Lab Report Grading

• Abstract: State what was done succinctly, including your results. This should be phrased in language a knowledgeable scientist would understand. Do not focus on the purpose or a step-by-step description of the experiment.
  
  Typical errors (points off) in this section include: the paragraph is not an abstract but an introduction, poor/incomplete phrasing, and grammar.
  
  
• Introduction: Short discussion of each of the main topics.
  
  Typical errors in this section are due to verbosity, poor/incomplete phrasing, grammar, plagiarism or skipping it entirely.
  
  
• Body: The body includes the procedure, the data, and the data analysis. In a multi-part lab, one may present the procedure, data and analysis of one part before moving on to the next part. The procedure should not contain "obvious or tedious" information like "...put the plug into the interface..." The data listed should be essential data (if there is "lots" of data then present it as a graph). The analysis usually compares the experiment to theory. 
  
  Typical errors (points off) in this section include: mislabeled units or no units identified, errors in calculations, labeling graph axes incorrectly, sloppy presentation of data, not doing all parts of the lab including answering questions, grammar and plagiarism.
  
  
• Formatting: Tables and graphs (pasted from Excel) should be near the discussions referring to them. The appropriate symbols, subscripts and superscripts should be used.
  
  
• Conclusion: This should be a scientific conclusion containing what was found and your agreement with theory. If you results disagree with theory, then a good explanation should be provided (at least suggested).
  
  Typical errors (points off) in this section are just reporting what was done with no conclusion, e.g. not comparing your results with theory. Examples of non-scientific conclusions are "…this is a good lab…a fun lab…we hated it."