Writing Lab Reports Writing Consultant Presentation EG 1003: Intro to Engineering and Design NYU’s Polytechnic School of Engineering.

Writing Lab Reports

Writing Consultant PresentationEG 1003: Intro to Engineering and DesignNYU’s Polytechnic School of Engineering

Writing Lab Reports

Purpose of a lab report

Format

Available resources

Consider the writing situation

Audience: Other engineers

Purpose: Discuss significance of experimental results

Engineering needs reliable knowledge

1. Use what you can support with evidence.

2. Report only the results of your specific trial, not general ideas

3. Avoid claims that are beyond your evidence.

Analyze experiment, not yourself

Do not report what you “learned”:

your data is not the results of a quiz!

Report whether you reached your

experimental objective

1. Write complete sentences in passive voice

2. When using graphics, label and describe

3. Do not “cut and paste” from another source, even the Lab Manual

4. Print and proofread before you upload

5. Hand in report on time

Practice writing like a professional

Writing Lab Reports

Purpose of a lab report

Format

Available resources

Standard format conserves effort

1. Title page2. Abstract3. Introduction4. Procedure5. Data/Observations6. Discussion/Conclusions7. Works Cited

Logic, not time, organizes the report

AbstractBrief trajectory of the report

IntroductionBackground information to

understand the hypothesis you test in the experiment

Discussion/ConclusionsBased on the Introduction, did the Procedure produce the expected

results? What is next?

ProcedureThe steps you

took to test the hypothesis

Data/ObservationsWhat you saw when you used the procedure

Logic, not time, organizes the report

AbstractBrief trajectory of the report

IntroductionBackground information to

understand the hypothesis you test in the experiment

Discussion/ConclusionsBased on the Introduction, did the Procedure produce the expected

results? What is next?

ProcedureThe steps you

took to test the hypothesis

Data/ObservationsWhat you saw when you used the procedure

Summarizes the experimental objective (“what you did”) – tells

result and its significance

Logic, not time, organizes the report

AbstractBrief trajectory of the report

IntroductionBackground information to

understand the hypothesis you test in the experiment

Discussion/ConclusionsBased on the Introduction, did the Procedure produce the expected

results? What is next?

ProcedureThe steps you

took to test the hypothesis

Data/ObservationsWhat you saw when you used the procedure

Presents concepts and equations that come up later

Logic, not time, organizes the report

AbstractBrief trajectory of the report

IntroductionBackground information to

understand the hypothesis you test in the experiment

Discussion/ConclusionsBased on the Introduction, did the Procedure produce the expected

results? What is next?

ProcedureThe steps you

took to test the hypothesis

Data/ObservationsWhat you saw when you used the procedure

Allows an outsider to verify results

Objective, without

evaluation or

calculations

Logic, not time, organizes the report

AbstractBrief trajectory of the report

IntroductionBackground information to

understand the hypothesis you test in the experiment

Discussion/ConclusionsBased on the Introduction, did the Procedure produce the expected

results? What is next?

ProcedureThe steps you

took to test the hypothesis

Data/ObservationsWhat you saw when you used the procedure

Analyze and interpret how well the hypothesis was

supported

1. Abstract: State experiment clearly, avoiding educational goals

2. Introduction: provide important knowledge needed to understand what should happen

3. Data/Observations: Explain what happened so well that the report is like a movie

4. Conclusion: Analyze your data to explain close your test came to the ideal case in the Introduction

Learn to excel within this format

Writing Lab Reports

Purpose of a lab report

Format

Available resources

1. Lab Manual (http://manual.eg.poly.edu)

• “Specifications for Writing Your Lab Reports”

• “Annotated Lab Report”

2. The Writing Center (JAB 373)

• (718) 260-3425

• [email protected]

3. Your friendly neighborhood writing consultant

Where to find help

Writing Lab Reports

Purpose of a lab report

Style and format

Available resources