Lab Report Instructions
Operating Procedures
Read the relevant laboratory documentation carefully prior to each lab meeting.
Pre-lab exercises are to be completed prior to the scheduled lab meeting.
Please treat the instruments with care, as they are very expensive.
Before leaving the lab:
Return components, leads, etc., to their correct storage locations.
Place your stool under the lab bench.
Turn off the power to all instruments and equipment on your lab bench.
Turn off the main power switch for your lab bench.
Clean your area of waste, leads, hookup wires, etc.
Failure to clean up and shut down your lab area can result in a loss of grade points.
General Information
Laboratory reports will be due as announced on the Moodle web pages. Usually at the beginning of the following lab meeting.
You will be expected to submit 8 brief reports and 2 formal reports. Brief reports will be graded on a scale of 0-10; formal reports will be graded on a scale of 0-25.
Late laboratory reports will not be accepted without the permission of the laboratory supervisor.
All lab reports must be turned in, in order to avoid a grade of “incomplete” for the course.
Permission must be obtained from the laboratory supervisor to make-up a lab. Permission to conduct an experiment at a time other than the regularly scheduled laboratory will only be granted in cases of illness or other extenuating circumstances.
While it is expected that you will conduct the experiments in pairs, reports are to be written separately and turned in on an individual basis. Your lab report must be entirely your own work.
Every report must include a cover sheet with the statement: “I have neither received nor provided any assistance in the writing of this lab report.” and your signature beneath.
Perspective and Writing Style
Over the past several years, there have been an increasing number of journal articles written in the plural first person, e.g., “In this paper, we show that …” Proponents of the use of the first person claim that it promotes the use of the active voice as opposed to the passive voice, and that the use of the passive voice is to be avoided. However, most journal papers are written in the third person omniscient, e.g., “In this paper, it is shown that …” Proponents of the use of the third person claim that the use of the first person is more subjective and less objective and professional than sentences crafted in the third person. As you choose your own writing style, you may find it helpful to examine and compare those of different authors in the publications of the various professional societies.
Pre-Lab Exercises
The Pre-Lab Exercises must be completed before the lab session begins. These exercises typically include such things as design, calculations, and simulation of part of the experiment. Working through the Pre-Lab Exercises can help in the trouble-shooting stage of the experiment, and also increases your understanding of what the experimental objectives are.
You will not be allowed to conduct the assigned experiment if you have not completed the Pre-Lab Exercises. Be sure to have your laboratory assistant examine your work and check off your name on the class record prior to beginning the lab session.
Brief Reports
The brief report is informal, consisting of the required cover page, a brief statement of objectives, experimental results, analysis, discussion and conclusions. If tables were provided in the handout materials, they may be filled in by hand and submitted as part of this report. The report may be handwritten, but should be well-organized and neat.
Formal Reports
While content is clearly the primary objective, neatness and organization will weigh significantly in the grading of your formal reports. It is required that formal reports be typed, although your data records may be handwritten. Spelling and grammar should be checked and correct. Sentences should be complete.
The basic report format includes the following sections: Abstract, Objective, Theory, Pre-Lab Exercises, Procedure, Analysis, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and Appendices. Every section, except the Appendices, should be as brief and clear as possible. These reports must be self-sufficient. All the information pertaining to the experiment should be contained within the report so that no external references are needed. The main purpose of the report is to answer five questions: What, Why, When, Where, and How. What was done in this experiment? Why was the experiment performed? When and where did the experiment take place? How did you go about performing this experiment? If you follow this format, and answer these questions, others will be able to easily review your work, and to duplicate it if necessary. It will also help you to recall and understand your own thought processes later.
The provided instructions offer a suggested experimental approach. However, this information may not have the depth required for your report to be completely self-sufficient. Any deviations or extra information not provided in the instructions should be noted in the report. Calculations should be neatly done on separate sheets and included in the appendix.
Formal reports should be organized as follows:
1. Cover Page
On a separate cover page provide the title of the experiment, your name, your lab partner’s name, and the date the experiment was performed. On the bottom of the title page, type the phrase “I have neither received nor provided any assistance in the writing of this laboratory report.” and sign your name underneath it.
2. Abstract
Provide a brief statement (no more than a few sentences) of your results and the conclusions drawn from the experiment.
3. Objective
The objective briefly describes what the laboratory experiment is for. A few short sentences in this section will suffice. Make sure that the objective does not include any details that might distract from the main purpose of the experiment.
4. Theory
Information for this section can be found in the instructions or in additional references such as the EE 2240/3340 textbook. Detailed statements are not necessary. However, the key formulas, equations, and laws that will be used in the experiment to confirm test results must be placed in this section. Notes on the less obvious points of this experiment should also be provided for clarity. If anything is straightforward, or requires only common sense, then it need not be included here. Part of the theory section should include what the expectations are, in the form of a hypothesis.
5. Pre-Lab Exercises
Here you should include the work for, and results of, the assigned pre-lab exercises. Discuss, as appropriate, how this supports and supplements the experimental procedure.
6. Procedure
This section of the instructions guides the experimenter along in a step-by-step fashion. Extra details and any deviation from the given list of procedures should be described. This includes the equipment used, the environment the experiment was performed in, all calculations, the process of determining what is required for the experiment, and how the data was collected.
7. Experimental Results
The results describe what actually happened in the experiment. A summary of the test data and associated analysis should be included in this section. The summary of test data should highlight the key parts of the test data. Make use of tables, graphs, diagrams and figures whenever possible.
8. Analysis
In some of the laboratory exercises, you will be required to perform theoretical calculations. In this section, you are to present equations and their solutions as appropriate. Some of these calculations may make use of experimental data.
9. Simulation Results
In some of the laboratory exercises, you will be required to perform computer simulations using SPICE simulation software. In this section, you present your simulation results.
In general, you must include the following items in order to receive full credit for this portion of your laboratory report:
A circuit diagram with the nodes labeled, and showing element values and element names as used in the SPICE code.
A listing of your SPICE input code.
The SPICE output file and Probe output plots as appropriate.
Additional tables and graphs required to present and illustrate your simulation results.
10. Discussion
In this section (as appropriate), you are to compare theoretical, experimental, and simulation results. Analyze the results by comparing, contrasting, and reasoning through the theory and the data, and present your concluding remarks in mathematical terms.
Most measurements will contain some error (difference between theoretical and measured values). Significant deviations from theory should be fully explained. Always calculate percent error and then describe possible or known sources of the error. If the percent error is less than 5%, you can assume that theory and measurements agree. If the error percentage is greater than 5%, it is very likely that something has not been accounted for in the theory or a measurement was not performed properly. Percent error comparisons between theoretical values, measured values, and simulated values should normally be presented in tabular form.
11. Conclusions and Recommendations
Conceptually generalize the results obtained in this experiment. Everything learned in this experiment must be stated here. Did anything occur to you during this experiment that might save time or simplify future experiments? Were the expectations met? The experiment should also follow the scientific method. Was your hypothesis correct? How closely did the experiment match the ideal theoretical assumptions? Discuss why the hypothesis was correct and why it led to the conclusion. Otherwise, provide reasonable explanations for any errors or discrepancies and identify all of the reasons why the difference may have occurred. Be thorough in your conclusion. Any suggestions or comments should be placed in this section.
12. Appendices
All of the data sheets, detailed mathematical derivations, and external references are included in this section. Data sheets and associated calculations that are included here may be handwritten. If something contains a great amount of detail it should appear in this section. Everything in the appendices should be referenced from the section of the report where it was used.
13. Bibliography
If you used any reference materials, a bibliography should be included.
In summary:
Format details are up to you.
There is no minimum or maximum number of pages required.
Write a report that you would be willing to submit to your manager if this were a work-related project. Assume the manager has a background similar to yours, and has a general idea of what you’re trying to accomplish, but probably hasn’t read the laboratory handout materials in detail and doesn’t want to refer to them to understand your report.
