160B

Not required in 160B

Not required in 160B

Introduction 5 pts Background 20 pts Experimental Apparatus and Procedures 20 pts Results 15 pts Discussion 20 pts Conclusion & Recommendations 15 pts References 5 pts

Approximate target lengths for each section should be: Introduction : limited to 200 words or (2-3) sentences. Background/Motivation: About 1 page, but no more than 2. Experimental Methods/Procedure: 1-2 pages Results: 1-2 pages Discussion: ~ 1 pages Conclusions and Recommendations: ~1 page References: As needed

Approximate target lengths for each section should be: Abstract: limited to 200 words Introduction and background: About 1 page, but no more than 2. Experimental Methods : 1-2 pages Results and Discussion: ~ 3 pages Conclusions and Recommendations: 0.5-1 page References: As needed

Provide a clear statement of goal and objectives for the experiment

Provide Background Information that is needed to understand the remainder of the report E.g. in studying the relationship between Reynolds number and flow regime, it would be relevant to know what the Reynolds number is in words and formula), what the different flow regimes are and what is expected based on previous works

Provide sufficient information on the apparatus and experimental procedures.

information should be detailed enough so that an engineering student from another school could understand and duplicate the experiment Pictures are always helpful!

Give Results in Tabular and/or graphical form. In addition, a brief narrative or discussion of EACH table and/or graph should be given.

1. Are the results presented in a clear manner? Is it easy to follow 2. Does your interpretation of results consider a statistical analysis?

Discuss the experimental results in light of the known theory and the work of others. Do the experimental data follow the expected trends? If not, what are the possible reasons for this observation? Can some new hypothesis be developed based on these results?
1. Did you address all questions posed in the Lab manual? 2. Does your interpretation of results consider a statistical analysis?

Summarize all important results and interpretations in light of goals and objectives for the experiment Be sure to provide recommendations beyond simple, practical consideration (e.g., better instrumentation, more time, etc.).
1. Can recommendations be made for further study or improvement the experiment? 2. Does this section summarize all important results and interpretations in light of goal and objectives for the experiment? 3. Are recommendations made for further study or improvement in the experiment?

List References used in preparing the report. A notation MUST be made in the report that denotes the information obtained from a specific references.

1. Is a list of references used in preparing the report provided? 2. Do all the references in the reference list have an appropriate citation in the body of the text? 3. Is the material in the Appendix appropriate? 4. Are the references, figures, tables and appendices located in the right order at the end of the report?

Final section of your report

If you choose to have an Appendix it should contain all raw data (e.g., spreadsheets of collected data if necessary) and any additional information useful in the reading of the report but not critical to its clarity. Limit appendix material to supporting information rather than critical information.

Use good grammar

Number your pages Use Spell Check Be Specific, yet concise Give Table and Figure numbers and Titles.

Read the report before tuning it in.

Use a computer
Stay within the page limit (12 pages!)

160B

If you write clearly, people assume you think clearly Writing well takes more effort and more conscious insight into the way language works than speaking well does Before you can get to the point, you need to have a point

Fluff
Clich expressions, grandiose claims, minimal or no evidence

Guff
Complex words instead of simple ones Long complicated sentence patterns

Geek
Disregard for the audiences needs Overuse of jargon and acronyms A focus on technical details instead of jargon or outcomes

Weasel
Hyperqualifying every statement Focusing on might and could rather than will and can Avoiding responsibility

Keep your sentences short. Use words of one and two syllables most of the time. Avoid starting your sentence with long, dependent clauses

The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level

Publishers use metrics to calculate which grade level a book belongs in <10 Excellent, < 12 Great < 14 OK >16 Poor

Extra Advance plan Study in depth In the majority of instances

Concise Plan Study usually

For the purpose of

At this time With regard to In order to Take action Have a discussion Hold a meeting

For
now Regarding To act Discuss meet

SAMPLE A

SAMPLE B

No. There is an obvious repetition of thoughts and sentences.

160B

o Number each figure and table according to the order they are discussed in the text. o Provide each figure and table with a descriptive caption defining its contents. The caption should be written in sentence form and be as descriptive (yet concise) as possible.

o Captions should not be used to discuss or interpret the figure. Rather, it should clearly describe what the figure/table presents, and in the case of figures with data, list key conditions under which the data was collected.
o Be sure that all figures and tables are discussed in the text. If you include a figure and dont discuss it, the reader wont understand it. Alternatively, a picture is worth a thousand words; discussion without an illustrative figure can be very difficult to follow.

Data Analysis

1.

2.
3.

Table Name on Top Caption on Bottom. Caption also quickly summarizes and highlights key points of data.

100 90 80 70 Distance 60 50 y = 0.4611x + 54.41 R = 0.9951

40
30 20 10 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

Temperature

1. 2. 3. 4.

5.

Axis Has No Appropriate Units Tick Marks are Unclear Axis Numbers and Titles are Small No Error Bars! Figure has no explanation on Bottom

100 90

80

Distance (mm)

70 60 50 40 30 0 20

y = 0.4401x + 55.277 R = 0.9856

40

60

80

Temperature (C)

Figure 1.

Temperature of plate versus distance from heating source.

1. 2. 3.

Gridlines are too distracting Data Points are not Prominent Text Needs to Be Larger.

Figure 1.

Temperature of plate versus distance from heating source.

The use of a lab mates figure is ok. But you must 1. Provide the name of the person who generated figure in each Caption! 2. Be aware that you will be graded based on their figure quality.

More Guidelines

Use Equation Editor. If you do not know how, ask a friend or your TA. Italicize symbols. Symbols are not words in the text and must be differentiated.
e.g., The heat transfer coefficient, h, was used.

Avoid using division and times symbols (*, ) in units. (m/s2) vs. (m s-2)
e.g, a (m s-2) is acceleration.

Use consistent notation in document. Do not redefine the same symbol in the document.

Include the uncertainty of measurements and do error propagation analysis.

This is clearly suggested in the Lab manual. The difference between your calculated value and a reported value is not considered error analysis. (see note below)

Include Page Numbers Make sure that your verb tenses agree in the same sentence (and paragraph). There are rare cases where they do not have to agree but in general make sure they do.
E.g correct - There were several errors and I had to correct them. E.g. incorrect. There are errors and I had to correct them.

Address all questions in the results and discussion section of the manual. If you do not know how, ask your TA. Comparing your data to reported literatures IS NOT an error analysis. All it does is give the quantitative difference. How good are your measurements? 10%, 20%, 30% error? If you are only 5% off from a literature value and there is 10% error in your calculations, then you can say that your values are accurate. Eye-balling a graph and telling the reader it looks good is not appropriate.

If you remove data points or measurements, explain why. What is your statistical or theoretical assumption? How do you know the measured value is not real?
When you write your procedure, write it in report language. Hence, report the things that you did. Dont tell the reader what to do like a manual. For example, The instrument was calibrated to a set point is correct.
Calibrate the instrument IS NOT correct and is not the proper language for a report.

Cite your references in the text. You have many options. MLS or numeric are very popular. (e.g, Holman,et al., 2010 or [1]) If you number your citations, they should appear in the order which they are numbered. Do not cite [3] before you cite [1]. Take this report seriously. Use proper language. Do not use contractions (e.g dont, cant, wouldnt). Spell it out. Contractions make reports unprofessional.

If you choose to print your figures in black and white, make sure it can be read! Greem and red look identical in gray scale. You may want to use open and closed symbols to differentiate the data.

Use lines to represent theory and/or equations (fits). Use symbols for data points.
Justify the fit you use. If you increase the power of the polynomial fit, you can fit it to any data set! Proof read your document. Spell check cannot fix everything. Try reading your report out loud. It is easier to catch mistakes this way. And if you can't read one phrase in one breath, it is most likely way too long! I repeat, read your sentences out loud! Do they sound good? Do they read well? Is it professional? It is okay to use we in the report. But be careful and try not over use it.
e.g., we did this and we did that then we did some more. It gets monotonous. This is a minor stylistic point, but add some variety to your sentences.

Include some type of figure, schematic, photograph of your experimental set-up and apparatus.
I recommend that students repeat measurements, is NOT a valid recommendation. Even though this justifies a poor analysis, there is no reason why you could not have done this yourself with the current experimental set-up. Abide by the document margin and spacing guidelines. If you do not have at least 1.5 line spacing, it is difficult to write comments on your paper. Avoid vague and unnecessary comments. e.g., "the value is neither too big or too small." or "The A/C effects the experiment." How? What parameter would it modify? Could this induce a large error? It would be more valuable to say... A 1 degree fluctuation in the temperature caused by changes in air conditioning can induce changes in heat convection by 20%.

100
90

80
Distance (mm)

70

60
50 40 30 10 20 30

y = 0.4401x + 55.277 R = 0.9856

40

50

60

70

80

Temperature (C)

Figure 1.

Temperature versus distance from heating source.