lab report

Lab Report Guidelines

Title Page Include the lab title, lab number, your Lab Group number, experiment date(s), course, instructor, University, team member names, and a brief summary of team member contributions. Format it so that it is centered in the page.

Introduction -Successfully provides background information and establishes the scientific concept of the lab

• The introduction serves to provide the reader with the necessary background information

needed to understand the experiment, establishes the scientific concepts, and provides the rationale for doing the experiment. Each usually consists of a paragraph.

• Background information - In this paragraph you provide the reader with information on what has been done in the past regarding your objective. It is your opportunity to inform the reader of the theory and/or key concepts the experiment will demonstrate or examine. It is also the place where you demonstrate your credibility by showing that you have done the necessary research to understand the topic. The background information paragraph of the Introduction can be thought of as a sales pitch. For example, “Previous work in the field of XYZ has shown that . . . These findings indicate that . . . An area that warrants further examination is. These statements should be leading up to your objective statement.

• Establish the scientific concept for the lab - State what the lab is about, that is, what scientific concept (theory, principle, procedure, etc.) you are supposed to be learning about by doing the lab. If you are having trouble writing the opening sentence of the report, you can try something like: "This laboratory experiment focuses on X…"; "This lab is designed to help students learn about, observe, or investigate, X…." Or begin with a definition of the scientific concept: "X is a theory that…."

• effectively presents the objectives and the rationale for performing the lab

The objective is the most important component to any experiment and lab report. It is a statement of the objective, goal, or purpose of the experiment. It is a one or two sentence answer to the question: “What do you hope to accomplish with this experiment?” Formulate your objective statement before you begin writing the report - invest some time In a paragraph, or more, write out the objectives of the lab in paragraph form and then describe the purpose of the lab: what it is that accomplishing the objectives will help you learn about the scientific concept of the lab. The objective(s) are what it is you are supposed to accomplish in the experimental procedure itself. The objective(s), therefore, is usually presented in terms of a specific verb that describes what you are supposed to be doing in the lab, such as to measure, to analyze, to determine, to test etc. Often, the objective(s) for the lab is given in the lab manual. If you

are having trouble phrasing the sentence about objectives, try something like: "The main objectives of this lab were to…"; "In this lab we were to…."

• rationale/purpose - provide the reader with the reason for performing the experiment (not ”because the TA told me too”). Identify what will be learned and why it is important. Focus your explanation on the science and how it relates to your objective.

The purpose/rationale of the lab is different in significant ways from its objective(s). Purpose provides the wider view; it answers the why question, why you are doing the lab in the first place. Instead of focusing just on the specific actions of the experimental procedure, purpose looks at the experimental procedure within the context of what you are supposed to be learning. If you are having trouble starting the sentence about the purpose of the lab, try saying something like this: "The objectives of this lab enabled me to learn about X by…"; "Performing these objectives helped me to understand X by…." To improve this part of the introduction, go back to what you have written about the scientific concept and look for a link between it and the activities you are expected to perform in the lab: what specifically about the scientific concept were these activities designed to teach you?

Materials & Methods • A good Methods section describes what you did in the lab in a way that is easy to

understand and detailed enough to be repeated. Record what you did to meet the Objective. Be specific enough such that someone could read your methods and have enough information to repeat your experiment. However, you don’t want to provide too much detail such that you overwhelm the reader with trivial information. Include information that might be unique to the experimental methodologies.

• The Procedures should be written in the past tense and the passive voice – e.g. “the sample was added to the test-tube”, and not “I added the sample to the test-tube”, nor “Add the sample to the test-tube”. You are reporting what was done, not giving instructions on how to do something.

Results • opens with effective statement of overall findings

Results sections typically begin with a brief overview of the findings. This is where you sum up your findings. Such a statement is typically a sentence or two. This summary will act as the opening sentence for the Results. If you had trouble getting the first sentence started, here are some possibilities: "The results of the lab show that …"; "The data from the experiments demonstrate that…"; "The independent variable X increased as Y and Z were….". The Results section is text based. Tables and figures do not comprise the Results section, they enhance it. In the Results section, you need to tell the reader what data you have collected, what the data means, and what the data shows. You should refer to figures and tables to aid in your presentation.

• present visuals clearly and accurately Figures and Tables should be numbered (figure should have captions, while tables should have headings) and should be referred to in the text before they appear in the report.

Graphs should have the x- and y-axes labeled and units designated along those axes. Images should have important parts of the image labeled or annotated.

• presents verbal findings clearly and with sufficient support The presentation of findings in words should be ordered according the order of the visuals, each visual being described in words. Each description should include a sentence or so summarizing the visual and then any details from the visual pertinent to the data from that visual. To make the verbal part of your Results better, follow this general outline: • Summary of overall findings of lab • Paragraph related to visual 1

o Sentence of overall finding from visual 1 o Sentence(s) with key details from the visual 1

• Paragraph related to visual 2 o Sentence of overall finding from visual 2 o Sentence(s) with key details from the visual 2

• Paragraph related to visual 3 o Sentence of overall finding from visual 3 o Sentence(s) with key details from the visual 3

Etc. • successfully integrates verbal and visual representations

The verbal representation of each visual should refer explicitly to the visual (Table 1, Figure 2, etc.). You should create the sense that the visual and the word representations of data are working together. The primary way of doing that is to cite the visuals in your verbal findings

Discussion • opens with effective statement of support of objectives

The Discussion section is where you explain the meaning and significance of the results presented in the Results section in terms of your Objective. The Discussion should start with a sentence or two in which you make a judgment as to whether you have met your objectives (from the Introduction), supported with qualifications, or not supported by the findings. You have gathered and presented the data to meet your Objective – now you need to organize the data and present it in a logical/clear way to lead the reader to your conclusions. You might think of yourself as a lawyer arguing a case. You also need to account for and explain the weaknesses in your study, for example errors between your values and known values, possible sources of error, simplifying assumptions you made, etc. There is a lot of information you could talk about, so limit yourself by focusing on that information that is relevant to your Objective.

• backs up statement with reference to appropriate findings After stating the judgment about meeting the objectives, you should provide specific evidence from the data in the Results to back up the judgment. The first key to improving this part of the Discussion is finding specific evidence reported in the Results that you can use to back up your judgment about meeting your objectives. The second key is to describe the evidence in such a way that the reader can clearly see that there is sufficient evidence that supports your judgment about meeting the objectives. Be specific. Point out specific evidence from the Results and show how that evidence contributed to your judgments.

• sufficiently addresses other issues pertinent to lab

A low rating in this area means that the instructor thinks that there are other interesting issues you could have discussed about your findings. Other issues that may be appropriate to address are (1) any problems that occurred or sources of error in your lab procedure that may account for any unexpected results; (2) how your findings compare to the findings of other students in the lab and an explanation for any differences; (3) suggestions for improving the lab.

Conclusion • convincingly describes what has been learned in the lab

A good Conclusion takes you back to the larger purpose of the lab as stated in the Introduction: to learn something about the scientific concept, the primary reason for doing the lab. The Conclusion is your opportunity to show your lab instructor what you learned by doing lab and writing the lab report. You can improve your Conclusion first by making a clearer statement of what you learned. Go back to the purpose of the lab as you presented it in your Introduction. You are supposed to learn something about the scientific concept or theory or principle or important scientific procedure that the lab is about. If you are not sure if you have stated what you have learned directly enough, read your first paragraph to see if your reader would have any doubt about what you have learned. Simply saying you learned something is not necessarily going to convince the reader that you actually did learn it. Demonstrate that you did indeed learn what you claimed to have learned by adding more details to provide an elaboration on the basic statement. Read over the Results and Discussion and jot down some notes for further details on what you have learned. Look carefully at the statement of what you have learned and underline any words or phrases that you could "unpack," explain in more detail. Use this brainstorming as a way of helping you to find details that make your Conclusion more convincing. If you think you need to do more to convince your reader that you have learned what you say you have learned, provide more details in the Conclusion. For example, compare what you know now with what you knew before doing the lab. Describe specific parts of the procedure or data that contributed to your learning. Discuss how you may be able to apply what you have learned in the lab to other situations in the future.

Presentation of your Report • citations and references adhere to proper format

You need to properly cite your references both in the text as well as a reference list at the end of the report. Different fields tend to have different styles of documentation, that is, the way you cite a source and the way you represent the source in the References. For example, biologists use the documentation style of the Council of Biological Editors, and chemists use the style of the American Chemical Society. If you don't know what style you are expected to use in your reports, check with your lab instructor.

• format of tables and figures is correct

Tables and figures should be done to professional standards, such as proper headings and captions and numbering. Figures should be numbered and have a caption below the figure. Tables should be numbered and have a caption above the table. Images should have important parts labeled, marked, or annotated.

• report is written in scientific style: clear and to the point Style in this case refers to your choice of words and sentence structure. The style of science writing strives to be clear and to the point. You should avoid using grand thesaurus words and long, artfully convoluted sentences. As to choice of words, science writing uses words that its audience (other scientists in the field) will readily understand. To outsiders, the scientific vocabulary of this language looks like a lot of jargon. But the point is that scientific words that are obscure to outsiders are usually not obscure to the insiders that comprise the scientific audience. Your writing should sound like scientific writing. This means that you should go ahead and use proper scientific terminology, but you should also choose plain, everyday words for non-scientific terminology. Your sentences should be clear and readable for your educated audience. Avoid excessively long and meandering sentences. But don't use a lot of very short sentences, either. Vary your sentence length. If you have difficulties with making your sentences readable, read over them aloud, noting the sentences that seem to be too long or are hard to read. Rewrite those sentences so that they flow more easily. Also, avoid using quotations. Scientists very rarely quote from source materials; they do so only when a particular wording is important to the point they are trying to make. Using direct quotations is appropriate to English papers, but not to lab reports.

• grammar and spelling are correct Grammar errors. It's important that you understand that the source of grammar problems is not, for most of us, a matter of not knowing the rules of grammar. So don't worry about that. The source of most grammatical errors is simply not seeing them in your own writing. We usually read our own writing for the meaning that the words convey and not for the words themselves. Correcting grammar problems, then, is usually a matter of learning to read our writing differently. Read your lab report at least twice specifically looking for errors in grammar. You should focus on the words and sentences themselves. You don't need any special knowledge for detecting and correcting most grammar problems. If you do read for error, you will probably be able to spot problems and correct them without having to look anything up in a handbook.

Spelling errors. Sometimes, there are words that the spell-checker does not catch because they are words that are actually spelled correctly but are used for the wrong meaning, like using "to" for "too" and "that" for "than." You should be able to spot these misuses of words by reading over the report looking for error, as described under "grammar errors" immediately above.