READ Hiemstra, K. M. (2001). Instructor and Student Perception of What is learned by Writing the Business Report.Business Communication Quarterly,64(2), 44-54 AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING

The article discusses the perceptions of faculty and students regarding skills learned through the writing of a business report. What have you learned through the construction of your report on the company you selected? Concentrate your answer on your improved skill set rather than the information learned about the company you evaluated.

ARTICLE :

In many business communication courses students must write a business report. This study compared what business communication instructors believe their students learn and what writing skills they improve by completing the assignment with what students believe they learn and what writing skills they believe are improved. Data were gathered from members of the Association for Business Communication and from students who have completed a business report. Instructors see greater improvement in student writing skills than do students. To close this gap, faculty should offer more explicit explanations of the assignment and of the concepts to be learned and the skills to be improved. They should also explain the criteria for evaluation and help students assess their writing skills and set personal goals for improvement. Questionnaires are provided so instructors can compare their own perceptions with those of their students as well as with the instructors and students from this study.

Keywords: Reports, assessment, evaluations

A BUSINESS REPORT assignment appears frequently in the syllabi of business communications courses and in the textbooks for such courses. I have specific reasons for assigning such reports and for the structure for my assignment. I also know what concepts I want students to learn and what skills I want them to improve by completing the assignment. But do they understand my rationale--and do they improve their skills?

Purpose of This Study

The purpose of this study was to answer the following questions: (1) What do business communication instructors believe their students learn and what skills do they believe they improve by completing the business report assignment? (2) What do business communication students believe they learn and what skills to they believe they improve by completing the business report assignment? and (3) Are instructors and students seeing the same improvement in concepts learned and writing skills improved when a business report is written?

The answers to these questions help us help our students to understand the assignment as well as accurately assess what they have learned and how they have improved their writing skills. This article describes our study and recommends ways to close the gap we discovered between what instructors and students see as improvement in concepts learned and writing skills improved.

Method

Two sets of questionnaires were distributed to gather data for the study. The first questionnaire was distributed to 1,115 of the members of the Association for Business Communication in North America listed in the 1998 Directory. They were not sent to the members who listed themselves as communication consultants or as working for a publisher as the purpose of the study was to gather information about business report writing. A total of 286 questionnaires were returned for a response rate of 25.6%. Of those, 218 were usable (19.55%).

A second questionnaire was distributed to students who had completed the business report assignment during a business communication course. The undergraduate course is required in the school of business at a medium sized, private university in the midwest. They were distributed during the spring semester of 1999 and both semesters of the 1999-2000 school year. Full time, part time, and visiting assistant faculty taught the classes that were surveyed. The survey was completed during the last day of class. A total of 406 students completed the survey.

The business communication faculty and the students were asked, using a Likert type scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree, to rate improvement in understanding writing concepts and improvement in writing skills. Instructors were asked to rate the improvement of their students. The students were asked to rate their own improvement. Improvement was rated for organization, clarity, completeness, correctness, conciseness, content, grammar and mechanics, tone, audience analysis, and confidence in writing. (See Appendix A for the Instructor Survey and Appendix B for the Student Survey). You may want to complete the Instructor Survey before you continue reading so that your responses are not influenced by the results of this study.

Results

Business communication instructors reported greater improvement in the writing skills of their students after they completed the business report assignment than the students reported for their own improvement (see Figure 1).

Both the instructors (99%) and the students (9 1%) strongly agreed or agreed that writing the business report improved the ability to organize when writing--the highest level of agreement between instructors and students for any characteristic and the most improved characteristic.

Instructors and students were less in agreement about improvements in other areas. When they evaluated the improvement in the use of correct tone, the instructors saw improvement at the strongly agree and agree level 81% of the time and the students 70%; the instructors saw improvement in audience analysis 82% of the time and the students 75%. Improvement in conciseness was seen by instructors 90% of the time in the strongly agree and agree categories and by 79% of the students. Instructors and students disagreed even more about improvements in clarity, completeness, correctness, conciseness, and content, as shown in Figure 1. Both instructors and students saw the least improvement in grammar and mechanics. Instructors saw improvement 87% of the time, but the students saw improvement just 61% of the time.

Perhaps significantly, in all areas except one, students were more likely to indicate that they had "no opinion" about their improvement than instructors were likely to say they had "no opinion" about student improvement. This was especially true for clarity, correctness, grammar and mechanics, tone, and confidence in writing. Instructors indicated "no opinion" more often when assessing student improvement in tone (14%) and audience analysis (21%). The students also indicated that they had "no opinion" about improvement in these areas. They indicated "no opinion" about their improvement for tone 26% of the time and for audience analysis 21%.

Students also selected the "no opinion" option for clarity, completeness, correctness, conciseness, content, grammar and mechanics, and confidence in their writing more often than did the instructors.

Student Comments

The student survey provided a place for student comments about the business report assignment. Some of the comments from students who believed they benefited from the assignment included:

* Like what I will have to do at work

* Interesting to me

* Not an easy assignment, but worthwhile

* Good practice

* Challenging, but helpful for improving my skills

* Good requirement--good experience

* An example of a real life situation for a school assignment

* Helped with organization

* The report combined everything I ever learned about writing

Some students, however, did not like the assignment or did not find it beneficial. Some of their comments included:

* Not enough time to write the report (4 1/2 weeks)

* Did not understand the assignment

* Did not like the topic I selected

* Grading was to [sic--student error] picky

* Did a bad job because I waited till the last minute and did not use the assignment for what it was intended for

Discussion

Instructors and students differ in their perceptions of the level of skills improvement achieved by the business report assignment. This gap may occur for several reasons. Instructors may have a more realistic assessment of student improvement in writing. Based on their evaluation of student pretests and/or grading on previous assignments, the instructor may be in a better position to objectively assess improvement in writing skills throughout a course. Instructors also understand that there can be significant improvement in student writing skills when the grades that are given for assignments are still not at the A or B level that students desire.

On the other hand, students may not perceive as much improvement in their own writing skills as do the instructors because it is difficult for them to objectively assess their own writing or the improvement they may or may not have made. They sometimes enter the course with an unrealistic assessment of their writing skills and as a result see less need for improvement than the instructor does. Students may have difficulty assessing their improvement in writing skills and understanding concepts because they did not fully understand the assignment or the criteria for evaluation. Some students may not perceive that they have learned the concepts and improved their writing skills because they do not receive the grade they desire or thought they had earned. They often believe that because they think they have spent a lot of time on an assignment, they should receive a high grade. Some students are unrealistic as they compare their work to the work of other students and are then disappointed in their grade.

A possible limitation to the study could be that the categories used to judge report writing are broad and general. They are, however, categories that are usually discussed in class and are covered in textbooks. Students should have read that material before the last day of the course when the questionnaire was completed.

How Can We Close the Gap?

The gap needs to be closed between the instructor's perception of what students learn and what skills they improve by writing the business report and those of the students. There should not be as great a discrepancy between the improvement instructors see and the improvement students see in what they believe they learn and how they improve their writing skills by completing the business report assignment. Instructors may be able to close the gap by following several guidelines.

1. Explicitly Explain the Assignment's Purpose

The business report assignment should simulate the writing of reports in business organizations. Students should understand how, when, where, why reports are written in business as well as how to complete an audience analysis before they begin the assignment.

This can be accomplished by carefully introducing the assignment and having a discussion about the importance of being able to write effective business reports so they can be used to provide information for managers to help them to make decisions. This could include a guided discussion about the kinds of reports the students will write as business people. The text can provide helpful information. Students who have had internships or are currently working may be helpful during the discussion.

2. Explain the Concepts to be Learned and the Skills to be Improved

There are specific concepts that the students should learn and skills that they should improve by completing the business report assignment. These include organizing, writing, editing, revising, formatting, data gathering and evaluation, audience analysis, understanding how the report will be used for decision-making, and the need to pay careful attention to detail when writing so that their report is mechanically correct.

Lecture and discussion during class should help students accomplish this goal. Students should be provided with a list of the concepts that will be learned and skills that can be improved. They should be encouraged to think about the writing skills they can improve in terms of their personal goals for writing improvement. Handouts and other supplementary materials can be useful as references. It is also important to review the report writing process with the students to explain why each step is important as well as how it should be completed. Many of the basic concepts about good business writing will have been discussed when the business report assignment follows letter and memo writing.

3. Explain Evaluation Criteria

Students should understand the criteria that will be used to evaluate and grade the report. The criteria for grading the report as well as why they are important should be discussed in class when the report is assigned. Grading criteria should be linked to how managers use reports in business.

Monitoring the writing process as the students write the business report can help to make the evaluation criteria more clear. I meet with my students individually several times as they organize and write the report. I meet with them to select a topic and check the outline for the report. There is a three-phase review process as the report is being written and revised, but before the report is submitted. There is an instructor review during which I check for organization, content and the report format. That is followed by a peer review held during class time so that I am available to answer questions. The report is submitted a few days later to be graded.

The students should be provided a copy of the evaluation form that will be used to grade the report before they begin organizing and writing. I explain to my students that I use a three-phase process to grade the report. I first check to make that sure that all of the parts of the report have been included and check for things like the correct levels of headings, pagination, the required illustrations, the required references and the assigned parts of the report. I then read the report for organization, content and to ensure that it is a decision making report. Finally, I read the report a third time to check for grammar and mechanics as well as other details.

4. Help Students Assess Their Own Writing Skills and Set Personal Goals

A number of activities can be used throughout the course to help students assess the improvement in their writing skills and the business report is an important one. It is helpful for students to assess their writing skills before they begin the business report, set personal goals to improve their writing, and evaluate their progress after the business report has been completed.

A pretest can be useful to help students assess their writing skills early in the course. I meet with students during individual sessions in my office to discuss the pretest along with some of the early writing assignments. This meeting provides the opportunity to help the student assess their writing skills and to develop a plan for extra help or tutoring sessions when necessary. The student can review the concepts and practice the skills that are necessary so that she/he can be ready to write the report.

When I grade the business reports I make extensive corrections, comments, and/or suggestions on the report. I also use a detailed grading sheet. The grading sheet provides the students with an evaluation of the organization, style format, headings, charts, graphs and tables, and the parts of the report. I also evaluate for a clear purpose, a clear decision point and a clear recommendation for a course of action. I then evaluate the references, check to make sure the documentation is complete and correct and check for mechanical errors. I ask the students to meet with me after the reports have been returned. This gives them the opportunity to ask any questions they may have and provides me the opportunity to give them further feedback about the report assignment.

An Invitation to Use the Survey Yourself

I invite you to fill out the Instructors Survey (Appendix A) if you have not already done so. You can then compare your responses with others teaching business communication who require their students to complete a business report assignment.

After you have completed the Instructor Survey, ask your students fill out the Student Survey. That will allow you to compare what you believe your students learn completing the assignment with their perceptions. You can also share the opinions of the students who completed the survey for this study with your own students.

When your students have completed the Student Survey, you will have a more accurate comparison of what they believe they have gained from the assignment as compared to your perceptions and those of other business communication students and instructors. You can then begin to take the steps necessary to help them more accurately assess what concepts they have learned and how they have improved their skills.

Learning is a process. Students sometimes learn the most when they have the farthest to go. Instructors know that learning is not always reflected in the grades that are earned by the student. It can be hard for a student to understand that an A doesn't always mean that the student has learned a lot. Instructors know that a lower grade does not mean that significant learning has not taken place. An important goal must be to help students assess their writing skills, set goals to improve their skills, and accomplish those goals while accurately assessing their progress toward reaching their goals.