| Original Message |
Mr. V (Premier Login taliskertutorials)
Forum Owner
Posted Sep 10, 2007 3:15 PM
Writing the Laboratory Notebook
Faraday’s hand-written notebooks…have long been of interest to historians and philosophers of science because of the extraordinarily direct insight they give into the way his thinking developed…. They are also remarkable in the amount of detail that they give about the design and setting up of experiments, interspersed with comments about their outcome and thoughts of a more philosophical kind. All are couched in plain language, with many vivid phrases of delightful spontaneity….
Peter Day, ‘The Philosopher’s Tree: A Selection of Michael Faraday’s Writings’1
Writing the Laboratory Notebook
The skill of writing the Laboratory Notebook – even the existence of such a Notebook – has probably fallen somewhat into disuse with the advent of the photocopied worksheet. Yet it is a vital part of industrial and academic research, and indeed can in these activities be required in law to establish, for example, patent rights. Kanare2 offers many insights into how such rights may be protected, and I am indebted to his book for numerous things that I had not thought of. This page offers some hints for the revival of the Art of the Laboratory Notebook in a school or university undergraduate setting.
Plain language
It would be a brave professional scientist, let alone teacher or student, who would take issue with Faraday. Notebooks ‘couched in plain language, with vivid phrases….’ What a marvelous image Peter Day conjures up. All of Faraday's notebooks exist and remain at the Royal Institution in Albemarle St. where they were all written.
The whole point of a laboratory notebook is that it should:
• Say exactly what was done, and when
• Make clear who did it
• Enable someone else to do the same thing at some future date
• Be durable and verifiable
Any rules that are used must attend to these points; anything else is spurious. Plain language is the least spurious of all.
Hardware
Books, pens and paper are the tools of your academic trade; skimping on them is absurd. Paper trees are a crop – paper is not made from rainforest timber, it’s made from spruce or larch grown for the purpose – so do not be mean with paper. (I have an interest in paper and in writing and writing tools, and can bore for hours on this. It’ll appear in these pages sooner or later, have no fear.)
Here are some rules for hardware:
• Laboratory notebooks should be hardback bound notebooks – you can stick worksheets in where needed.
• Writing must be done in ink. Black ballpoint pen is best; fountain pen inks are not as durable as ballpen inks and are more prone to fading, and do not withstand solvent spills as well as ballpen does. Blue ink fades more readily than black, and red is least fade-proof of all. Some pens contain waterproof fade-resistant inks and are made in many colors, e.g. Mitsubishi’s Uniball Eye pens.
• Pencil should not be used for anything.
Organizing your notebook
Anyone should be able to pick up your notebook and understand what you have written3. This must be the main thing - you are writing for someone else. If the writing is clear to them, then it certainly will be to you. Achieving this requires some organization as well as a certain style.
-----------------------------------------------
LABORATORY REPORT - PREPARATION GUIDE
Lab reports contain information describing data that have been collected in a laboratory experiment using the scientific method. The report should consist of five distinct sections that reflect the progressive stages of the experiment. The sections of a lab report are: Introduction, Purpose, Procedures, Results, and Discussion.
Reports are always written with clarity. This can be achieved by using short words and short sentences. Avoid long run-on sentences and only use technical terminology when necessary to convey a thought. Avoid paragraphs that are too long. Shorter paragraphs provide easier reading yet the short paragraph should not consist of only one long sentence.
Follow correct grammar and punctuation rules. Avoid misplaced modifiers by writing in the active (3rd.) person. Pronouns and adverbs should be used correctly, agreeing with the noun and verb they replace or modify respectively. Periods are used at the end of complete sentences. Commas, semicolons, and colons are placed as breaks in thought within a phrase. Avoid improper placement of commas.
Number every page of the report including the title page and reference page in the upper right-hand corner.
The following will provide a brief description of each section of a report.
ALL SECTIONS OF THE REPORT SHOULD HAVE A HEADING JUST BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THAT SECTION. EACH HEADING (EXCEPT REFERENCES) SHOULD BE FLUSHED TO THE LEFT MARGIN, IN UPPER AND LOWER CASE LETTERS AND UNDERLINED.
1. Title Page.
This is a separate page that only includes the title of the report, author, class, instructor, quarter, and institution. All elements of the title page are typed in upper and lower case letters. Provide proper titles for instructors (i.e. Dr., Mr., Ms). DO NOT NUMBER THIS PAGE.
2. Introduction.
The introduction begins on the page after the title page (page # 2). This section of the report will introduce the experiment and provide background information about the topic. This section should be more than one paragraph in length.
EXAMPLE:
Introduction
In the past decade, many discoveries have been made in the area of gene mapping. Hunt and Stevenson, (1994), theorize that gene mapping will be the "future of the scientist's ability to wipe out disease." Presently, gene mapping is most notable in the area of determining biological parents in adoption cases, (Fritz, 1991).
3. Purpose.
In one or two sentences, state the purpose(s) of the experiment. After the purpose, state your hypothesis for your experiment. The hypothesis is a statement concerning the expected results of the experiment.
EXAMPLE:
Purpose
The purpose of this experiment is to study the effects of computer simulations on the student's ability to learn complex scientific concepts. It is hypothesized that computer simulation of the fetal pig dissection is more effective than hands on dissection in the student's ability to learn internal organs.
4. Methods and Materials.
The methods and materials section provides information about how the experiment was conducted and what materials were used. DO NOT list procedures! Instead, they should be written in 3rd. person prose. However, reference to the lab manual can be made as to where the procedures can be found in detail. Simply summarize ALL procedures of the experiment using complete sentences.
EXAMPLE:
Methods and Materials
A sphygmomanometer (blood pressure gauge), in concert with a stethoscope, was used on subject #1 to determine the subject's blood pressure prior to the stepping exercise and 5 minutes after stepping.
5. Results.
The results section states the results or findings of the experiment. This section should include illustrations, tables and/or figures (graphs) that support the results. Tables or figures are used as a supplement to the results using quantitative aspects of the data. Each table/graph should be labeled with a brief, one sentence descriptive title for the table/figure. Underline the descriptive sentence. The table/graph number and description should precede the body of the data. Each column of data must have a heading. Tables and graphs should be self-explanatory. Always make reference to the table and/or figure by its number in the text of the result section. This will then provide a visual aid summarizing your findings. Do not refer to the tables/figures as "the table below/above shows . . . "the graph at the end indicates . . . " Instead, refer to tables/figures in text: "as shown in Table 5, the responses were . . . " or " . . . the muscle fibers prior to contraction (see Figure 5, page 7)." Tables/graphs may be placed on a separate page or within the text.
EXAMPLE:
Table 5: Mean Numbers of Words Retrieved Before and After Stimulation to the Cerebral Cortex.
Subject Mean Before Mean # After Average
1 4.0 3.0 3.5
2 2.0 2.0 2.0
3 5.0 4.0 4.5
6. Discussion.
Results are interpreted in this section. The discussion section should open with a statement of support or non-support for the hypothesis originally stated in the purpose section. Any errors due to material, equipment, or experimenter malfunction should be placed in this section.
EXAMPLE:
Discussion
The results of the experiment supported the hypothesis that computer simulation of fetal pig dissection would be more effective in the student's ability to learn internal organs than actual hands on dissection. Problems did arise with the preserved specimens supplied for the exercise. The fetal pigs used were not properly preserved and many organs were indistinguishable. According to the laboratory instructor, many organs had ruptured therefore hindering organ identification.
7. References.
References are to be listed on a separate page. The reference page can be singled spaced. The heading should be centered on the page. Double space between the reference heading and the reference list. When listing each reference, the first line of the reference should be flush left with the margin and the remainder indented 5 spaces. The order in which a reference is typed is as follows:
References
Author's last name, first name (or initials). Year of publication. Title of the article or book. Vol., pp#. Publishing company. City of publication.
M.W. Vance |
|
|