To consolidate the knowledge gained in practice, students perform laboratory reports. This type of practical training helps to understand how the student has mastered the material and to check the effect of theory in practice, understand the phenomena/processes, learn how to use equipment, etc.
By itself, laboratory work involves implementing a specific task, taking into account health and safety and other rules. It is important here to observe what is happening and record the results obtained and then interpret the whole process in the form of a laboratory report.
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Why is it important to perform laboratory work?
The practical part of learning is an integral part of education. Laboratory work is necessary for the educational process for the following reasons:
- Laboratory work contributes to a deeper understanding of the theory, generalization of the knowledge gained. Students receive a more systematic view of the world, consolidate the information received.
- In the process of completing laboratory work, students learn to apply the knowledge gained in practice and achieve specific goals.
- Practical activities can be seen as part of training. Along with the assimilation of knowledge, the acquisition of important skills, students are accustomed to the manifestation of creative initiative, a sense of responsibility.
Lab report: what is it, and why do you need it?
A laboratory report is a special project written after the implementation of laboratory work to consolidate the material and record the data obtained.
This paper reflects all the student’s actions, which he or she performed while solving a specific problem. With its help, you can assess the degree of assimilation of the passed material, the student’s ability to apply knowledge in practice, and the skills to follow standards and rules.
The lab report also allows the student to systematize all the information he or she has received and correctly interpret the results obtained, draw specific conclusions, and understand the processes and phenomena.
Writing a lab report
To handle this task, you must clearly understand what should be in the report. As in any student assignment, the following elements are required here: title page, introduction, main part, and conclusion.
Title page
The title page contains information about the educational institution, the name of the department, the topic of the report, the name of the student who completed it, and the name of the teacher who is going to evaluate the report. At the end of the page, the year and city are usually indicated.
Introduction
This part of the laboratory report is no different from the introduction of other types of papers. Here, the student must indicate the relevance of the research, identify the problem, object, and subject, set the goal to be achieved, and define the tasks that will be applied to the achievement.
Main part
This section contains the theoretical and practical parts. In the theoretical part, you need to describe the methods that will help in the research, indicate the scientific works on which you relied while writing, and what impact the theory will have in practice. In the practical part of the report, you need to conduct a laboratory study and describe in detail all its steps. Here, you need to solve the problem that was posed in the introduction and come to the goal. Write down all the results, how you achieved them, and what methods you used.
Conclusion
A brief summary of the study should be provided here – its essence. Write the conclusions reached during the laboratory work.
In the final part, the student presents the results of his or her laboratory work. This modest but most important part should not be too long since a meaningful and concise conclusion is the best option. The teacher evaluates this part very carefully. It is important to understand that the conclusion is based on the purpose of the report.
A few tips on how to write a conclusion:
- Try to express thoughts scientifically.
- Do not include unnecessary information.
- Report results and actions taken.
Formatting of a lab report
- The headings must be formatted in the same way as the headings of the appropriate level. To do this, place the cursor on the desired line, then select the heading of the corresponding level H1, H2, H3, etc., in the menu. Align them in the center of the page.
- Pages must be numbered. Make numbering by built-in means of Microsoft Word. To do this, click on “Insert” in the main menu, then on the “Page numbers” option.
- In the lab report, figures or tables can be used. They must be numbered without fail. Figures and tables should be sequentially numbered throughout the entire report. Whenever any graphics or tables are provided, please attach an appropriate explanation to them. It is allowed to be placed before or after inserts.
What is not reflected in the laboratory report?
Before writing a lab report, laboratory work is conducted. The teacher is obliged to conduct an instruction for students, in which he or she will briefly tell the goal of laboratory work, what students should do, how to use the devices, and also focus on safety (what is allowed, what is prohibited), and other rules of behavior.
As a rule, in the laboratory reports, students do not reflect the conduct of the instruction. One can only mention their implementation in the introductory part, but it is not worth providing a detailed description.
Also, in the laboratory report, you do not need to show the calculations in detail. In theory, it is enough to give all the necessary formulas and methods. In the calculation part, it is enough to indicate the results of the calculations (the sequence of actions itself does not need to be indicated).
It is not necessary to point out the recommendations and instructions of the teacher (what he or she said or advised, etc.). The paper must be written in a scientific style.
These general guidelines for laboratory report writing should help you to complete it. But remember that each department may have its own requirements for writing this type of assignment. You should check them with your teacher.
