Lab reports

Lab reports are one of the longest and strenuous forms of writing that I
have done in my college career thus far. In writing these reports, the detail
that must go into each and every section of the report is crucial in creating
the final product and having it be decent. While detail is extremely
important, writing these lab reports in a passive voice is just as important. To
be able to write in a voice that is not your own, rather narrating the story or
sequence of steps needed in a certain experiment makes it easier for readers
to understand what to do and follow your report as a guideline for anyone to
use. A proper format should be used when doing a lab report as well like
engineering requires formatting your paper other than the traditional MLA,
instead using a format such as Chicago Style formatting.

When creating a lab report, it is smart to remember who your audience

is and what the objective of writing a report should be. When writing in
passive voice, you should picture the audience as someone who doesnt
know anything about the subject that you happen to be talking about. When
writing your steps and procedures, you must use the most specific detail
while making sure that someone with no clue of the subject will be able to
understand and repeat the process that you have just described. For
example, 4 mL of sodium hydroxide was mixed with 6 mL of copper sulfate

in a 100mL graduated cylinder. The detail in this example states exactly

how much of each substance was used and mixed in a graduated cylinder.
This same process of high level detail is needed to be used throughout the
entire report. Especially in a specific experiment in Chemistry, each
substance must be precisely calculated so there is little error in your final
result. The objectives and procedure section must be step by step without
skipping anything needed. The objectives must be in your own words and
clearly define what you are trying to do. For the procedure, calculations
should be done correctly and formatting should be correct based on what is
expected.
Passive voice is not as easy as it seems when writing an official lab
report for a class such as engineering or chemistry. To write as someone who
has already done the experiment but is not saying what that person did can
be tough. Without using, first, second, or third person point of views, writing
in passive voice causes a reader or the audience to be able to put
themselves into the experiment more and make it as if they themselves were
doing the experiment for the first time rather than repeating a process done
by someone else. When writing in passive voice, you cannot talk about a
procedure or objective without using enough detail. In passive voice, you still
have to go in depth with your detail to make sure you cover all the material
that needs to be in your report. Still working on this section
As all reports should be professional, they need to be in a certain
format when creating them. MLA is the most common format while others

can be used if needed. For Engineering, Chicago style format is a required

style used in many different reports and papers. Most papers and reports
should also be used in the format of material needed and how well you can
support your information that was collected. For instance, if a paper needs to
have objectives, procedures, calculations, summaries, or even conclusions,
you should know the order that they need to be presented and how thorough
they should be. Sources should always be cited and shown after an in-text
citation, otherwise it would be an act of plagiarism which is not permitted in
college. While formatting a paper is always required, some parts do not
necessarily need to be professional. (

). When formatting, certain formats

would have you put the calculations done in the step you may be describing
and some formats may want the calculations to be at the very end of the
report after the conclusion. It depends on the format required for the report
being undertaken.
In writing lab reports, detail is one of the most important items needed.
The more detail and in depth you can go, the better someone may have to
understand exactly what you have been doing. Keep formatting in mind
when writing reports and make sure that you follows the guidelines needed
for the specific report format. If you do this as well as write in a passive
voice, you will end up with and excellent lab report in whatever subject you
have.

Peer review down below

Peer Review Sheet: Found Genres

Authors name: _______Daniel deRoos___

Reviewers name: _______________________
Author: Before exchanging papers with one of your classmates, fill in the following
information about your draft.
1.
State the type of genre you have chosen to create and what your main
purpose is: Are you trying to explain a process, persuade a person of authority, or
state your legally-binding wishes?
-

The type of genre is a lab report. I am attempting to explain a process about

how a lab report should be written and thoroughly detailed.

2.

Describe the best section of your down draft so far.

-

So far my best section will be about the amount of detail required to be in a

lab report.

3.
Explain one or two problems that you are having with this draft that you
want your reader to focus on.
-

I know the length of my paper is short and it doesnt flow from paragraph to
paragraph well at all.

4.
Content/Organization - What topics should, or might need to be, included in
this genre of writing? What headings/sections should be included, and how should
they be organized for maximum effectiveness in the accomplishment of your
purpose? List the necessary content and organization criteria below:
-

Passive voice
Detail information
Format processes
Order from what fits well where and according to a lab report if needed

5.
Tone/Diction/Style What language selection choices are necessary for this
genre of writing? Casual, formal, a combination? Is it appropriate to use long and
complex sentence constructions, or should information be communicated in brief,
succinct sentences? Are specific words necessary (as in a resume) to accomplish
your purpose? List all below:
English is the primary language I use, but stronger words and ones that
would be said in the situation of the experiment being done and reported on. Use
terms from the lab you did that explain what details were needed. Need more of
formal text since it is a professional lab report. Information can be compiled of small
or large sentences, complex or not, but should be expressed in a clear manner.
Terms should be known prior to reading a report so the reader can understand
exactly what is happening and not explain every word in the report. Some words
may be
- Molarity, dilution, electrical circuits, equivalent resistance and so on.

Reviewer: Read the authors comments above, and read the entire draft through
once without making any comments. Then reread the draft in order to answer the
following questions related to the criteria being used to construct and evaluate the
genre.
1.

Content/Organization: Evaluate based on criteria listed above by the author.

Suggest where content should be added/subtracted and where organization could

be improved. Give specific examples.

2.
Tone/Diction/Style: Evaluate the draft so far, based on these criteria. Suggest
where the writing would benefit from a different tone style or word choice. Give
specific examples.

3.

Suggest solutions to the problem(s) the author wanted you to focus on.

Important: When your reviewers return your peer review sheets, please pay close
attention to (but also evaluate) all comments and suggestions for revision. Please
seriously consider your peers' suggestions on how to improve your paper and
accomplish your main purpose successfully.