Report Requirements
All students are required to write and submit 3 satisfactory work reports. The due dates of the required reports depend on which stream you are in. Note: If you have stream switched or are no longer in the same stream as you started, it is your responsibility to get enrolled into upcoming work reports. Failure to do so may impact your graduation.
The Submission Terms are as follows for Stream 4 Students:
Mechanical Engineering:
2A (WKRPT100), 2B (WKRPT200), and 3A (WKRPT300)
Mechatronics Engineering:
2A (WKRPT100), 2B (WKRPT200), and 3A (WKRPT300)
The Submission Terms are as follows for Stream 8 Students:
Mechanical Engineering:
2B (WKRPT100), 3A (WKRPT200), and 3B (WKRPT300)
Mechatronics Engineering:
2B (WKRPT100), 3A (WKRPT200), and 3B (WKRPT300)
Information about writing and submitting work reports:
Standard Report Submission
Non-confidential work reports must be submitted to the Learn dropbox prior to 11:59 pm on the 3rd Monday of the term. (for example, if the first day of classes is on Jan 9th the report will be due Jan 23). WKRPT100 cannot be considered confidential.
Any report that is submitted after the deadline will be treated as a fail, and receive a mark of 38%. This grade will not be included in your term average but will be in your fail count until it is cleared in a future term.
Work Reports should not be classified as confidential unless absolutely necessary.
Confidential Report - Marked by the Department Delegate
If your employer feels that your report contains confidential/proprietary information, you have the option of handing in a Confidential Report, marked by the department delegate.
To submit your report, you will hand in a hard-copy along with a completed Form 1 - WORK REPORT CONFIDENTIALITY AGREEMENT to the physical hand-in box located around the corner from E7-3322 (by NE staircase). You will also need to upload Form 1, which will be signed to the appropriate Dropbox in LEARN. These reports will follow the normal report submission deadline, 3rd Monday of the term.
Confidential Report - Marked by Employer
For those students submitting confidential marked by employer report, please reach out to mme-academic-services@uwaterloo.ca. If your marker does not have PEng, they will need to be approved to mark. Please be sure to include their credentials (i.e. copy of their degree or LinkedIn profile) and contact information.
Your marker will need to complete Form 2 - The Employer Evaluation Request. Once complete, it is the student's responsibility to hand this into the Confidential dropbox in Learn by the specified deadline indicated by the instructor (typically 2 weeks after the standard deadline).
Only one of your required work term reports may be 'Confidential, Marked by Employer'. If your current employer is not willing to allow a department delegate to mark the report, then you must write a "Self-Study" work report on the topic totally unrelated to your place of employment.
Topics for Work Reports
Selecting a Suitable Topic:Ideally, your report will describe a technical task or project that you completed during your work term. The report, however, can also be based on a prior work placement, work completed for a student team, or on a technical topic of interest (called a self-study report). The important point is that the report must meet two acceptable standards:
- With the exception of WKRPT100, the report must have analytic content. It must describe a challenge or problem (this is the purpose of the report), what methods were considered to meet the challenge, which one was selected, and how it was implemented it (this is the analysis), what the results were, and the main conclusions and recommendations.
- Generally, reports without a critical engineering analysis, such as descriptions of processes, systems, equipment or mathematical models or a literature or web page review;are unacceptable work report topics.
Note:Many students have the misconception that a decision matrix is a required part of a work report. This is not the case. While a decision matrix can be a useful tool during the design process, it is usually not required.
Content and Formatting Guidelines (WKRPT100)
The intention of WKRPT100 is to communicate technical information to other professionals. In difference to a full work term report, WKRPT100 is shorter and is not required to contain any analysis or arrive at any conclusions. The marking will be done with the intent of providing feedback to students and requiring them to fix and resubmit the report before the end of the term.
Please see this document for Guidelines for WKRPT100.
Content and Formatting Guidelines (WKRPT200, WKRPT300)
The report must meet acceptable standards of technical communication. In this regard, there are several sources of information that you should be reviewed carefully.
- Guidelines for Technical Report Formatting(PPT): Some deviations from this format are acceptable, with the exception of the order and organization of the front matter, referencing, and a stated objective. Presenting a neat, logical, consistent format is more important than conforming to an arbitrary standard, and clear communication is always more important than anything.
- Guidelines for Technical Report Writing(PPT)
- Mechanical Work Report Template A (DOC) and Work Report Template B(DOC): These templates are a guide/example only.
- Mechatronics Work Report Template A (DOC) and Work Report Template B (D0C): These templates are a guide/example only.
Note: Students are required to clearly define the role they played in the project and precisely what help was provided. This is done via the Letter of Submittal. Please do not write: "This report was prepared and written by me and I would like to thank Jane Smith for her help." Explain who suggested the project, what your job was, and precisely what help Jane Smith gave. Was she your boss or an assistant? Did she help you, or did you help her? How do we contact her?Your Letter of Submittal must be signed.
For example:
"I would like to acknowledge the help of Mrs. Jane Smith, Head of Engineering, who defined the purpose of the project, helped me choose the test methods, and proofread my final report. My role in the project was to select and calibrate test equipment, make the measurements, collect and analyze the data, and write the report. The project lasted 3 months. Mrs. Smith can be contacted at (905) 555-1234. I would particularly like to thank Mr. John Doe, who provided computer code for analyzing the test data, and Mr. John Buck who typed the first three drafts of this report."
WORK REPORT MARKING
The focus of the marking process changes with each report:
WKRPT100 will focus mainly on formatting and technical writing to communicate information. The marking will be done with the intent of providing feedback to students and requiring them to fix and resubmit the report before the end of the term.
WKRPT200 will focus mainly on technical writing. The marking will be done with the intent of providing feedback to students and requiring them to fix and resubmit the report before the end of the term.
WKRPT300 will focus on analytical content and technical writing. In an acceptable report, students will need to demonstrate an acceptable level of proficiency in both areas.
WKRPT400 will focus on analytical content and technical writing. In an acceptable report, students will need to demonstrate a good level of proficiency in both areas.
Common Work Report Error Checklist
Note on Plagiarism: Plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and, not crediting the work of others is an academic offense that can result in severe penalties. For more information, review the academic integrity tutorial from the library, and Integrity for Students from the Provost's Office.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I contact the UG Office to get my work report topic approved?
The UG office will not approve or disapprove of a work report topic, because the report marking is NOT based on the quality of the topic selected. Marking is based on the technical content (application of engineering principles), and on a demonstrated proficiency in technical writing. More information about topic selection can be found in the ‘Content and Formatting Guidelines’ section.
Can I submit more than one Confidential - Marked by employer report?
No, you are only allowed one marked by employer report. But there is no limit on the number of confidential - marked by a department delegate you can submit.
Where can I obtain a sample report?
We do not provide sample reports to students. Guidelines for report preparation are provided in the ‘Work Report Content and Formatting Guidelines’ section. Further, WKRPT200 submissions are considered to be a formative assessment, and the marking is done with the intent of providing feedback on how to correctly report writing, style, formatting, and structure. Having completed WKRPT200, it is assumed that students now have a model on which to base their 2nd and 3rd work reports.
What happens if my report is assessed a resubmit? (49%)
A resubmit is NOT the same as a fail. A resubmit is simply a mechanism by which your marker can provide you with the opportunity to correct some deficiencies in your report.
If assessed a resubmit, it is best to review the comments made, and if necessary, meet with the marker to discuss. Simply address the comments, and resubmit a corrected copy on or before the last day of classes. If the marker's comments are suitably addressed in the resubmitted report, a grade will be assigned.
Note: The most common reasons for a resubmit decision on a work report are improper referencing, and no stated objective.Every report must have in-text referencing, and a clearly stated report objective: both in the introduction.
What happens if my report is assessed as unacceptable? (38%)
If assessed as Unacceptable, the marker will still provide feedback. We will not accept a corrected report during the term in which it was graded as Unacceptable.
You are permitted to correct the deficiencies in the report and to submit it to clear the fail in a future term. You may only do this once, if the corrected report is also assessed as unacceptable, it cannot be submitted again.
Please coordinate with your Academic advisor to ensure you are enrolled in the appropriate WKRPT course in order to hand in the corrected report.
Can I submit a report on something other than the traditional format (i.e. a case study, research paper, operating manual, etc.)?
Yes. An acceptable work report would be any one of a number of types of technical document (i.e. research paper, case study, etc). As long as the submission meets guidelines for technical writing and analytical content, it will be accepted for marking.
When will I get feedback?
Ideally, feedback will be provided before the 40th day of lectures or about 10 weeks after the start of the term. Those with online submissions will receive their feedback online. Those with confidential submissions will be contacted by the Academic Advisor when feedback has been returned.