Lab Writeups

You are required to complete at least three lab writeups during the course of the semester. We will have several labs in class. Lab writeups are accepted up three class days after the labs are done in class. Do not attempt to write up the labs while completing the labs in class. Your class time should be spent toward completing and understanding the mathematics, not creating your report. Follow-up questions are posted here and will be updated so as to include questions for each lab.

Labs are graded holistically, like a paper, but here is a rough grading scale for lab writeups -

E    missing
D    only contains automated outputs
C    contains all automated outputs, own examples, and comments, but no work on follow-up questions
    missing one of the following: own examples, own comments, conclusion
B    contains all automated outputs, own examples, comments, conclusion, and some work on follow-up questions
A    clearly written, insightful work on follow-up questions, and all required B elements

Remember that I will gladly review any assignment before it is due and offer comments.

A Note to Students

For many of you a mathematics lab, especially one that introduces new ideas and encourages "learning by discovery," will be a new experience. So that you can take full advantage of this activity, here are some suggestions.

The Laboratory Session

Work slowly and carefully.
Thoughtfully read the text of the activity and make sure to understand the maple code - especially the output.
For each automated example, construct another of your own.
Think as you work through steps of the lab. Always ask yourself and your partner(s) if the output makes sense.
Add in text notes to yourself explaining the meanings as you discover them.

The Lab Report

The lab report should be a thoughtful, well-written, and neatly organised computer-produced (i.e. no handwrtiing) document that summarises both your experience in the lab and what you learned as a result of that experience. Your report should contain the following parts.

Heading. At the top of the list the title of that lab, your name, and the name of the students who worked with you on the lab.
Output: All of the automated output from the lab, along with examples, any answers to any questions posed in the text, and comments of your own.
Follow up questions. Be certain to answer each and every question fully and completely with in-depth explanations for the reasoning questions. For some there are not right answers, but there are wrong and incomplete answers.
Conclusions. Write your conclusions in a paragraph or two. They should be inferences you draw from your output and calculations. Here is your opportunity to show that you understood the purpose of the lab, saw patterns in the output, and gained significant insights. Be as sweeping in your conclusions as you dare, but back them up by explicit references to your output and calculations.