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TitleÖ |
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describes the specific content of the lab concisely
but with enough detail to get the main ideas across to the reader.
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AbstractÖ |
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summarizes the gist of each section of the report in
a sentence (or two for an especially complex section). |
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arranges the sentences in the order the sections are
presented in the report. |
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stays within the maximum words allowed (usually 200
words, but be sure toÝ adhere to the requirements of your class). |
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IntroductionÖ |
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opens by establishing the learning context for the lab
(the scientific concept or procedure that the lab is about). |
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provides sufficient background for the learning context:Ý
telling what you know about the learning context from your lab manual,
textbook, class notes, and (in more sophisticated labs) research into
the pertinent scientific literature. |
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presents the goals of the lab:Ý (1) the objective(s)
of the lab procedure and (2) the overall purpose, which links the
objective(s) to the learning context.Ý (The purpose can be in the
form of a statement or a question.) |
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clearly states the hypothesis. |
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provides sufficient and logical reasoning supporting
the hypothesis (based on the science of the learning context). |
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Materials and MethodsÖ |
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clearly identifies all the key materials used in the
lab (depending on the format you have been assigned to use, this could
be in a bulleted list or integrated within the description of the
method). |
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provides a concise, step-by-step description of the
specific procedures followed in the lab. |
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gives enough detail that the experiment could be repeated
by a competent scientist in the field. |
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avoids unnecessary details, particularly full descriptions
of standard procedures that a competent scientist would already know. |
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follows the format specified for this lab course. |
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focuses only on reporting the data, successfully avoiding
giving any results. |
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ResultsÖ |
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begins with a sentence or two describing the overall
findings of the experimental procedure. |
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presents only those visuals--tables, graphs, or drawings--that
are necessary to tell the "story" of the data. |
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includes verbal descriptions of the findings for each
visual:Ý a statement of either the summary of the visual or the most
important point of the visual. |
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supports the findings (where necessary) with additional
details, such as statistics, from the visuals. |
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presents the findings in an order that best represents
the data:Ý chronological order, order of importance, order of generality. |
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includes citations to the visuals in the appropriate
form. |
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reports only the data from the experiment, successfully
avoiding any explanations or conclusions about the data. |
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DiscussionÖ |
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begins with a statement of whether or not the overall
results support or do not support the hypothesis. |
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provides a sufficient and logical explanation (including,
where appropriate, a treatment of possible sources of error) for the
relationship between the results and the hypothesis. |
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compares (where appropriate) lab results to results
of the same or similar experiments (from other students in the lab
or in articles from the scientific literature) and explains the comparative
results. |
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addresses other pertinent considerations appropriate
to the Discussion. |
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ConclusionÖ |
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directly states what you have learned about the science
of learning context from doing the experimental procedure. |
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gives enough details to convince the reader that you
learned what you claim to have learned. |
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PresentationÖ |
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uses the appropriate forms for citations and references
(ask your teacher if you're not sure what the appropriate forms are). |
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uses the correct format (titles, captions, etc.) for
the tables, graphs, and drawings. |
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is written in a scientific style (sentences
should be clear and to the point). |
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uses verb tenses appropriate to each section. |
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is clear of grammatical errors (you should read through
it twice just to look for these errors). |
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is clear of spelling errors (use the spell check on
your computer). |
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has all the necessary headings (each section of the
report should have a heading). |
