Writing reports Merv Lebor Mphil

The assessment Based on your own context, you are required to produce a 2500 (PGCE) or 2000 (CERT Ed) word report   For this task you will write a report that analyses one aspect of educational psychology and assesses its implications for own teaching practice.

Assessment Your report should include a title page, an introduction, literature survey, body and conclusion. Your introduction should include the aim, scope and limitations of your report and the background or context.

Assessment The literature review should give relevant context to the problem and previous findings. The body should provide justification for recommendation(s) and present your methods and findings

The tone The tone of a report is formal. You do not use slang, colloquial or informal language. You do not use contractions: for example “don’t”, “I’m” or “haven’t.” Your use of the word “I” is limited. It is better to use the passive voice as in scientific experiments to give the feeling of impersonality or formality; e.g. “the paper was written.” Your language is factual, objective and clear.

What is report writing? The purpose of a report is to inform someone about a particular subject. Reports are made up of facts and arguments on a specific subject. Reports allow information to be presented in an ordered way. You can write reports for business, management and learning or development issues, but usually reports are written in a work-based context.

How are reports different from essays? Reports present findings usually based on some exploration, research or critical thinking. They usually make recommendations. Reports have a formal structure with headings Reports assume a specific readership either within or outside an organisation. Reports often assume that some action will be taken as a result of the findings. Reports assume a work-based context.

Different types of report There are different styles of report, e.g. Extended formal. Short formal. Short informal/internal memo style report. For the purposes of this task, you are writing a short, formal report of a round 2,500 (PGCE) or 2000 (CERT Ed) words.

Short formal report 3.Literature review 4. Findings 5. Recommendations The structure of a Short Formal Report is as follows: 1. Title Page 2. Introduction 3.Literature review 4. Findings 5. Recommendations Bibliography

The title The title page is the front page of the report. The title page should include the author’s name and the date.

Contents The contents page is a list of the sections in the report with the related page numbers.

The intro.... The introduction is where you give the reader information about the task set and what you intend to cover. The introduction is a good time to include the statement of aims; this is when you say what you are planning to do and how you are going to do it.

Literature review This is where you say who has discussed this issue in the past What did they say?

Findings This section of the report should contain the information that you found out as a result of your procedure. You will need to include the facts and figures that have been collected during your report.

Recommendations This is where you say what should be done. This must be based on the findings of the report. You can have short term and long-term recommendations.

Bibliography Use Harvard referencing both in the body of the report and in the bibliography

Best of luck