The Internship Report

(Eng 498/698)
Rationale
Becaus e the student who does an interns hi p receives credit from the
universit y, graded credit det er mi ned by the techni cal writing faculty,
ther e needs to be document at i on in addition to the site supervi sor' s
evaluati on as a basis for that graded credit. Submi t ti ng an interns hi p
report not only provides the faculty with a docume nt which qualifies the
student for graded credit, it also provides the facult y with in- dept h
informat i on about the professi on they are responsi bl e for prepari ng
student s to participat e in. Further mor e, and of consi der abl e import ance,
the interns hi p report increas es the student ' s responsi bility by requiring
the student int ern to gat her informat i on and plan the report throughout
the work eperi ence. !he student then has an opport uni t y to
demons t r at e mat uri t y as a technical writ er by pres ent i ng, analy"ing, and
evaluati ng his or her own work on the #ob.
Report Content and Format
!he int erns hi p report compri s es four part s, each involving a different kind
of informat i on and a different mode of writt en discours e$ %&' introducti on,
%(' narr ati ve, %)' anal ysi s and evaluati on, and %*' appendi .
Introduction
!he introducti on epl ai ns the set ti ng wher e the work was accompli shed
and gives a sens e of how the int ern' s #ob relat ed to the entire work of the
hiring organi"ati on. !his section lends itself to the invert ed pyrami d
organi"ati on, moving from gener al informat i on about the entire
organi"ati on to a specific descri ption of the int ern' s day- to- day
environment . !he student can obt ai n gener al informat i on about the
organi"ati on from public relations brochur es, intervi ews, and company
document s such as annual report s. +n addition to including informat i on
about the company' s name, location, product s or services, si"e, financi al
wort h, and so forth, this section of the report shoul d also describe the
int ern' s individual role as well as specific schedul e within the
organi"ati on. ,hat type of work was done, when, and how did the intern
fit into the over all organi"ati onal struct ur e- a flow chart or hierarchy
diagr a m would be appropri at e her e.
!his section shoul d conclude with att ent i on to eactl y what the intern
did, for whom, and what types as well as levels of skill were required.
.
!hese guidelines for the interns hi p report are adapt ed from an articl e by /. 0orey and
1. 2illingswort h, 3!he +nterns hi p 4eport ,3 in The Techni cal Writing Teacher, Spring
&567, pp. &))- &*&.
The Internship Report
Page 2
Narrative
!he narr ati ve section gives a det ail ed account of the day- to- day activiti es
of the workpl ace. !his section is descri ptive and fact ual, saving
evaluati on and anal ysis for the subs eque nt section. !he plan of
organi"ati on will vary, dependi ng on the situati on. +t may be
chronological, describing what the student did in the order it was done.
8r it could be organi"ed by skill group, describing, for eampl e, the
editing #obs, then the writing #obs, and finally the producti on #obs. 8r it
could be by order of import ance, beginni ng with the lower level tasks and
working toward the mor e challengi ng and larger pro# ect s.
8ne thing that is required to compl et e this section is a log or #ournal to
be kept by the intern from the very begi nni ng of the int erns hi p !his log
will provide an invaluabl e record for the student when it comes time to
summari "e the whol e eperi ence.
Analysis and Evaluation
!he analysi s and eval uat i on section enabl es the student to discuss and
critici"e the act ual writing produced on the #ob. !he previous sections are
valuabl e as a source of informat i on for the reader s of the int erns hi p
report . But this section is probabl y the most valuabl e for the int ern him
or hers elf becaus e it calls on the student to think about and articul at e
what has been learned during the int erns hi p.
9ere the student get s a chance to critici"e the organi"ati on as a whol e
and to eval uat e its treat me nt of him or her, as well as other empl oyees .
!he student also has the opport uni t y to eval uat e his or her own over all
perfor mance as well as the quality of particul ar techni cal writing
document s produced.
!his section offers a unique chance to reflect on professi onal identi t y,
manage me nt , and practice in the workpl ace, as well as the nat ur e and
qualit y of techni cal document s .
Appendix
!he appendi allows the student to include sampl es of writt en work as
well as lett er s of eval uat i on, perti nent corres ponde nc e, and other
document s of inter es t . !he probl em with compl eti ng this section usually
turns out to be that student s have either too much or not enough to
include. 8nly mat eri al directly referr ed to in other sections of the report
should be included- all writing sampl es and other document s included
must be identified as well as have their significance epl ained.
!he student shoul d be selective, including the most pertinent and best
sampl es of his or her work.
The Internship Report
Page 3
Additional Sections
+n a lengt hy report , one which includes all of thes e sections, each
devel oped at some lengt h, addi tional element s such as a cover page,
title page, tabl e of cont ent s, and abst r act would be appropri at e. +ndees,
summari es, and resume s might also be included. !he int erns hi p report
cont ent and format shoul d be ad#ust ed to the int erns hi p itself. Some
int erns hi ps might not have been et ensi ve or vari ed enough to provide
mat eri al for all of the sections descri bed above.
Conclusion
!he int erns hi p is a key element in the techni cal writing student ' s
professi onal prepar at i on. :nd the interns hi p report is a key element in
the interns hi p eperi ence. +t is through writing the report that the
mat uri t y and professi onal eperi ence the student gained as an intern
becomes fully reali"ed. +t is through the report that the student eercises
his or her critical and anal ytical faculties and demons t r at es newly found
skill and identi t y as a professi onal communi cat or.
(Internship report.doc)
Revised 21 a! 2""2