Lab ReportsLet’s Learn to Write Them!

Presented by John Walkup, PhDon April 26, 2014

for the Reedley College STEM Conference

Why Care about Writing?

Myths of Writing• Writing is for those who plan to write– “I dont know why you make us write. We should be

learning physics. I never will need to write its stupid!”• The act of receiving help is cheating• It’s all about grammar– “The organization members is fully qualified…”

• Only a select few can learn to write– Enter the force table

My Early Attempts at Writing InstructionPrompt: Describe the

force table in a figure caption.

Lessons: • Verbalize, then write.• Writing is a process.• Structure is key.

Example Experiment

Does potential energy of a granular mix drop over time?• Marbles of two different sizes

placed in a box.• Box continuously vibrated using

loudspeaker / signal generator• Measured period of oscillation

every two minutes.• Plotted period of oscillation as a

function of time.

The Audience• Mixed gender• Foreign• Serious outlook• Professional• English-speaking, but…

Graphic Organizer (see handout)• Graphic organizers drive all large-scale

document authoring• Downloadable from

http://tinyurl.com/l4vsbgj • Courtesy of UCLA

Example of Graphics Organizer (Grants)

The Introduction• State the purpose– Uncover new discovery– Test theory– Replicate previous experiment

• State the hypothesis and reasoning• Describe theory (sometimes in Theory section)• Define jargon

The Methods Section• Describe the experimental procedure:– Stick to critical features– Remember the audience– Include picture of apparatus

• Describe the scope of project (e.g., population sizes, time duration, age groups).

• Describe the number of trials.

Figure and Table Captions• Write the first sentence as a fragment.– “Force table used for measuring equilibrium.”

• After the first sentence, use complete sentences– “Each of the three strings

connects to a hanging mass. Once the forces associated with each tension vector sum to 0, the ring will shift to the exact center of the table.”

The Results Section• Describe how results were calculated (e.g., software)• Create tables and figures to display raw data• Create tables and figures to display results data• Provide captions for each table and figure

Discussion• Summarizes main results.• Depending on the subject, offer your own opinions.• Do not present new results.• Praises strengths and acknowledges weaknesses.• Calls for future research.

Conclusion• Restate the purpose of the experiment.• Restate the main results.• Call for future research.

Conclusion/Discussion• Summarize main results.• Depending on the field, offer your own opinions on results.• Do not present new results.• Praise strengths and acknowledge weaknesses.• Call for new research.– Don’t make comments about “being more careful”– Don’t overly rely on call for “better equipment”

ReferencesFocus on the purpose, not the style, of citations.• Goal: Collect known knowledge and add to it.– Cite the known knowledge when it is (a) potentially

controversial or (b) not common knowledge.– Give credit where credit is due.– Quote authors when their “take” on the subject is novel.

• Use online style apps or MS Word bibliography tool.• Refer to original source when reasonable.

The Cognitive Initiative

John R. Walkup, PhDjwalkup@standardsco.com(559) 903-4014@jwalkup

All presentation documents available online:PowerPoint — http://tinyurl.com/l9sezx8Graphic Organizer — http://tinyurl.com/l4vsbgj Handouts — http://tinyurl.com/k92y98h

For help in all areas of math and science (even the soft stuff)http://www.physicsforums.com/