EXERCISE #1: In the last few weeks we have been practicing how to use Google effectively to find information. Now let’s think about a related question:

Q: WHEN SHOULD I USE GOOGLE AND WHEN SHOULD I NOT USE IT?

This is a complicated question but here’s a good answer: 

A: I should use Google when the topic is new and I need to gather information on it. I should not use Google when I am already familiar with the subject. 

Here’s another way to state this answer:

A: Use Google to find information. Do not use it to help you say what you mean on subjects you already know. 

Or to rephrase that: Google can make us smarter when we use it as a tool to expand our knowledge. Or Google can make us dumber when we use it to avoid figuring out how to say something we already know. 

So let’s apply this to what we’re doing:

Answer these survey questions briefly without looking up the answers. Answer to the best of your ability from your own knowledge and in your own voice. They are designed to start you thinking on the topic we are going to discuss further:

1. Have you ever written a lab report? 
2. What is a lab report? 
3. What are the parts of a lab report (as many as you can remember)?

Now we’ll move on to a new question: 

Q: What are Open Educational Resources (OER)?

Any guesses? In fact, this is a topic you aren’t expected to know much (or anything) about so it is perfectly appropriate to Google information on it. So now that raises a new question:

Q: What keyword search terms would you use to find info on this topic?

Also pay attention to the additional questions Google prompts under: 

• People also search for 
• People also ask

Here is an informative and well-organized presentation on the purpose and organization of lab reports found on the English Dept. site. Notice the Quick Tips at the bottom: https://drive.google.com/file/d/19ZXspGkPMYVbkH_tp5VbEUcWzDD73i4t /view

Answer these question: 

• What info does the Abstract summarize?

• What does the funnel analogy tell us about how we organize info in the Introduction?

• What do the two examples tell us about the info we provide in Materials and Methods? What should we not do here?

• What is the difference between reporting results and analyzing them in Results and Discussion? The same difference applies when we discuss and evaluate solution options in our research paper and evaluate them. 

• What is included in the Conclusion that adds to Results and Discussion?

• Choose one Quick Tip and explain its importance.

EXERCISE #2: Here is an interesting interactive exercise on lab reports and how they are organized: 

https://www.monash.edu/rlo/assignment-samples/engineering/laboratory-reports

DIRECTIONS: Open the link on your computer and scroll down to the interactive exercises. Answer the questions as we work through them together and write the results here:

Activity #1: How many sections did you match with their descriptions? 

Activity #2 on the Abstract: Yes or No? 

Activity #3 on the Aim: Which Aim (A or B) is more accurate? 

Activity #4 on language use: Which example is best in terms of:

• Tense use
• Formal, impersonal style
• Clarity and concision

Activity #5 on Results and Discussion: What is the function of each sentence?

• Sentence #1:
• Sentence #2:
• Sentence #3:
• Sentence #4:
• Sentence #5:

Activity #6 on Conclusions: Which of these common functions does this Conclusion not do?

EXERCISE #3: Open the link and briefly answer these questions about this sample lab report:

https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/technicalwriting/wp-content/uploads/sites/296/2018/10/Drafting-Behind-Big-Rigs-Mythbusters-Report.pdf

• What is the hypothesis the lab report is testing?
• What method and equipment did they use? 
• What was their procedure?
• What do Results and Discussion tell us? 
• What are the conclusions?

EXERCISE #4: And here is a final exercise on a related issue

It is critical to you not only as engineers but as citizens in these troubled times. Review these questions and listen for answers to them in the video:

• What is the problem with studies conducted on animals and cells? 
• How is a Randomized Clinical Trial (RCT) conducted? 
• How is an Epidemiological Study conducted? 
• What are the two groups in an Epidemiological Study?
• What are the flaws that can affect results in an Epidemiological Study?

How then can we trust Epidemiological Studies?

WRAP-UP QUESTIONS

• What did you learn from this exercise about lab reports?

• What was one thing that was helpful information that you can put into practice in writing lab reports?

• Did this make you more confident in writing them in the future?