D OCUMENTATION & C OMMUNICATION

L AB N OTEBOOKS There are many reasons to keep an accurate and complete record of experimental work. To establish the authenticity of the work. To defend patents. To act as a basis for technical reports and articles. To avoid repetition of erroneous procedures or poor designs. Each person will keep his or her own notebook even though you might have lab partners

A TTRIBUTES OF G OOD L AB N OTEBOOK E NTRIES Entries should be prepared with the intention that they will be graded Entries should also be written as if someone could replicate their work solely based on notebook entries Legible and organized well enough to be interpreted by another party The content is easily understood Readers can comprehend what was recorded and why it was recorded.

F ORMAT OF L AB N OTEBOOKS Lab notebooks should be a bound notebook dedicated to the course laboratory exercises or to the project. Here are some examples of lab notebooks: Images from: and

F ORMAT OF L AB N OTEBOOKS Title page and Table of contents The first page of the notebook or section of the notebook dedicated to a course should be the Title page. Course Name & Block Student Name The Table of contents should start on the next page (before the lab entries). The heading for the page should be Table of contents and a list of each project should follow with the titles in one column and the page numbers in a column to the right.

T ABLE OF C ONTENTS E XAMPLE Image from:

F ORMAT OF L AB N OTEBOOKS For each project or experiment, you should include the following in your data notebook: Lab Title Date Partner’s Name Objectives Sketches and Diagrams Procedures Include materials and equipment used Initial Design Ideas & Design Modifications (if your lab requires design)

P ROCEDURES There is no need to repeat the laboratory procedures followed during your lab. Repeating procedures takes valuable time away from your learning. Remember, the main idea is to make it so that you can understand the work sometime in the future. A good design sketch (or experiment block diagram) with several lines of text can document the important points of the procedures. Any special procedures, tricky points, or items that you customized to obtain your data might need to be discussed in more detail. Learn how to use terminology properly so that your writing is concise and accurate.

L AB R EPORTS L AB REPORTS SHOULD BE ORGANIZED AND TYPE WRITTEN. T YPICALLY WRITTEN IN THIRD PERSON T HEY SHOULD INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING SECTIONS : TITLE PAGE: Title of report/project, participant names, course title, date. ABSTRACT: A summarization of the report. Written after report is completed. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Each section listed in order, with page numbers. Abstract should not be included in the Table of Contents (TOC); the TOC should start with the Introduction.

INTRODUCTION: A brief explanation of the project or activity. What is the purpose of the study, lab, or activity? What are you going to do/design? Why? What is your hypothesis? What are your objectives? This section should also include background information and research on the topic. METHODS & MATERIALS: Details on how you did the lab, activity or project. Explanation of your design process or the study protocol. Should also include a list of materials needed to complete the project or activity. L AB R EPORTS

RESULTS: What is your final product? How does it work? If it is a study where you were collecting data, what did you determine? What are the results of your statistical analyses? DISCUSSION: How well did you accomplish your objectives? How is the device you made similar to/different from an actual device of its kind? Do your finding support your hypothesis? What were the limitations of your study or what limitations did you face during the design process. L AB R EPORTS

CONCLUSION: Brief overview of what you learned and what the activity was all about. Future design work or future studies. APPENDICES Information pertinent to the report, but too large to fit into the body report. Sketches, pictures of design at different stages REFERENCES List of sources used for research and background information. Should follow APA guidelines. L AB R EPORTS

DOCUMENTATION & COMMUNICATION ACTIVITY Write out instructions for making a peanut butter and banana sandwich Once you are done, switch with one of your classmates and critique each other’s instructions Were the instructions concise? Unclear or confusing? In the proper order? What would you have done differently? Once the critiques have been completed, we will debrief and discuss ‘clear communication’