User Test Report (Create Your Own Report)

This document will be determined by your choice of major. The format and contents may look different from other students’ reports. The following are suggestions:

Instruction Manual (Engineering, Computer Science, Graphic Design)

Description/Definition (Physical Therapy, Anatomy, Computer Science, Visual Arts)

Lab Report (Physical and Life Science Majors—preMed included, Nursing)

Case Study (Math, Physical Therapy, Nursing, Criminal Justice, Social Sciences—preLaw included)

Recommendation Report (Business, Accounting, Physical Therapy, Communications)

Lesson Plan (Education Majors)

Literary Analysis(Liberal Arts/Sciences--Humanities is included)

Research Argument (Rhetoric and Composition)

Objective

Create a document that is “typical” within your chosen field (major/career). This will involve you interacting with experts, materials, and research that may help you post-college.

Requirements

The layout and sections may be different for everyone so you may need to get clarification on your particular document.

  • Cover page/title page—may be necessary
  • Abstract or summary will most likely be necessary in all cases
  • Table of contents—may be necessary
  • Introduction or purpose (may also be called objective)
  • Methods or procedure or process—what are the steps someone needs to take to duplicate your activity
  • Results—what should the end goal be with this document?
  • Conclusions/Discussion/Reflection—after the results have been discussed, what is the next step? What is in store in the future? What could be done better?
  • References/Bibliography/Works Cited/Notes—this section is absolutely mandatory. You need to cite any sources (including the expert interview) according to the style guide appropriate to your field (MLA, APA, Chicago, for example). This will also include any graphics you take from the Internet.
  • Appendix(ces)/Tables/Charts—if these could not be inserted (smoothly) within your other sections, you may use a separate section at the end. You will need to use wording to indicate where these items are located.
  • 4 full pages of text minimum. This length does not include a page of references or notes or graphics. This page count assumes single spacing with the occasional double space between sections or paragraphs.
  • The writing must be clear and full. It must be appropriate to the discipline with any jargon explained. Don’t forget to proofread and edit.
  • Turnitin and similarity reports: strive to get the similarity percentage as low as possible. Acceptable levels may differ depending on the field but at no time will a document with a score higher than 20% be acceptable. Furthermore, if the similarity report shows word-for-word passages from other students, it will be grounds for plagiarism. You may use textbooks and classmates for help but you may not copy any of their words, designs, or ideas. Lastly, it may take 24 hours for Turnitin to process a document. You must be prepared to submit your work early enough so that you can check it and resubmit it before the due date. Technical difficulties at the last minute will not excuse you.

Getting started

Before you can even attempt this task you must first learn what kinds of documents are used in your field of career/major. Once you have identified your major field of study, seek out an expert in that field (or as closely related as possible). Conduct an interview with that person. This is a great opportunity to find out more about the career (and whether or not it is still right for you). Although you are gathering as many details about the career as possible, you’ll want to direct the conversation towards a technical document—essentially, what people in this field use as an official document. It may also be helpful to acknowledge this assignment to help the expert get a better idea of what you’re looking for. When you are finished with the interview, thank the person and reflect upon your findings. Be sure to write down their name, title, date of the meeting, as well as any other notes. This may be your first contact within the field and you may need to talk to others to get a better idea of the task.

Grading

A-level documents will include all the requirements, be on time, indicate a thorough treatment of the activity, and be submitted to Turnitin with 5% or less similarity.

B-level documents will include all the requirements, be on time, indicate a satisfactory treatment of the activity, and be submitted to Turnitin with 10% or less similarity.

C-level documents will include all the requirements, be on time, indicate a rough treatment of the activity, and be submitted to Turnitin with 20% or less similarity.

D-level documents may be missing one or more requirements, be slightly late, have a rough treatment of the activity, and be submitted to Turnitin. NOTE: documents with high levels of similarity may be subject to failure upon further investigation (see below).

F-level documents may be missing more than one requirement, may be late, have a confusing treatment of the activity, and may not be submitted to Turnitin. NOTE: documents with high levels of similarity may be subject to failure upon further investigation (see below).

0-level documents may fulfill any of the above criteria BUT also be more than 2 days late and/or contain material that is copied from another student and/or has been inadequately cited.