Every college student will have to learn the basics of report writing: there is no escaping this fact. The written report is a disciplined method of learning, and it teaches the student how to structure an argument or explanation in a clear, concise, and cohesive way. While it sounds easy, writing reports is not always simple. For one thing, one teacher’s structure for a report may different from another’s, and sometimes writing something that is easy for the reader to comprehend is a lot more difficult than one might imagine.
Report writing is one of the teaching methods that allow students to develop skills in the following areas:
- communication,
- essay structure,
- grammar,
- organization,
- punctuation,
- research,
- style,
- writing.
What is Report Writing?
Ultimately, the basic report structure is something that is easy to think about but every report a college student writes is a different experience every single time its writing is required. A lot of planning goes into the report, and the student will often have to conduct research or read related material before writing the report as well. This is a prime opportunity for teachers to provide supplementary lessons or reading material that will serve to support the assignment topic. Once the student writes an outline, he or she is already involved in the report planning process. It is at this point the student will move through the other stages of paper production including mind mapping, research, free writing, first drafts, edits, and final drafts. The entire time the student works on a report, they are learning about subject-related material and assimilating it into their existing knowledge.
What Skills Does the Student Gain?
Teachers assign reports to students because every report the student has to write serves to hone the his/her communication skills. Every report is practice in the art of clear, concise communication. It takes time to master written communication skills, grammar, punctuation, graphs, and to learn the appropriate ways of expression. Each essay will require that the student takes time and considers the reader, the audience, and the information one should convey in order to communicate effectively. With every essay completed, student’s skills in communication are strengthened.
Why Is Report Writing Necessary?
It’s important to note that the lessons one learns from report writing go far beyond that of learning basic communication skills. Report writing will give the student practice in the different writing styles that he/she must master. For example, a narrative essay will have a very different tone when compared to a persuasive essay. As another example, and expository essay where only facts are required will differ from the descriptive essay where the goal of the student is to convey an image or paint a picture for the reader.
Writing reports familiarizes a student with how to identify and capture the attention of one’s audience. Every section of the report has a purpose, whether it is the introduction, body, or conclusion, and the student will learn, through repetition, how to bring everything together so that the written material is linear and cohesive. At the same time, the student will master how to present material in such a way that it is clear, easy to understand, and that the reader can find information easily and quickly. Included in some presentations, students get a chance to master how to present graphical information correctly as well.
Once a college student masters the methods of report writing, it remains a lifelong skill. The writing skills can prove amazingly useful to the student, whether he/she is going to graduate school or enter into the workforce. Ultimately, report writing is one of the most important skills a student can master, one that will follow them throughout their academic career and life.