EGEE 411W Report Writing Guidelines

EGEE 411W Energy Engineering Laboratory 2018 Fall Drs. Mathews & Burgess Clifford

Lab Report – Writing a professional report for each experiment is as important as the data
collection and analysis. The document needs to contain key technical concepts and concise
technical writing presented in the expected logical order — with the expected style and format.
All figures and tables are to be introduced before being shown, will be numbered (caption is
below for Figures, above for Tables), and commented upon/interpreted. Formulas are also to be
numbered, symbols defined, and units specified. The uncertainty in the data will be quantified
and communicated. Every report will require additional high-quality research to examine
contemporary observations and use of the technique(s) and data.
The lab report should be individual, written in the third person (passive voice), formatted to be
professional in appearance, in the listed order. Submissions will be in PDF format (because it
aids professional appearance and aids feedback) and with the correct filename
(userid_labname.pdf); please see each assignment for the expected name.
Title (make your own title but ensure it is informative)
Name userid of author (Joe Blogg, abc123@psu.edu), and date such as 13 January 2018
Abstract
This contains a shortened version of the introduction indicating how the data is used in
industry (it is not enough just to state it is important), the goals, approach, and the
necessary results/data (with uncertainty), and the more relevant conclusions (use the
data). Thus, write the abstract after finishing those components. It is a mini version of the
report.
Introduction
What is the relevance of the data (how is the data used in industry?) and the technique
broadly defined? What are the goals and approach utilized? The introduction is expected
to have numbered citation markers for quality resources (hint if you go straight to Google
you are doing it wrong). You will need to use appropriate recent books and other
resources to determine how data is used in decision-making.
Theory
This is a discussion of the technique, specifically the instrumentation function/theory,
and relevant formulas/equations (with definition of variables, including units; provide
citations for source). You are expected to use quality resources to aid in writing this
section. Answer the questions: how does the equipment work and what/why are there
corrections to the data? We test this knowledge in the final exam. Do not expect to pass if
you can’t explain how the data is generated with demonstrated technical knowledge. The
ASTM handouts should be the first place you go. Theory is a generic how the
instruments work, no need to address methods here (so no sample names, specific user
defined settings as those go in the methods). Also include the equations on data
manipulation and correction here.
Methods
Provide the experimental procedure in past tense using concise technical writing. Include
appropriate citations such as the ASTM International standards. Assume a
knowledgeable reader. This should be relatively short but contain enough detail so a
knowledgeable reader can duplicate the results: sample information and any selected non-
standard user-selected parameters, along with information on if data corrections should

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 be included. Methods is what you did! How the instrument functions, corrections, and
conversions are covered in the theory.
Results and Discussion
Communicate the data effectively to the reader (depending on the data a figure or table
may be more appropriate) and comment upon the data. Be the guide and aid the reader
with extracting the take away message. With the data include the uncertainty/errors and
any statistical evaluations (all data needs to have an uncertainty value). Typically, only
one file is expected for each experiment. Do not include excel files with reports unless
they are requested. Compare results with expected literature values (comment on the
similarity or differences). Finish with a recommendation (a so what!). If in the
introduction you determined how industry uses data, and you have data, you can employ
those decision points.

Conclusions
This includes discussion of the fulfillment of the purpose and scope (goals and
objectives) of the experiment. Include the relevant observations/data summary, also your
recommendations (your role is to make recommendations backed up by data — you are
not just a data generator).
Appendix (any other relevant material, if applicable.)
References
Here we look at the quality and quantity of the resources used as well as the formatting.
You need to be using applicable high quality sources from specialized databases, not
Google! The expected format for the citations is numerical superscripts, for the
references format list in order cited include all authors, title, year, etc. We expect
students to use book chapters, and ASTM International Standards as primary sources.
Recent articles have a use — to indicate why the techniques and data are currently of
interest (but should be used last).
Question answers should be a separate pdf document. They will also have their own
reference section. They need to be well researched and be original work (no copying and
pasting answers). Many students who fail the class do not submit this work thus missing
out on the contribution to the letter grade, opportunities to be exposed to issues of the
day, and information useful for the final exam. We suggest you complete this before the
report. The applicable questions have the same deadline as the report.
Include page numbers on all submissions (bottom right). Block justified, single-spaced spacing.

Reports and question answers will be graded based on: Professional appearance,
effectiveness of the abstract, introduction, quality of theory discussion, content of the
methods section (style and quality), effectiveness in communicating findings,
applicability of the conclusions, quality and quantity of references used, the reference
format, and correctness of question answers. There are several good sources to aid in
scientific writing, for example consult this University of North Carolina (Writing Center)
lab report guide:
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/lab_report_complete.html
http://www.unc.edu/depts/wcweb/handouts/index.html

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Additional writing help is available in the EMS Ryan Family Student Center (Giles Writer
in Residence: K. Del Bright):
http://www.ems.psu.edu/current_undergrad_students/academics/writing_tutor

You can use citation software for your work. Preferred:

Mendeley (free) http://www.mendeley.com/ or
Zotero (also free) http://www.zotero.org/support/quick_start_guide
Some citation information is available from the PSU library website:
http://guides.libraries.psu.edu/c.php?g=686917&p=4854700

You are also expected to come and see us to work on your particular writing and
research issues during the semester.

See the next page for an example rubric. We will change the relative weightings for
sections of the reports but it will give you a good indication how we grade and reinforce
our expectations regarding content (including order and audience recognition) and
application.

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