Lab Report Guidelines

Lab Report Guidelines Student Instructions

Overview

After performing a lab, you will write a lab report. Writing the lab report is an exercise that should help you in several ways. It will help you make sure you understand what you did in lab, and teach the basics of scientific and technical report writing.

These skills will prepare you to be successful in your technical career, where applied writing skills are increasingly important for success, especially as you move beyond entry level positions.

Some reports will be written by each student individually. Others will be written by the lab group as a team. Because a group report represents all members of the team, and all members receive the same grade for the report, each group member should know what the report says and be able to discuss it.

Submit on time

Lab reports are due midnight on the day before your next lab. If you have a lab on Tuesday, then your report is due online the following Monday at 11:59PM. On-time submission is essential. If reports are not submitted at the time due, they are late.

Late Reports

The TA will deduct twenty points for each week the report is late. A late report will be accepted by the TA up to two weeks after its due date. An automatic ZERO will be received after that 2-week period. There will be no exceptions.

Submit electronic copy

Students are required to hand in lab reports electronically via the EG Web site: http://eg.poly.edu. The Lab TAs will print two copies of the report and give one to the lab grading committee, and the other to the Section's Writing Professor. The TA grading committee grade will be based on the technical content of the report.

The other copy will go to your section's Writing Professor. The writing professor's grade will be based on logical report structure (following the outline provided), and correct use of standard English (paragraph and sentence structure, grammar and spelling.)

In your own words

Lab reports must be original and unique to the individual or the group handing in the report. Simply stated, the lab report is to be written in your own words. There are two major reasons for this:

1. Educational: You will develop the skills and knowledge you need only if you do your own work. If you hand in passages copied directly from the manual or another student's paper, or downloaded from a web site, you will not learn what you need to know. Keep in mind that the author(s) of a report are expected to be able to explain the meaning of text and graphics that appear in the report.
2. Ethical: Claiming someone else's text, data or graphics as your own is called plagiarism and is a form of fraud. In academic or professional settings, this can have very serious consequences. (See NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering's Code of Conduct for further information.)

Correct use of sources:

At times, you will use a source outside your own experience -- for example, to give background information in the Introduction section. At these times, put the information in your own words (paraphrase), and cite your source. If you need to use a direct quotation, then indicate the quotation with quotation marks in addition to citing the source.

(See the EG1004 Online Manual for more information.)

The Components of a Lab Report

As much as possible, your lab report should be one Word document or file and not a combination of different files. The report will contain the following sections:

Title Page Introduction Data/Observations Original Data

Abstract Procedures Discussion/Conclusions

Title Page

Each lab report must have a Title Page in order to be accepted. It is recommended that the title page be the first page of your Word document, i.e. begin typing every report with its own Title Page. This will make submitting the electronic copy of the report easier for the student and the lab TA. (After typing the title page, choose the Insert menu in MS Word, then choose Break and Page break.)

The Title Page must include ALL of the following:

Lab title Writer/Author of the report Date of experiment Due date

Course name and section letter Group members' names Group letter (if assigned)

Abstract

The abstract is generally 1 paragraph in length. Often 2 or 3 good sentences are sufficient for this paragraph. The abstract tells the reader the purpose of the experiment, which is called the experimental objective (what you set out to do), and the results of the experiment.

Note: The experimental objective is the engineering or design goal. This is different from the educational objective, given at the beginning of each chapter, which tells students what they should be learning.

Sample of a correct abstract, stating experimental objective and results:

The objective of this lab was to determine the water content of a given soil sample. The water content for the given soil sample ranged from 14.3% to 14.8%. The average value for the water content of the soil sample was 14.6%

Sample of an incorrect opening sentence:

The objective of this lab was to learn about testing soil samples for water content.

Introduction

The Introduction is typically 2 or 3 paragraphs in length. This section gives the reader some background information on the scientific and/or engineering principles used in the experiment. In addition, real life applications of the principles, concepts, and equations used in the experiment should be briefly discussed.

Sample beginning of an Introduction section:

The water content for soil is a very important characteristic of soil.

It affects many other characteristics of soil such as strength, plasticity and durability. Some soils such as clays and silty clays retain a lot of water and as such have high water contents. Other soils such as sands do not retain water

and have low water contents….

Procedures

The Procedures section is typically about ½ to ¾ of a page in length. It is an explanation of what actual steps were performed in the experiment, and how they were carried out. Notice that the steps are given in chronological order, and are described in paragraph format.

Sample Procedures

The soil sample was prepared in advance by the TA

who had added water to the sample and mixed it. The tin was marked for identification purposes and weighed on the scale. It was noted that the tin was weighed without the cover. This weight was then recorded. Next, some of the prepared soil was placed in the tin and the tin was weighed again. This weight was then recorded. The oven temperature was set at 150°F and the tin containing the soil was placed in the oven and allowed to dry for at least 16 hours. The tin was then removed from the oven and weighed again. This weight was recorded and the water content calculated. The soil sample was then removed from the tin and discarded. For comparative purposes the weights from other teams' experiments

were obtained and the water contents of their soil samples calculated.

Data/Observations

The Data/Observations section states what was actually observed by the team during the experiment. It also presents the actual data obtained. This section should contain at least one solid paragraph of text, plus graphics. These questions should be answered in your Data/ bservations:

• What did you observe?
• What were the results?

Be sure to include the tables, graphs, or diagrams that best convey the data so it is understandable to the reader. All tables and diagrams should be properly labeled, e.g.

Table 1 or Figure 1.

Important: The Data/Observations section only states what you saw – it does not explain the reasons for the observations.

Sample data table:

Data/Observations

Discussion/Conclusions

The Discussion/Conclusions section is generally about ¾ of a page in length. Here, your observations and data from the previous section will be explained and analyzed.

What do your observations mean? How did you evaluate your results? What recommendations would you make for the experiment? Also answer any questions that are asked at the end of the lab in the online manual may be answered here, if appropriate.

Excerpt from sample report: Discussion/Conclusion

The results show that the amount of water in the

soil sample was approximately 5.30g while the weight of dry soil was calculated to be 36.29g. This meant that the original sample had water content of 14.6%. The results form other students' experiments revealed water contents of 14.3% and 14.8%. Thus, there was a variation of 0.5% between the computed values. This variation is very small and may have been caused by an error in the

scale….

Original Data

The Original Data section of the report is required to receive a grade from the TA. The purpose of this section is to substantiate your findings. It also proves your attendance for the experiment. All original data must be signed by one of your laboratory TAs at the time the experiment was performed.

Summary

In summary, a good lab report is an objective account of the lab experiment or design project you have performed. The information in the report should be well organized, following the logical structure provided (Title page, Abstract, Introduction, Procedures, Observations and Conclusions.) The tone of the report should be objective and professional sounding, which means that emotional responses, humorous comments, and slang are omitted. The report should be understandable to readers such as business people who are not necessarily technical experts, as well as to other engineers or programmers. Economy of language is important. This means stating the most important points clearly. Refrain from filling the page with vague generalities or needless repetitions. Standard English and correct grammar are expected.

Help with Lab Reports

Your section's Writing Professor and your TA are available to help with any questions or problems you have. Use the comments and corrections made on your reports to improve your writing skills from week to week. Take advantage of the Writing Center (2 MTC, 9th Floor), where trained writing consultants are available to help you with correctly written English and with the specific requirements of lab reports. This help is available free of charge to all NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering students.

The Basic Structure of Lab Reports

A Laboratory Report has the following parts:

1. Title Page
Lab title and number, author's name, group members' names, date of lab, course section
2. Abstract
• What was the experimental objective (or purpose) of the lab?
• What were the results of the lab? State briefly.
3. Introduction
• What was the background (or context) of the experiment?
• What were the specifications for the experiment or project?
• What scientific principles or engineering concepts are used?
• What applications are there in society for these principles and concepts?
4. Procedures
• What materials were used?
• What essential steps were performed in the lab, and how were they done?
5. Data/Observations
• What were the measurements or the outcome of the experiment?
• Describe the results verbally.
• Include tables and graphs where appropriate
6. Discussion/Conclusions
• What logical conclusions can be drawn from the collected data and observations?
• What worked and did not work according to the criteria?
• What improvements (if any) can be made to the product or design?
7. Original Data
• Signed by TA