Interim Report

 

The project is a different thing than the formal course requirements. They concern speaking and writing. The project itself is a commitment made by the partners to work together to accomplish something. No matter how successful their efforts, something can be created to pass on to others. The course requirements seek to cause what is done to be well worth doing.

There are three components to making the work worthwhile. First it is the students’ work. The goals are to be set by the project participants. Second it is a regular part of the course that all look for, read, and review material regarding the state of current technology. Finally, everyone speaks about what has been found or done, to the entire class.

Interim is an early version of the culminating written document that is to result from the project work. The interim-report target date, submission and review process is a tool to accomplish two things. Writing about the project forces concrete design results to occur. That is so because without them the report becomes only generalities. Involvement of someone outside the project at an intermediate stage helps focus the participants on what they want to communicate about their work.

The many different ways that project reports can be started and carried to conclusion begin with the thoughts of the participants. Still it is possible to focus on some poles that describe different approaches. One is a report to enable others to complete the design. Another seeks to persuade a potential supporter to commit to (continue, expand, finance) the effort. The former involves design detail, the latter emphasizes significance of the work. (The general term for seeking-to-persuade is proposal.)

What is convincing is results, not words. Tables, graphs, diagrams. References. Surveys of users or competitors. Diagrams. How well organized a report is. All contribute to the report’s possible future value to project participants.

Here are some possible report inputs, but these aren’t to be seen as absolutes:

Title. Keep it short and easy-to-understand. In a single word, it should be descriptive.

Section subtitles. (See Title.) Begin text with different words. Use them to explain what the section is about.

Introductory or background sections (Introduction). Stick to brief and general overview statements. Place the work to be described later in an overall context.

Detailed description of the problem being worked on.

References to the relevant sources supporting the project.


Many items in an interim report fit as well into a talk outline. Introduction begins both: it can consist of a) historical material; b) analytical background; and c) initial or early applications of the methods. Detailed description corresponds to body: this could be a section divided into why, how (what methods are in use), and applications (new things). Conclusion could focus on using the things described in the body.