Let the students choose or assign an report to analyse using the following questions (approx. 60 min.):
Abstract
- How long is the abstract (no. words)?
- How is the text divided?
- Which aspects of the project are described?
- How is the text written? (formal conventions, first-person/other point of view,
grammatical tense, etc.)
- What is good about the text?
- How could the text be improved?
- How is the text written? (formal conventions, first-person/other point of view,
grammatical tense, etc.)
- What is good about the text?
- How could the text be improved
Introduction
- How is the research field introduced?
- What motivating factors are driving research in this field?
- How is previous research presented?
- What is the purpose of the research?
- How has the researcher limited the scope of its purpose?
- How is the text written? (formal conventions, first-person/other point of view,
grammatical tense, etc.)
- What is good about the text?
- How could the text be improved?
Method and materials
- How is the method used presented?
- How are the materials used presented?
- How is the text written? (formal conventions, first-person/other point of view,
grammatical tense, etc.)
- What is good about the text?
- How could the text be improved?
Results
- How are the results presented? (tables/diagrams/images, etc.)
- Could the results be presented in another way?
- How are the captions for figures and tables written?
- How is the text written? (formal conventions, first-person/other point of view,
grammatical tense, etc.)
- What is good about the text?
- How could the text be improved?
Discussion and conclusion
- How is the research problem answered?
- Do the results support the conclusions?
- Are any proposals for future, related research projects presented?
- How is the text written? (formal conventions, first-person/other point of view,
grammatical tense, etc.)
- What is good about the text?
- How could the text be improved?
References
- Which referencing style is used for citations in the body of the text?
- How are different types of references cited in the reference list? (books,
scientific articles, online sources, etc.)
- Which referencing system has the author used?
Next, allow the students to discuss in groups of around five people what conclusions they have arrived at concerning the structure and content of the reports they read. Based on these conclusions, the groups should then discuss what they consider to be useful/less-useful approaches to writing reports(approx. 15 min.). Following these discussions, you can pose open-ended questions to the whole class about what conclusions the groups arrived at, so that each group can learn from the others (approx. 15 min.). Note that the different parts of this exercise can be divided across more than one lesson to suit the class’s schedule, or be given as homework assignments