Suggestions for clear lab reports in computer science courses

General advice
In general, your lab should be presented in a self-contained manner, and summarize what you accomplished, what conclusions you drew and why. The lab assignments have questions which were chronologically ordered to indicate how we recommend you accomplish the tasks for the lab, but this is not the clearest way to present most reports. Instead, you should break up your report into logical pieces, and tie the pieces together with an introduction, conclusion, and other helpful comments.

Assume the audience includes people who have taken a similar course but somewhere else. So they haven't read the book, nor have they read the lab description. Your introduction should explain why they should read your report and give a roadmap explaining its structure. Your conclusion should summarize what the reader should have learned. Do not include in your report what you learned rom doing it. !t is your responsibility to test your code thoroughly as you write each procedure and to convince the reader that you know all your code works. ! your code has a bug, report the bug and explain your testing and what you know about where the bug is in your program. ! you ail to report a bug, the grader will assume you either "a# tested poorly or "b# were dishonest in your report. $ither way, your grade should be more severely reduced than i you %ust report your bug.

Lab report DOs and DON'Ts

Do use complete sentences, with proper grammar and spelling. Don t blindly write up your lab in the same order and format as the lab assignment. Do structure your lab in a logical way, with each section marked with a helpful title. !""#art $ is not helpful. ""Data or ""#art $% Data or ""$.& Data is helpful.' Don t repeat the lab questions. Don t write ""#relab or ""(uestion & nor "")*ercise $.& . Don t use phrase like, ""In this lab we learned about..., nor, ""+e were asked to write a procedure which, ... Do use phrases like, ""The following procedure computes ... Don t use the passive voice, "", procedure was written to ... Don t provide a page of procedure calls with -chemati. return values. Do summarize the results of procedure calls in a readable form. +hen appropriate, this could include

Tables whose headings are carefully chosen and whose entries are rounded to an appropriate number of significant digits !/-0 depending on your 1udgment should be enough for most practical purposes.' 2raph!s' whose a*es are clearly labeled.

In either case there should be enough of an e*planation so I know what each table entry means and3or what the graph represents. Don t forget to label a*es in graphs, and make the units clearly visible in tables and graphs.

Don t mi* verb tenses. 4sually, I would recommend sticking to present tense. If small changes are made to large blocks of code, use a different font !italic or bold' to highlight your changes.

More DO's

#resent your code in an understandable way. 5emember, the audience you are writing for has read neither the book nor the lab description, so your code should either be selfdocumenting or have enough documentation so that it s clear what it does. Tell me how you tested your code. 6ou don t always need to provide the individual test cases, but you should convince me how you have tested every procedure and why you are confident that each works. If a procedure does not always work, you should report this, too. 5ather than copy huge pieces of code from the te*t, summarize the procedures defined in the te*t. 6ou could, for instance, give a sample procedure call for each procedure, and e*plain in a sentence what the procedure takes as input and what it returns. This way your report will remain self-contained without blindly copying from the book. 4se a fixed-width character font like courier or typewriter font for your code and tables so that the indentation and columns line up properly. 7ften the real point of a lab is to write some ma1or procedure x, but to do so you need to write lots of small procedures, a, b, c, ... to get x to work. If so, you should structure your report so that you get to x as soon as possible. 7ne way to do this is to state the behavior !with, for e*ample, a sample procedure call' of only those procedures which x calls, then describe x, and then include the actual code for the little procedures a, b, c, ... in an appendi*.

Lab Write-Up Format

THIS OUTLINE WILL HELP YOU TO WRITE YOUR LABS. There may be cha !e" or mo#i$icatio " b%t a&& e&eme t" m%"t be i c&%#e# i yo%r &ab 'rite-%p. Each "ectio o yo%r &ab paper m%"t i c&%#e the Roma %mera& a # hea#i ! (a" i I. TITLE) *

I.

PURPOSE:
!at is t!e reason "or doin# t!e e$peri%ent or &!at is t!ere to be learned "ro% doin# t!e e$peri%ent'

II. ()POT(ESIS:
!at *+o, t!in-* &ill be t!e "inal o,tco%e o" t!e e$peri%ent. T!is is #enerall+ based on prior -no&led#e or observations. In ot!er &ords. +o, are not /,st p,llin# t!is *o,t o" t!in air*0 +o, !ave so%e lo#ical reason "or t!in-in# t!is. I" +o, !ave no prior -no&led#e o" t!e concept. +o, &ill need to do researc! be"ore %a-in# a !+pot!esis. 1lso. e$plain e$actl+ *&!+ +o, t!in- t!is*. REMEM2ER3 T!ere is no ri#!t or &ron# ans&er. It's strictl+ &!at *+o, t!in-* and *&!+ +o, t!in-

t!is*. III. M1TERI1LS:

1 list o" e4,ip%ent and s,pplies t!at &ill be needed to co%plete t!e lab proced,re. List t!e %a/or pieces o" e4,ip%ent "irst. E$a%ple. %icroscope. triple bea% balance. 5666 %L #rad,ated c+linder. etc. T!en list co%%on s,pplies. s,c! as strin#. paper clips. etc. and cons,%ables s,c! as vine#ar. ba-in# soda. etc.

I7. PRO8EDURE: 5. T!e step b+ step process t!at is "ollo&ed in carr+in# o,t t!e e$peri%ent.
Pre"errabl+. t!e steps are se4,entiall+ listed in t!e order t!e+ need to be "ollo&ed to co%plete t!e e$peri%ent s,ccess",ll+. 2e ver+ e$act &it! eac! step in case so%eone else &ants to repeat +o,r proced,re. It's li-e tellin# so%eone !o& to "ind +o,r !o,se. T!e least little %ista-e or detail le"t o,t co,ld be critical to t!e o,tco%e o" t!e e$peri%ent. 9. Usin# t!e sa"et+ s+%bols. identi"+ an+ preca,tions t!at %a+ need to be "ollo&ed in co%pletin# t!is e$peri%ent.

:. Identi"+ t!e variables in t!e e$peri%ent:

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8ontrolled ; "actors t!at re%ain constant t!ro,#!o,t t!e e$peri%ent. Independent ; t!e one "actor t!at &ill be %anip,lated or c!an#ed d,rin#
t!e e$peri%ent.

Dependent ; t!e variable t!at beco%es altered as a res,lt o" t!e c!an#e t!at
&as %ade in t!e independent variable.

7. O2SER71TIONS:
Scientists record observations in /o,rnals or lo#s. Observations are never destro+ed

once recorded. Observations are o" t&o cater#ories: <,alitative ; in"or%ation #at!ered t!ro,#! t!e senses s,c! as s%ell. taste. to,c!.

!ear. s!ape. etc. <,antitative ; in"or%ation #at!ered d,e to precise %eas,re%ents. s,c! as !ei#!t in c%. &idt! in c%. %ass in #. vol,%e in c%:. densit+ in #=c%:. ti%e in seconds. speed in -p!. etc.

Observations are or#ani>ed in: Data tables or c!arts. Grap!s are vis,al representations o" t!e data so t!at it can be easil+ st,died. interpreted. and anal+>ed. 8ircle. bar. and line are e$a%ples o" -inds o" #rap!s.

7I. 8ON8LUSION:
T!is is a &ritten s,%%ar+ o" &!at &as act,all+ learned "ro% doin# t!e e$peri%ent. T!e concl,sion is considered to be t!e %ost i%portant section o" t!e &rite;,p. T!e concl,sion &ill eit!er s,pport or re/ect t!e proposed !+pot!esis. T!e "ollo&in# is a t!ree para#rap! "or%at to "ollo& in &ritin# an appropriate concl,sion. T!e o,tline is a #,ide to !elp +o, incl,de t!e necessar+ in"or%ation. 1d!ere to 1LL &ritin# r,les in co%pletin# t!is concl,sion. Treat it as t!o,#! +o, &ere &ritin# a t!ree para#rap! essa+ in +o,r En#lis! class. Elaboration is 1L 1)S t!e -e+3 IN8LUDE T(ESE *ESSENTI1L ELEMENTS* IN RITING E18( P1R1GR1P(: 5. Para#rap! One: o In +o,r o&n &ords describe t!e p,rpose o" t!e e$peri%ent.

Disc,ss an+ ne& ter%s t!at &ere relevant to ,nderstandin# and cond,ctin# t!e investi#ation.

9. Para#rap! T&o:
o o o o

Restate +o,r !+pot!esis and +o,r reasonin# "or t!is prediction. S,%%ari>e t!e lab proced,re. E$plain t!e set,p o" t!e lab. control=variable. etc. Describe sa"et+ preca,tions.

:. Para#rap! T!ree
o

Describe t!e o,tco%e o" t!e e$peri%ent and !o& it relates to +o,r !+pot!esis ?s,pports or re/ects@. Re"er to +o,r data tables. #rap!s. etc. in assessin# t!e data beca,se act,al data "ro% +o,r observations is a *%,st* in "or%in# a concl,sion. BE VERY SPECIFIC! Aro% +o,r anal+sis. point o,t certain trends or patterns t!at s,pport +o,r concl,sion.

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In concl,sion. e$plain e$actl+ &!at &as=&as not acco%plis!ed or learned "ro% doin# t!e lab. Give a detailed description o" !o& +o, &ere able to deter%ine t!e above. ere t!ere an+ !idden variables t!at %a+ !ave a""ected t!e reliabilit+ o" t!e data ... e$plain' !at s,##estions co,ld +o, %a-e to i%prove t!e reliabilit+ o" t!e data' (o& relevant or ,se",l &as t!is lab in +o,r ,nderstandin# o" t!e c,rrent topic or concept.

"A" SUPERIOR - Te&& the rea#er 'hat yo% ha+e &ear e# i the &ab, b%t #o it by "ho'i ! the rea#er INSI-HT (&oo. it %p*. Yo% m%"t !o beyo # the ba"ic mea i ! o$ the &ab a # te&& the rea#er ho' the co cept" re&ate to o%r p&a et. What a##itio a& . o'&e#!e ca yo% &ear by the co cept" !ai e# i thi" &ab/ Ho' ca the"e co cept" be tra "$erre# to other part" o$ o%r 'or&# to e0p&ai other "cie ti$ic co cept". I thi" part, the "t%#e t "ho%&# a". 1%e"tio " that ha+e bee "tim%&ate#

by the &ab (each o e 'i&& be a "'ere#, i$ po""ib&e*. YOUR WRITIN- 2UST -O BEYON3 THE ABO4E A4ERA-E STU3ENT. "B" ABOVE AVERAGE - What . o'&e#!e #i# yo% !ai / What #i# yo% &ear that ca app&y to yo%r &i$e, yo%r 'or&#. Thi" 'i&& ot co tai a&& o$ the $act" or ho' yo% #i# the &ab. Sho' the rea#er that yo% % #er"ta # 'hy thi" &ab 'a" importa t to &ear a # ho' it "%pporte# a&& o$ the rea#i ! a # &ect%re i c&a"". "C" AVERAGE - 56UST THE FA7TS, 2A8A25. The ba"ic" o$ 'hat yo% #i# a # 'hy yo% #i# it. "D" BELOW AVERAGE - A mea!er attempt. At &ea"t yo% 'rote "omethi ! #o' o the paper.