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ANALYTICAL REPORT GROUP ACTIVITIES
Because collaborative analytical reports vary considerably in content, length, and complexity, the
following list of activities can serve as a guideline for planning the sequence of activities
involved in the report-writing process. These activities should appear on the report case students
receive, along with due dates.
1. Preliminary approval of report topic. This step can be done informally since the goal is to
ensure that in general the topic is all right and that another group has not already selected the
3. Group conference with instructor. This conference will enable you to ask questions about the
4. Surveys, interview questions, and accompanying letters due. Remind students that you must
5. Progress report due with final outline. This report can be prepared by the group or
individually. If it is a group report, ask them to include names of members who are doing
6. Introduction section of report and visual aids for discussion section of report. Requiring
these items before students write the discussion section helps to ensure that the group has a
7. Revised draft of introduction and draft of discussion, conclusions, and recommendations. Ask
group members to write their names by the sections they researched and wrote. This enables
you to evaluate the performance of group members and encourages timely completion of the
research and writing tasks. You can make some general comments about the draft and return
If you see some sections of the rough draft that look very poor, copy them before returning
8. Final copy of the report, along with leader’s or chairperson’s report and peer evaluations.
9. Oral presentation of the report; each group member should use at least one visual aid. You
can grade the presentation on a group or individual basis. Peer evaluations are also very
PERFORMANCE EVALUATION
Business communication instructors want to give students a grade that reflects their writing
ability, their contributions to the group’s writing process, and their contribution to the group
processes during the collaborative project. While no method guarantees this, some methods of
gathering information about individual performances and methods for assigning grades will
minimize injustices and increase the students’ satisfaction with the grade assignment process.
Assessing Individual Performance
Several methods of gathering information about individual work are used by communication
teachers. At least two or three methods should be used from the following list:
1. Confidential peer evaluations. These evaluations are an incentive to individuals to perform
2. Leader’s or chairperson’s report. This report should detail the tasks or responsibilities
3. Student logs or journals. Ask students to keep a log or journal about the group’s activities,
the group’s small-group processes, and their feelings about other members’ behavior and
4. Class attendance record. Take attendance on class days when instruction is being given on
group processes, writing processes, and the report project, as students who are absent miss
Assigning Group Grades
Using a combination of group and individual grades increases the likelihood that the grade a
student receives is an accurate reflection of his/her writing ability and contribution to the group
and the assignment. Thus, a student’s grade should be based on the score assigned to the written
Some suggestions for using the combined evaluations follow:
1. Score the written report and give each group member the same grade. In addition, give a
separate grade for each student’s contribution to the report and to the group process based on
2. Score the written report and add or deduct 10 points for individual members according to the
3. Score the written report and deduct points (no limit) for individual members according to the
evaluations they receive on the four evaluations discussed previously. You should have some
To minimize having to adjust grades for nonperformers, encourage groups to confront these
students early in the project and set some guidelines for what the group expects from them, along
with deadlines for completing tasks. If they do not meet the expectations or deadlines, the groups
Numerous ideas and options are available for incorporating collaborative writing into the
CONFIDENTIAL GROUP PROJECT
PEER EVALUATION
NAME ________________________________ GROUP # ________ SECTION # __________
Rate each person in your group (including yourself) on the criteria indicated using
the following scale: Excellent 4, Above Average 3, Average 2, Poor 1.
Student 1 Student 2 Student 3 Student 4
_______________________________________________
Quality of contribution _______________________________________________
Quantity of contribution _______________________________________________
Creativity _______________________________________________
Turntaking (allowing all _______________________________________________
members to actively
participate)
Leadership _______________________________________________
Effort (time spent on project) _______________________________________________
Attitude toward group
(cooperation, dependability,
willingness to help others) _______________________________________________
Logistics (clerical-type duties) _______________________________________________
Attendance at meetings _______________________________________________
Preparation for group meetings _______________________________________________
Willingness to accept and
complete tasks _______________________________________________
Completion of tasks on time _______________________________________________
Overall rating _______________________________________________
TEACHING BUSINESS ETIQUETTE
Many of today’s students have little knowledge of what business etiquette involves and even
less sense about how their manners affect their success on the job. To make it easier for
instructors to teach their students the basic elements of business etiquette and workplace
manners, we provide a relevant online teaching/learning module.
How to Use the Business Etiquette Teaching/Learning Module
Our module is made up of three parts: (a) a preview quiz, (b) a 17-topic etiquette guide, and
Preview Quiz. At the premium student website, we provide an interactive 17-point preview
quiz made up of fairly challenging True-False questions regarding workplace situations that
Etiquette Topics. After taking the preview quiz, students should read all 17 etiquette topics.
They range from “Professional Image” to “Avoiding Social Blunders When Abroad.”
Posttests. Instructors may use the three posttests for assessment, motivation, and/or
discussion. The posttests are not available at the website for students. We have limited the
access to the posttests so that instructors will have greater control and flexibility in using
them. Instructors teaching distance-learning classes may want to send the posttests to their
students. Here are the topics covered in each posttest:
TEACHING FORMAL REPORTS
By Salvatore N. Safina
Lecturer, Department of English
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
in conjunction with Dr. Mary Ellen Guffey, Cengage Learning
In a meeting of business and technical communication instructors at the University of
Wisconsin-Milwaukee, the following question was raised: “Do we need to teach the long
report?” The question was tabled for further review. But my answer to the question is an
unequivocal “yes.” The formal report is, in my view, one of the most valuable learning
experiences students of business communication come away from the course with. It helps
students to hone their skills in managing a large project, researching, designing documents, and
writing. That said, teaching the formal report from process to product is difficult; for instance,
Unlike many business communication instructors, I require each student to complete the formal
report project individually. Additionally, students are allowed to choose from an updated list of
Report Topics (available at the premium student website) divided into majors and/or areas of
specialization; or, they may choose an analytical topic (yardstick, feasibility, justification/
recommendation) from Chapters 11, 12, or 13 of BC:PP. If students do not wish to choose one of
Preliminaries
I begin my discussion of the formal report project the very first day of class. I first point out to
students that, because the project constitutes 25 percent of their final grade, they should begin
thinking about it immediately. Then, I direct them to the three pages of the syllabus (on
color-coded paper so they stand out) devoted to the following: (1) a set of detailed instructions
for the project proposal assignment, which is students’ first formal presentation of their chosen
topic and preliminary research; (2) a set of detailed instructions for the formal report project
itself, including the due date; and (3) a short list of possible topics from which to choose—in
Before the first formal project related assignment (the proposal) is due, once or twice a week I
will remind or ask students about their projects. At first, I’ll make light of my reminders; as the
semester draws on, though, I tend to make these reminders more serious. As I tell students:
Students generally begin making appointments to see me after the first four weeks of the
semester. Others, however, need to be politely reminded. When students meet with me to present
their topic ideas, I often ask a number of questions: “Why did you choose this topic?” or “Why is
this topic meaningful or important to you?” or “How does this topic relate to your future career?”
Another common problem is objectivity. Often, students will have preconceived notions about
how the report will pan out in the end. Or, in a case where a student has chosen to do a report on
In-Class Assignments and Discussion
Class discussion of the formal report project begins with students reading Chapter 11 of BC:PP.
Project Proposal
The first formal report assignment students must complete is the project proposal, which allows
students to demonstrate many of the skills learned in Chapter 11. This is a very detailed
assignment, but it’s an important one because it requires students to put their ideas on paper and
In the “Overview” section of the proposal, students are asked to explain the following:
1. Essential background information about the topic.
In class, I tell students (and show them) that I will be asking the following questions about their
report topics when I read the “Overview.”
In the “Preliminary Research” section of the proposal, students are asked to consider possible
primary and secondary sources. For primary sources, students must locate two “experts” in their
research areas. Then, they must record these experts’ contact information and explain why each
For secondary sources, students are asked to locate and present the following information using
the MLA style: (1) a newspaper article, (2) two journal or magazine articles or abstracts, and (3)
In discussing this part of the assignment, I show the students how to access the library’s
While the benefits of this assignment are immense, students really struggle with it. Consequently,
I allow enough time in class for students to ask questions about researching, presentation, etc. If
On the day the assignment is due, I ask for volunteers to discuss their proposals. This discussion
is probably one of the most fruitful of the semester for students. We take a “workshopping”
approach to the discussion: I encourage students to ask questions about the report’s purpose and
Work Plan
After I’ve returned their proposals to them, with advice about refining their topics, I then help
students to prepare a work plan for the project. First, we look at sample work plans and discuss
how they are organized and presented, and determine what their purposes are. Students almost
always focus on the schedule; I in turn try to get them to focus on the purpose statement and the
tentative outline. I tell them that these elements of the work plan, along with the sources and
Organization and Visual Aids
I try to combine these two difficult and time-consuming parts of the report project through a
series of assignments taken from BC:PP, Chapters 11, 12, and 13. Consequently, each
assignment not only requires students to evaluate, organize, and present data or information, but
also to draw conclusions—and perhaps offer recommendations—based on an analysis of the
Because choosing visual aids is a stumbling block for many students, I also assign a variation of
Activity 11.16 from BC:PP. Instead of having students choose four visual aids, for example, I
ask them to choose three. In class, after I’ve discussed the various forms and functions of
different visual aids, we then discuss this assignment itself. I first encourage students to take a
Documentation
Experience has taught me that this is also an aspect of the report project that needs to be
emphasized. Too often in the past I’ve seen examples of what could be considered plagiarism
because I assumed students had learned proper documentation, citation, etc., in previous courses.
Present the publication information (MLA or APA style).
After the assignment is completed, as a class, we look at possible correct and incorrect examples.
It’s imperative to show students an example of a paraphrased source that “crosses the line,” and
Putting It All Together: Completing the Project
Although the syllabus contains detailed instructions for putting the report project together, I
revisit it in class. I point out especially the submission requirements, and what must be included
The final week of the course is spent “workshopping” drafts of the project. Aside from getting
advice from their peers, I tell students that they must have specific questions in mind before
coming to talk to me about their projects. Moreover, I extend my office hours the final week,
encouraging students to come to me with questions about their reports. Because this is such a
A list of possible Report Topics is available at the student website (www.cengagebrain.com)
under the Writing Resources tab.
