Sarah Eno, F06
Guidelines for Rubric. Actual Rubric may be need to be altered for each individual experiment. (For example, labs that do not need much error analysis will have few points assigned to that section, etc.)
A typical lab report will be about 10 pages long, including tables and figures. The actual length will, of course, vary from experiment to experiments.
1. General (5 points)
1.1. Is the lab report well-written? Is the English grammatically correct? Is it concise yet complete? (5 points)
2. Abstract and Introduction (5 points)
2.1. Is the student’s name, SID, lab number, lab partner, and date on the lab report? (1 point)
2.2. Is there an abstract? ( 1 points)
2.3. Is there an introduction that correctly describe the questions the laboratory is probing using both equations and qualitative description in a concise manner? (3 points)
3. Equipment and procedure (10 points)
3.1. Is the equipment that was used described? (2 points)
3.2. Is it described in enough correct detail to understand the experiment? (2 points)
3.3. Are there appropriate, correct figures showing the experimental apparatus? (2 points)
3.4. Are the experimental procedures that were used correctly described? (2 points)
3.5. Are they described in enough detail to understand the experiment? (2 points)
4. Data (30 points)
4.1. Are all the portions of the data needed to understand the analysis in the laboratory report as well as in the spreadsheet? (5 points) (Note: all raw data must be in the spreadsheet which is turned in at the end of the class period)
4.2. Was the data taken carefully and accurately? (9 points)
4.3. Are there errors associated with every measured number that is used in data analysis? (5 points)
4.4. Are the data quoted to the correct number of significant figures, given the error? Do all numbers have units? (1 point)
4.5. Is the method used for obtaining the error described? Is it described completely? (5 points)
4.6. Was the error determined correctly, taking into account both random and systematic sources of error? (5 points)
5. Data Analysis (25 points)
5.1. Is the data compared with a theoretical calculation? (10 points)
5.2. Is it compared using an appropriate test, like a chi squared test? (15 points)
6. Figures (15 points)
6.1. Are there appropriate figures illustrating both the data and the data analysis? (10 points)
6.2. Are the figures clear, with appropriately chosen axes? Are the axes labeled and do they have units? (4 points)
6.3. Are the figures described in the text? (1 point)
7. Conclusions (10 points)
7.1. Is there a conclusions section? (2 points)
7.2. Does it carefully discuss the results of the data analysis? If there are discrepancies between the data and the expected results, are these discussed in a correct and scientific manner? (5 points)
7.3. Does the discussion correctly include both numerical information and qualitative information? (3 points)