Lab Report Grading
Terry A. Ring ChE
University of Utah
Report Grading
Scoring Rubric for CHFEN 4903 – Categories and Learning Objectives Category Learning Objectives/Outcomes
A. Preliminary Oral Presentation, Teamwork (10)
(8) Demonstrate effective team skills-goal setting, consensus-building, listening, etc.
(9) Demonstrate effective leadership skills – team discussions, calling team meetings, etc.
(11) Produce a professional-quality oral presentation (as a team), etc.
B. Coherence – Does the report tell a technically coherent story? Are objectives stated and met?(25)
(7) Evaluate the quality of results by comparison with accepted correlations and theories and develop valid conclusions about deviations etc.
(10) Produce professional-quality written reports that present, analyzes, and interprets experimental results logically and which are well-organized and delivered
C. Technical
Accuracy (45) (1)-(6) Apply concepts from previous courses, mathematics, compute description statistics and apply to analyze experimental data, develop specific experimental objectives to meet overall experimental goals, design and conduct experiments, analyze experimental data to obtain parameters and correlations
(7) Evaluate the quality of results by comparison with accepted correlations and theories and develop valid conclusions about deviations etc.
D. Professional Standards – includes quality of English Language, Form, Visuals, Citations – Lab Operations, safety, efficient use of equipment, cleanup (20)
(3) Apply methods of statistical inference
(10) Produce professional-quality written reports that present, analyzes, and interprets experimental results logically and which are well-organized and delivered
(11) Produce a professional-quality oral presentation, etc.
(12) Apply concepts of professional ethics to design and conducting experiments and analyzing and interpreting experimental data
(13) Demonstrate knowledge of laboratory equipment and instrumentation and their capabilities and limitations
Proficiency and Scoring
4 Levels
Exemplary
Proficient
Apprentice
Novice
Category Exemplary Proficient Apprentice Novice Score
A. Preliminary Oral Presentation, Teamwork
Student worked well in group, helped set group goals, participated in all team discussions, played a leadership role, prepared well for and presented an excellent oral presentation
Student worked well in group, helped set some group goals, participated in most team discussions, prepared well for and presented a good oral presentation
Student worked fairly well in group, helped set only a few group goals, participated in a few team discussions, fairly prepared for oral quiz and presented a fair oral presentation
Student did not work well in group, did not help set group goals, did not participate in team discussions, was not prepared for oral quiz and presented a poor presentation
________
_ 10 points max
B. Coherence – Does the report tell a technically coherent story? Are objectives stated and met?
Objectives were well stated and all objectives were met.
Report told a technically coherent story and was well written. Analyses, interpretations and conclusions clear and logical.
Objectives were fairly well stated and most were met. Report told a technically coherent story and was fairly well written. Analyses, interpretations and conclusions were mostly clear and logical.
Objectives were fairly well stated and some objectives were met. Report did not tell a technically coherent story but was fairly well written.
Analyses, interpretations and conclusions were fairly clear and logical.
Objectives were not stated well and objectives were not met. Report did not tell a technically coherent story and was poorly written. Analyses, interpretations and conclusions were neither clear nor logical.
________
__
25 points max
C. Technical Accuracy Experiments were designed and conducted with virtually no errors; concepts (theory) from previous courses applied correctly;
uncertainty analysis excellent; excellent comparison with accepted correlations/results
Experiments were designed and conducted with only a few errors;
concepts (theory) from previous courses applied correctly with few errors; uncertainty analysis good; good comparison with accepted correlations/results
Experiments were designed and conducted with several errors; concepts (theory) from previous courses not applied correctly;
uncertainty analysis fair;
comparison with accepted correlations/results not quite done correctly
Experiments were not designed and conducted correctly;
concepts (theory) from previous courses not understood;
uncertainty analysis poor; no comparison with accepted correlations/results
________
_ 45 points max D. Professional Standards –
includes quality of English Language, Form, Visuals, Citations – Lab Operations, safety, efficient use of equipment, cleanup
Written report is virtually error- free, well-organized, easy to read, contains high- quality graphics, several good references, followed required format; excellent attention to safety and cleanup; knowledgeable of equipment; used equipment efficiently
Written report has only a few errors, relatively well- organized, easy to read, contains good graphics, a few good references, mostly followed required format; good attention to safety and cleanup; fairly knowledgeable of equipment; mostly used equipment efficiently
Written report has several errors, not very well-organized nor easy to read, fair graphics, references not good, usually followed required format;
fair attention to safety and cleanup; not very knowledgeable of equipment; used equipment efficiently
Written report is not acceptable, not well- organized nor easy to read, contains poor graphics, no references, did not followed required format; poor attention to safety and cleanup;
not knowledgeable of equipment; used equipment efficiently
________
_ 20 points max
TOTAL _____
___
100 points max Late Penalties (total
for all categories) Technical
Rewrite(s) Bonuses
FINAL
SCORE _____
____
Oral Report Organization
Pick a Topic
Pick a Time
Topics
1. Genetically modified foods 2. Stem cell research
3. COX-II inhibitors (Vioxx, Celebrex) 4. Biological warfare agents
5. Possible flue pandemic 6. Guidant pace maker recall
7. Gene delivery to treat human disease 8. FDA regulation of pharmaceuticals
9. Low cost medical techn. for the 3rd World 10. Agricultural use of antibiotics.
11. Agro-chemicals vs. Organic foods 12. Global climate change
13. Mercury pollution 14. Air pollution in Utah
15. Perchlorate pollution in Utah
16. Arctic National Wildlife Refuge drilling
17. Paper vs Plastic Grocery Bags 18. Cloth vs. Disposable diapers 19. Hybrid cars
20. Diesel vs. Gasoline 21. Fuel cells
22. Oil shale
23. The price of gasoline 24. Tar sands
25. Clean coal technology
26. K-12 Science and math education 27. New Orleans levy system
28. Wind Energy 29. Solar energy 30. Nuclear energy
31. Nuclear waste storage in Utah 32. Yucca Mountain
33. Nuclear reactor security at the U 34. Acid mine drainage in Utah
35. Recycling at the U of U 36. Nuclear weapons testing 37. Sustainable Transportation
38. Saving energy in Salt Lake City
Oral Presentation Delivery Times
W 10/29 Oral Reports
M 11/3 Oral Reports
W 11/5 Oral Reports
M 11/10 Oral Reports
W 11/12 Lab III Assignment Given Out,
F 11/14 Lab Report II Due in Dept Office, 1 pm
M 11/17 Oral Reports
W 11/19 Oral Reports
M 11/24 Oral Reports
W 11/26 Oral Reports
M 12/1 Oral Reports
W 12/3 Oral Reports
M 12/8 Oral Reports
W 12/10 Oral Reports
Report Writing
Chemical Engineering 4903
“Rather than simply the manner in which engineering design is
communicated, writing is the medium through which quality engineering
design becomes possible.”
—Swarts and Odell (2001) (ASEE/IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference Proceedings)
Overview
• Utilizing your Writing Consultant
• Citation
• Grammar and Punctuation
• Proofreading and Editing
• Revision Option
Utilizing your Writing Consultant
• One-on-one consultation Office: WEB 1813 Hours: T 11:45-12:45 and 2-3;
W 2-3 and by appointment
• Rewrite consultation
• Email: [email protected]
• Drop by!
Citation Guidelines
• Cite a text within the body of your report…
• when you quote material from the text
• when you reference *ideas* that you got from the text (or, often, a few different texts)
• when you use images, charts, tables, graphs, etc.
from the text.
• The burden of citation becomes greater
the farther along in your education and
career you get.
Citation Guidelines
• In-text citations require the author’s last name and the year of the text, as follows (Last Name, year).
• If you cite an author’s name in your sentence (see first
citation in example below), just cite the date in parentheses.
• If you do not cite the author’s name in your sentence (see second citation), cite both the name and date in parentheses.
Example: The coiled tube has been suggested as a useful
geometry for certain chemical reactors by Koutsky and Adler (1964) because axial mixing is limited by the transverse flow (Erdogan and Chatwin, 1967; McConalogue, 1970; Nunge et al., 1972).
Citation Guidelines
Basic Journal Citation:
Last name, First initials (additional authors are listed first initials, last name), “Article Title,” Italicized Journal
Title, Bolded Volume Number, beginning page number (year in parentheses).
SO:
Koutsky, J. A., and R. J. Adler, "Minimization of Axial Dispersion by Use of Secondary Flow in Helical Tubes,"
Can. J. Chem. Eng., 42, 239 (1964).
Citation Guidelines
• Alphabetize the References page according to the author’s (or patentee’s or editor’s) last name. List the last name first.
• There’s no need to reverse the order of second author’s name because it won’t be alphabetized.
• Example: Erdogan, M. E., and P. C. Chatwin, "The Effects of Curvature and
Buoyancy on the Laminar Dispersion of Solute in a Horizontal Tube," J. Fluid Mech., 29, 465 (1967).
• For 4+ authors, list first author’s name followed by “, et al.,”
• Example: Ordway, F. I., et al., Applied Astronautics: An Introduction toSpace Flight, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N. J. (1963).
• Indent second+ lines of citation on References Page.
Citation Guidelines
• See Geoff Silcox’s Web site for the official “Guidelines for Literature References in the Department of Chemical
Engineering at the University of Utah.”
• When in doubt, look it up!
• The Guidelines document contains citation information for the following kinds of odd resources: emails, corporate authors,
encyclopedia references, conference and symposium
proceedings, journals with issue numbers or different kinds of pagination, CD-ROM publications, and many more…
Grammar and Punctuation
Voice
• Use active voice as much as possible.
Passive: A numerical example is now given to illustrate the above example.
Active: The following numerical
example illustrates this result.
Grammar and Punctuation
Tense
Use past tense for procedural, narrative parts, and calculations; present tense for theory, known facts, and discussing figures, tables and diagrams
Past: Early investigations were reviewed.
Present: The following numerical
example illustrates this result.
Grammar and Punctuation
Hyphenation
• Use a hyphen when two or more words modify another word, and the words work as a unit. Do not hyphenate most prefixes added to common nouns.
Examples:
She is a health-care worker. (requires hyphen) She works in health care. (no hyphen)
She is a healthy, careful worker. (no hyphen)
Grammar and Punctuation
Hyphenation (cont.)
• engineering-specific hyphenated terms:
Acetic-acid water system bubble-cap tray
liquid-gas interface a 20-percent increase
a two- or three-year study
• but don’t hyphenate most prefixes:
precooled not pre-cooled nonpolar not non-polar
Exceptions: co-worker not coworker co-ion not coion
Grammar and Punctuation
Nonsexist language
• Nonsexist language is the norm in all
professional writing. Try using the plural rather than the singular to avoid any awkwardness.
Sexist:
A good writer always proofreads his work.
Nonsexist:
Good writers always proofread their work.
Proofreading and Editing
•See Professor Ring’s online Introduction to Report Writing Powerpoint for
specific examples of style, grammar, and punctuation rules.
• Many of the previous examples were
culled from the Powerpoint.
Proofreading and Editing
•Proofread, proofread, proofread!
• Online resource: The Writing Checklist
• Revise your report at least three different times, with different emphases in mind.
• Start by looking at the big picture, and slowly narrow your focus down to the smaller and more specific details.
• Use The Writing Checklist as a guide to your
revision process. It’s made with the report in mind.
Purpose
Use this document to revise, edit, and proofread your own writing more effectively for this course and in the future.
The Writing Process
Your writing process should involve a number of stages, including research and lab work,
planning/outlining, drafting, revising, editing, and proofreading. The best writers often write sections of their reports separately, rather than trying to tackle the entire document all at once. Similarly, the best writers edit in stages, reading through the document over and over again with different emphases in mind. Focusing on a limited number of issues during a given phase of the writing process helps you to revise and edit more effectively. It’s more efficient to revise documents beginning with a broad,
organizational perspective and moving to a more detailed, sentence-level perspective. That way, you don’t waste time polishing sentences that you’ll end up cutting or rewriting anyway.
1. Revising: The big picture
Read your draft from your audience’s point of view and check it for the following big-picture concerns:
___Accuracy—Are the facts, and the interpretation of the facts, clear and correct?
___Sections—Is each section of the report full and complete? Are sections clearly identifiable and focused? Do you fulfill all the requirements of each section?
___Sectional Structure—Do the sections, paragraphs and sentences flow in an order that will be logical from the reader’s perspective?
___Development—Are key points developed with enough detail? Are you, at any point, in danger of jumping ahead of your reader without providing sufficient explanation between points?
___Argumentation—Do you provide evidence to back up the claims you make, or do you just ask your reader to take your word for it? Do you provide the sources behind your theory?
___Counterarguments—Do you anticipate and address potential disagreements a reader might have with your assertions or questions your reader might wish to ask?
___Overall Focus—Is there any distracting or irrelevant information that can be cut without distorting the report?
___Overall Structure—Is the information presented in an order that will be logical from the reader’s perspective?
2. Editing: Narrowing your focus
Consider reading your report out loud to yourself at this point. Often, our ears can catch grammatical errors and awkward sentences/transitions that our eyes might miss. Trust your ears, and consider recasting those sentences that feel awkward when read out loud. If the terminology in this section is new to you, please feel free to ask Kathryn questions or drop by her office hours for a brush-up on grammar.
___Tone—Do the vocabulary and other features convey an appropriate level of formality and professionalism and an appropriate attitude toward the reader?
___Paragraphs—Does each paragraph have a clear main idea and purpose? Do sentences come in a logical order within the paragraph?
___Continuity—Are there any gaps in information? Do sentences ever seem to jump around without sufficient connection?
___Quotations—Have you double-checked that all quoted material is correctly quoted and cited? Do quotations accurately represent the positions of their authors?
___Voice—Is active voice the default, with passive voice only strategically deployed? Do you avoid the use of “we” or “I”?
___Uncertainty Analysis—Have you included an uncertainty analysis in appropriate tables and figures?
___Citation—Do you cite your sources correctly and consistently, both in the body of the report and in a list of references?
___Tables—Are your tables numbered using Arabic numerals? Are they self-explanatory?
Is the descriptive heading at the top? Is the descriptive heading clear and easy to follow?
___Figures—Are your figures numbered using Arabic numerals? Are captions at the bottom of the figure, in complete sentences? Do figures contain axis labels, correlation curves, error bars, and plots with theoretical lines where applicable?
3. Proofreading: A local focus
Always proofread your document at least once after revising/editing before turning it in.
___Headers & Footers—Do the correct headers & footers appear on every page, with the correct date and spelling?
___Page Numbers—Are page numbers formatted correctly (e.g., not in left margin for bound reports)?
___Title & Headings—Are the title and all headings accurate and correctly spelled?
___Margins—Are all margins at least 1” wide and no more than 1.25’?
___Format—Is the formatting consistent throughout the entire document?
___Punctuation—Are you using commas, semicolons, and colons correctly? Are you using quotation marks and periods correctly? (Watch particularly for run-on sentences, comma splices, semi-colon and colon use with dependent clauses, etc.)
___Spelling and Grammar—Have you run a spelling and grammar check? Have you fixed any potential problems?
___Prepositional Phrases—Is there more than one prepositional phrase in a given sentence? If so, should the sentence be revised?
___Dependent Clauses—Do commas set apart dependent clauses when necessary?
___Dangling Participles—Do you avoid dangling participles?
___Hyphenation—Do you use hyphens to connect two or more words that modify another word, and that work as a unit?
___Nonsexist language—Are you careful to use properly inclusive, professional language throughout?
___Nouns—Are all acronyms spelled out the first time they appear? Are all proper nouns spelled correctly and capitalized?
___Verbs—Do verbs match in number and tense? Do they describe the action you mean them to? Are you using past tense in describing procedure, and present tense in describing theory and discussing figures and diagrams?
___Pronouns—Is it clear when you use pronouns (especially “it” or “this”) what they’re referring back to? Or could a reader be confused about what exactly a pronoun refers to, or its antecedent (especially when a sentence begins with a pronoun)?
___Readability—Are your sentences easy to read, or does you reader have to read them two or three times to figure out what you mean?
