ELEC 244 Lab Writing Guide

In academic settings, writing plays a critical part in disseminating information in an effective and objective manner. This page contains various tips and recommendations on how to write your lab reports for ELEC 244, and it can be useful for future reference when writing other technical reports. There is no need to cite this page if you use it as a reference in your lab reports. This page is divided into two parts: ELEC 244 specific information and general writing tips.

Results and Discussion Section

The Results and Discussion section is the largest part of the lab report. This section covers the procedure of the lab, results measured, and an analysis of the results. A general rule of thumb (as mentioned in the Lab Report Rubric) is that the procedure should provide enough detail for others to reproduce the experiment. This can be achieved by describing the exact, pertinent conditions that were used in the experiment. The results should be presented in a direct manner. The discussion portion of this section should compare the results to the underlying theory of what is being tested.

It is also important to include figures, graphs, tables, and schematics. For the ELEC 244 Lab Reports, it is permissible to use hand-drawn diagrams and the diagrams provided in the lab slides.

For example, the sentence below can be used to describe the input and output of a circuit: “The input signal to the circuit at pin 3 of the integrated circuit was a 2 Volt Peak-to-Peak, 50 kHz Sinusoidal Wave. The output signal was a 3 Volt Peak-to-Peak, 50 kHz Sinusoidal Wave. The output also lagged relative to the input by 30 degrees. This behavior is shown in Figure 3.”

Although it is required to describe the procedure in detail, it should remain succinct. Providing unnecessary details makes the report less readable. This prevents readers from identifying the primary concepts that are being conveyed.

Furthermore, it is useful to describe the underlying concepts of what is being tested. For example, in the lab concerning Slew Rate, it is good practice to briefly describe what Slew Rate is, what it is a measure of, and how it is being measured.

If any part of the lab did not work, a description of what did not work should be included in the lab report. This description should include details such as what was not working, the observed effects, and likely root causes of the error.

In most technical reports outside ELEC 244, the “Procedure” and “Results and Discussion” are separate sections.

Conclusion Section

The Conclusion Section should provide a quantitative analysis of the experiment performed. This should be done as a summary of the results obtained throughout the lab. The conclusion is meant to provide the reader with the ultimate message of the lab. Additionally, a description of how the objectives of the lab should be included in the conclusion. The final part of the conclusion should discuss the skills learned in the lab and how those skills can be applied in the future.

If any part of the lab did not work, the conclusion section should also include a description as to why that part of the lab did not work and how the problem can be resolved in the future.

Readability

The lab reports should be clear and understandable not only to the graders and professors, but to anyone “in the field”. In this context, the lab report must be written so that another Electrical Engineer can read what is being conveyed without difficulty. One point of reference is that a peer who has not completed the lab should be able to understand and reproduce the lab based upon the report. The lab report should not contain an excess of technical jargon, especially if the phrases utilized are not briefly explained in the context of the lab. Likewise, abbreviations and short-hands should only be used after writing the full name down with the abbreviation in parenthesis first.

Point of View

In most academic settings, the third person point of view is preferred over the first person point of view. The third person point of view helps provide a more formal and objective view of what is being conveyed.

Tense

The past tense should be used for the majority of the lab report. The present and future tense should be utilized when appropriate when describing current or future plans.