To: Erika Paterson, ENGL 301 Instructor
From: Jenny Li, ENGL 301 Student
Date: October 29, 2021
Subject: Formal Report Progress: Introducing Hands-On Workshop Courses for Psychology Undergraduate Students at UBC
Purpose
The purpose of this report is to address the issue of career insecurity amongst psychology undergraduates, due to the inadequate career support provided by the current curriculum of courses in the program. To better prepare psychology students for their future, this report aims to assess the feasibility of establishing hands-on workshops.
Intended Audiences
This report is intended for Dr. Geoffrey Hall, the head of UBC’s psychology department, and the administrative team of the department.
Significance of Report
The research and resulting recommendations will help increase the confidence of psychology undergraduate students in the value of their degree and increase ease of transition into the workforce. Students will be able to physically demonstrate the material that they have learned in lectures and have a better grasp of the career path that best suits them.
Methods
Primary research will involve an online survey through UBC qualtrics, which will be sent out to undergraduate psychology students. Attached is the link to the survey: https://ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_efXgEwbybFAjIO2
Secondary sources will include academic papers and online articles into the advantages and limitations of hands-on workshops.
Formal Report Outline
Attached is the outline for the formal report: https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl301-99a-2021wa/2021/10/29/formal-report-outline-2/
Research Plan
Below are the tasks for determining the feasibility of introducing hands-on workshops to UBC’s psychology undergraduate program:
- Create survey
- Distribute survey to psychology undergrads at UBC
- Identify current level of career confidence and desirability of hands-on workshops among psychology undergrads
- Compile and analyze survey responses
- Identify examples of other educational institutions with successful hands-on workshop programs and identify the key characteristics of these programs
- Identify the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of hands-on programs through secondary research
- Research into other possible solutions to the stated problem
Writing Schedule
- Oct. 29th: Submission of formal report outline and progress report memo
- Nov. 1st: Send out surveys
- Nov. 3rd: Begin secondary research by finding and reading articles
- Nov. 5th: Complete secondary research
- Nov. 6th: Start writing initial draft of report
- Nov. 8th: Finish title page, appendix, and references page
- Nov. 10th: Finish draft of introduction section
- Nov. 12th: Close primary data collection and analyze survey results
- Nov. 15th: Complete draft of formal report
- Nov. 16th: Proof read and submit draft
- Nov. 19th: Peer review of formal report draft
- Nov. 20nd: Make appropriate edits to draft
- Nov. 22nd: Complete final edits
- Nov. 26th: Final proof reading and submission of formal report on team forum
Thank you for reviewing my report. If you have any concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
November 1, 2021
Hello Jenny,
Thank you for posting your progress report, this looks good – but, the survey questions need an edit with a focus on re-writing the ‘personal’ questions. Please see an examples below, edit the survey accordingly and alert me with an email when completed. Thank you.
Surveys need to avoid personal questions. One way to achieve this is to avoid using the pronoun ‘you’.
Please be sure to study the examples provided on the Instructor’s blog and edit out the ‘you pronouns’ in this survey. Here is an example from the survey submitted:
EXAMPLE: “Do you currently have a career plan for after you graduate with a Bachelor’s?
REWRITE: “Psychology graduates typically:
a) are well-prepared to begin a relevant career path in post-graduation
b) are adequately prepared to begin a relevant career path in post-graduation
c) are not prepared to begin a relevant career path in post-graduation
d) Don’t know