Undergraduate and graduate students generally need to report activities carried out at the end of the term or all stages of an academic research. However, when writing what I’ve done, that question always appears: How to write an academic report?
In order to help students who have not yet completed this activity, we have prepared a text to serve as a guide for all those who need to write an academic report.
What is an academic report?
The academic report is nothing more than a document that gathers everything that was developed during a work (research) or a school period. However, there are two types of reports:
- Report of an academic work (article, monograph, dissertation or thesis);
- Activity report during a school term to be delivered at the end of the quarter or semester.
Both are extremely important. While the work report is intended to highlight the stages of the research, the activities report is used to prove everything that was developed during a given period.
How to make an academic report?
Although it is a document required by most higher and postgraduate courses, there are still many questions about how to make an academic report.
However, this document is quite simple to prepare. However, it is necessary to pay close attention to details so as not to forget an important issue when writing the report.
document structure
When writing an academic report, it is essential to pay attention to the structure of the document. It is also necessary that it be created following all the rules of the Brazilian Association of Technical Standards (ABNT).
The report must contain: Cover, Summary, Introduction, Development (Description of Activities) and Final Considerations. Therefore, below are the questions that need to be in the document:
- Cover: The cover must have the name of the Educational Institution, the title of the activities report, the course, the department and the name of the author;
- Summary: The Summary needs to indicate the titles and subtitles of the report, as well as the numbering of the pages where each of these items is located;
- Abstract: This topic aims to summarize all the activities developed in the development of the work: objectives (general and specific), methodology used, theoretical foundation and results obtained;
- Introduction: The introduction aims to introduce the reader to the topic of the work. Therefore, it should explain what the research is about, the justification of the theme and the contributions to the academic community and society.
- Development: This is the most important part of the academic report. This is because it brings the description of all the activities developed during the work
- Final considerations: This space is necessary to report the learning acquired from the development of activities, the experiences, the path to be explored and the results obtained. That is: it is the closing of everything that has been done.
- Bibliographic References: These are all references (books, articles, journalistic materials, videos, etc.) used in the development of the work. It is necessary, however, to follow the ABNT norms.
Language used in the academic report
The language used in the text of an academic report needs to be objective and technical, presenting concepts and results, in order to make it easy for readers to read.
How to make an activity report
The activity report needs to report everything that was done over the course of a quarter or semester. This document is for educational institutions to observe the student’s development during the school term.
However, it is common for there to be doubts about what to put in the report. Thus, these activities can vary from technical work to participation in events. Some examples are:
- Visits to places: Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) usually carry out extra-curricular activities with the aim of making students attend spaces that are linked to their future professions. These places can be Museums, TV Shows, Stock Exchange Headquarters, Legal Bodies, among others.
- Lectures: These events are extremely important for the training of students, as they have contact with specialists in the field, who report on episodes of the profession, explain concepts, clear up doubts, etc.
- Academic congresses: Initiation or scientific research congresses are essential for students. Therefore, they must be included in the activity reports. At these events, students present their research, receive criticism and praise for their work and contribute to the production and dissemination of knowledge.
- Articles, reviews, records and tests: These activities are carried out to obtain grades at the end of the school term. Thus, it is necessary for students to put what was produced and the notes achieved during this phase.
- Internship: The internship is a fundamental stage in the lives of students. This is because during this period they put into practice the knowledge acquired in university courses. Thus, it is essential that it be in the academic report.
Therefore, in the same way as in the work report, the activity report needs to be well structured, such as Cover, Summary, Workload, Description of Activities and Considerations.
Scholarship renewal reports
Generally, undergraduate and, mainly, graduate courses (stricto sensu) ask for academic reports for the renewal of scientific initiation and research grants.
It is a requirement in order to observe the feedback that students are returning to society and the scientific community. Therefore, at the end of the semester, these students need to dedicate part of their time to producing reports to be delivered to colleges or universities.
Importance of an academic report
The text explained how to make an academic report, highlighting points that must be observed when writing, structure and language of the document. As it was possible to verify, this is something of extreme importance for undergraduate and graduate students. For this reason, it must be done with great zeal.
