Work Term Reports

The work term report is a critical element of your participation in Brock Universitys Co-op programs. This report is intended to describe the nature of the work term assignment, skills developed, the relevancy and application of your academic studies in supporting your work term efforts and overall satisfaction with the experience.

The work term report is a requirement for each and every work term.

Work term reports must be submitted within 2 weeks after the completion of your work term. The reports will be carefully read and graded based on the criteria described in the following sections. You must achieve a satisfactory grade on each work term report in order to remain in the Co-op option of your degree program. Purpose of Work Term Report Allows the Co-op Programs Office to understand the experience you have acquired and how it fits in with your academic studies Provides the Co-op Programs Office an opportunity to evaluate the employer and the quality of their Co-op assignments Allows the Co-op Programs Office to incorporate real world experiences into our curriculum to benefit non-Co-op students Work Term Report - Requirements Pre-requisite for degree requirements Will be graded using a satisfactory or unsatisfactory rating Declaration that this is your own work No confidential reports will be accepted Work Term Report - Planning Meet with your supervisor to decide on a topic Define the goal and purpose of the report Prepare a schedule of activities necessary to complete the task (project plan) Keep your ideas and facts in order and filed for easy access It is important to start collecting useful material from your first day of your work term. Journal notes, records of conversations, relevant articles and company literature may all be useful. Please do not include confidential information in your final work term report. Work Term Report - Writing Work in draft mode and revise later Aim for clear concise and accurate writing and avoid long winded phrases Remove vague adjectives like quite, some, many and quantify where possible Use active rather than passive voice No slang and be sure to define business or corporate jargon

The work term report should be written in a largely impersonal style. Avoid the story telling or anecdotal approach. Aim for clear concise and accurate writing. Never use the work term report as a vehicle for personal criticism of your supervisor or fellow employees as this is completely unprofessional. While you may be asked to produce a user's manual for the employer, a user manual is not an appropriate work term report.

Work Term Report - Format Developing the report can be done in a number of ways: Problem/method/solution Cause and effect Chronological Classification Comparison 1) Title Page The first page should include student name, ID#, program, work term # and dates of employment, company name and address, and name of your immediate supervisor. 2) Table of Contents Include principal headings as they appear in report, page numbers and appendices, if applicable. 3) Main Body Description of the company Job title and description/responsibilities History of company and products and services provided Your view of the Corporate culture Description and organization of the department in which you worked Major activities of the department and your role in meeting its objectives Your overall contribution to the productivity of the department Your learning objectives and whether they were met What effect the work term had on your career planning How well your academic program prepared you for this position 4) Conclusions and Recommendations A summary of what has been achieved in the work term should be provided. Write about the most import issues dealt with in your work. Discuss those things that worked and those that did not. Draw applicable conclusions and present objective recommendations related to topics discussed in the report. Work Term Report - Elements Must be typed 1 1/2 spacing Must have a title page, table of contents, main body, conclusions and recommendations Must number pages (the report should be 5-8 pages in length)