Guidelines for Preparing Lab Reports
General
All lab sessions will be conducted at the Hydraulics Laboratory. At the
beginning of each lab session, the instructor or his assistant will demonstrate
the usage and function of the equipment and instrument involved. The
required activities in the lab should last no more than two hours. With tasks
well planned beforehand, the duration can be shortened, sometimes
considerably. Before each lab session, you should read the lab description
(attached), plan each of the tasks, and assign responsibility for data taking,
data reduction and analysis, and report writing.
Lab Reports
Lab reports are due the week following the week of the lab session. Reports
will be graded for technical content and writing. Your reports need to be
technically correct as well as effectively presenting your work. Misspelling
and unclear thoughts and logic will cause you points. Usage of computers for
tabulating data, graphing data, and word processing is required. A general
guideline for preparing the lab report is given in the next section. The format
outlined below must be followed in preparing your lab report. Your lab report
must be type written and either bound or stapled securely. All laboratory
reports must have the following five (5) sections.
1. Cover Page
Should include course name, experiment title, authors name and ID,
laboratory section, and the date of the experiment.
2. Introduction (all paragraphs in the Introduction should be brief and
concise)
Background and theoretical development of any equations
a statement of the purpose and objectives of the experiment
Experiment and equipment description
What are the main findings?
This section should, preferably, be less than one page.
3. Results and discussion
Describe the test data in words and in plots, tables, etc.
Discuss your interpretations of the results.
How are the observations relating to theory?
Explain differences between theory and data in terms of assumptions
and uncertainties.
4. Conclusions and Recommendations
Summarize your results
Describe any difficulties encountered and note the anticipated effects.
Include recommendations if any
5. Appendix (Should include the following items)
All your raw data.
Sample computations. complete a sample calculation for one data
point so that your thought process is clearly demonstrated.
POINTS TO CONSIDER:
You will be divided into groups. Each group is usually 4-5 students in
each group. You must attend your lab session. If you are absent, you
will not be able to make up for it in the next lab session and you will
receive a grade of zero for the missed lab.
You must work together with your lab group members on measuring
the parameters and working out the results. However, working
together does not mean that you can simply copy from each other.
Plagiarism is very easily spotted and constitutes a violation of the
university student conduct code. The first occurrence will result in a
zero for the lab grade. Two occurrences may result in extreme
disciplinary action being taken such as failing the class.
Reports should be clearly printed using a word processor. Handwritten
reports will not be accepted. All graphs must be computer-generated
using EXCEL or other spreadsheet type program.
Curve fitting in Excel
Tables and Figures
There are only two kinds of illustrations in a scientific report: tables and figures. A table
is simply a grid of rows and columns filled by numbers or information. Any other kind of
illustrationline graphs, bar charts, pie charts, photographs, clip art, etc.is called a
figure. You should NEVER label something Chart A or Graph B.
Illustrations are good for presenting numerical data in a compressed, visually
understandable form. They allow a reader to quickly compare numbers and draw general
conclusions. They also enhance your reports visual appeal and break up the text. You can
create your own illustration, or use one from another source. Just be sure to cite the
source.
Never drop a table or figure into your report without first introducing
it and explaining why you are including it. Likewise, you should include
some text after the illustration that summarizes or interprets the most
important information in narrative form for the reader.
All illustrations must be numbered and labeled. Tables are designated by Roman
numerals, while Figures use Arabic numerals (Table I, Figure 1, etc.). Both must be
labeled with a thoroughly descriptive title. The title should try to answer the questions
Who, What, Where, and When as much as possible. For example, Figure 14.2. World
CO2 Emissions by Region, 1990-2020 is an excellent title, because it tells the reader who
(the world), what (CO2 emissions), where (region), and when (1990-2020). If you fail to
create a complete title for your illustration, your reader will be forced to examine the
table and the report closely to determine necessary information. This defeats the whole
purpose of an illustration, which is to make a certain point quickly and clearly.
Tables are numbered and labeled ABOVE the table, with the title centered. Figures are
numbered and labeled BELOW the illustration. Table I and Figure 1 demonstrate the
proper location and labeling of illustrations [1].
TABLE I : GUIDELINES ON TYPE SIZES FOR CAMERA-READY PAPERS, AS OF SEPT. 2006
Type
size
(pts.)
Appearance
Regular
Bold
Table
captions,
superscripts
Section titles, references,
tables, table names, first
letters in table captions,
figure captions, footnotes,
text
subscripts,
and
superscripts
Italic
table
Abstract
10
Authors affiliations, main
text, equations, first letters
in section titles
11
Authors names
24
Paper title
Subheadings
15
10
M agnetization (kA/m )
5
0
-1
Applie d Fie ld (104 A/m )
Figure 1: Magnetization as a function of applied field. Note how the caption is centered in the column.
