Lab Writeups
You are required to complete at least three lab writeups during the course
of the semester. We will complete twelve 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.
Here is a rough grading scale for lab writeups -
A clearly written, correct and complete
B clearly written, correct and complete up to "Further
Exploration" section.
C missing one of the three aspects from a B writeup
D submitted
E missing
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, we offer the following suggestions.
The Laboratory Session
- Read over the laboratory instructions carefully before the session
starts.
- If work is called for Before the Lab, make sure to do
it with understanding. A successful lab experience will depend upon
this work.
- Think as you work through steps of the lab. Always ask
yourself and your partner(s) if the output makes sense.
- Discriminate between important and incidental calculator output.
Record the important output, along with your thoughts and observations,
on a data sheet or in a notebook. The data sheet will be needed when
you write your lab report.
The Lab Report
The lab report should be a thoughtful, well-written,
and neatly organised 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 three 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.
- Body. Be certain to answer each and every question
fully and completely with in-depth explanations for the reasoning questions.
- Conclusions. Write your conclusions in a paragraph
or two. They should be inferences you draw from your data and calculations.
Here is your opportunity to show that you understood the purpose
of the lab, saw patterns in the data, and gained significant insights.
Be as sweeping in your conclusions as you dare, but back them up
by explicit references to your data and calculations.