be 100% FOR or AGAINST a question but a more balanced review is often a very suitable conclusion. It is also possible that you haven't got the evidence to answer decisively. If so you could conclude your comments by suggesting that further research is necessary.
EXAMPLE 1 Notice the way careful way in which the three questions are answered:
'Why should it be evaluated?' > 'It has been suggested that a SAC should be evaluated because...'
'What elements should be evaluated?' > 'The targets of an evaluation will be...'
'Who should perform the evaluation?' > 'Identification of appropriate evaluators will depend on...'

The evaluation of Self Access Centres
This paper has been framed by three questions concerning the evaluation of a SAC - Why should it be evaluated? What elements should be evaluated? Who should perform the evaluation? It has been suggested that a SAC should be evaluated because of the centrality of on-going evaluation to the development process and because of the increasing demand for accountability from stakeholders. The targets of an evaluation will be those things perceived of as crucial by the centre's stakeholders that it is feasible to meaningfully evaluate within the context of a particular centre. Identification of appropriate evaluators will depend on factors that include the reason for the evaluation, the work culture of the centre, and the funds available.

EXAMPLE 2

Should the engineering curriculum at university be exclusively technical?
Many will argue that the engineering curriculum is so overloaded that there is no time to include modules on social content. What can we do? Teaching method could be changed: It could be problem rather than information-oriented. Examples could be taken from practice that integrate nontechnical information. Teaching could also employ the case method often used in law, architecture, and business. But engineering students can also play a part. They could be encouraged to learn about the world around them by reading good newspapers and nonengineering journals.
As we strengthen engineering’s potential to contribute to society, we can market this attribute to women and minority students who often seek socially minded careers and believe that engineering is exclusively a technical pursuit. For engineers of the future, something radically new needs to be offered in schools of engineering. Otherwise, engineers will continue to be left out of society's decision making process.

Find about other types of Conclusions

Academic Writer 2000