Laboratory Report Rubric PDF

Preview

Summary

Rubric for lab...

Description

Laboratory Report IMPORTANT NOTES:  Individually, each student must submit their own lab report. Although students are working in a group (data collected is the same), students’ individual analysis of the data will be different. This means that if two lab reports were found to be identical/ similar, both students will receive a Zero. Individual work must be original to each student and free of plagiarism. 

Submission will be online through blackboard under assignment (please see syllabus for lab report topics and due dates)



Structure of the Lab report, requirement, and score can be found in the LAB Report Rubric Laboratory Report Overview*

This document describes a general format for lab reports that you can adapt as needed. The goal of lab reports is to document your findings and communicate their significance. A good lab report does more than present data; it demonstrates the writer's comprehension of the concepts behind the data. Merely recording the expected and observed results is not sufficient; you should also identify how and why differences occurred, explain how they affected your experiment, and shows your understanding of the principles the experiment was designed to examine. Bear in mind that a format, however helpful, cannot replace clear thinking and organized writing. You still need to organize your ideas carefully and express them coherently. In order to assist you in writing your laboratory report the following should serve as a rubric for the construction of and grading of your report. This ensures general uniformity in the composition of the report and in the grading of the report. Lab Report Rubric: Standards Organization

Title Page

Abstract

Description The format should be as follows: 12 point font, Times New Roman, with 1.5 spacing. All sections of the lab report should be in a single word document. The title page should be a one-sentence description of the content of the paper. It should be straightforward, informative and less than 10 words. Immediately following the title the contributing members of the experimental team should be listed. The author of the report should be listed first and the name in bold. EXAMPLE: Comparative Toxicity of Branched and Straight Chain Alkyl Functionality in Ionic Liquids Catherine McEntee, Jinhee Gwon, Xing Li and James F. Wishart The abstract summarizes four essential aspects of the report: (1) The purpose of the experiment (sometimes expressed as the purpose of the report) (2) key findings, (3) the significance of the research and (4) major conclusions. The abstract often also includes a brief reference to theory or methodology. The information should clearly enable readers to decide whether they need to read your whole report. The abstract should be one

Points 5

5

5

Introduction

Materials & Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion

References

paragraph of 100-200 words. This section is usually written last, but located at the beginning of the report. The introduction has the following functions:  Identifies a question which they found interesting and testable  Summarizes what is currently known in the field. This should include whatever background theory, previous research or formulas the reader needs to know  Utilizes literature searches to develop a hypothesis which was reasonable and well substantiated with research. The materials and methods section explains the design of the experiment with sufficient detail for another researcher to replicate the experiment. Using clear paragraph structure, explain all steps in the order they actually happened, not as they were supposed to happen. You do not need to list the materials, only include what materials were used to carry out the experiment while explaining the steps. NOTE: You should not report results or use reasoning to explain the results in this section, simply state what you did, not what happened. The results section in where observed results are summarized:  This section includes calculations, tables, charts and figures  All figures must be clearly labeled. Be sure that the choice of presentation of data is appropriate for what you are concluding. Include statistical analysis if the results lend themselves to it.  All significant results are explicitly stated in narrative form NOTE: No conclusions should be made on what the data might mean, that is for the discussion/conclusion sections. The discussion is the most important part of your report because here you show that you understand the experiment beyond the simple level of completing it. Explain. Analyze. Interpret. Comparisons between experiments and comparisons to results of authors mentioned in the introduction are stated. This part of the lab focuses on a question of understanding “What is the significance or meaning of the results?” The conclusion is a short summation of all observed and derived results. Errors are clearly identified and the impact of these errors on data and conclusions are also identified and discussed. Ideas for future study of the project’s topic along with suggestions for the project’s improvement are identified. A listing of documents used in support of the paper using APA format. Results from papers that are to be published may also be cited as “Personal Communication”. An Acknowledgements section may be included to thank individuals who helped but are not coauthors. Include your lab manual and any outside reading you have done. There should be a minimum of 10 references cited. APA format guide: http://citationmachine.net/index2.php?reqstyleid=2&newstyle=2&stylebox=2

10

15

20

30

5

5...